Bromo and Ijen are magical and need no further selling from me. I did the 3D2N tour which I would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to cover as much as possible and is short of time. More specific feedback:
The good:
- Erick the driver was amazing. Always friendly and smiling, great company, a careful driver and importantly also amenable to inputs and requests from the guest. From having the latest intel on best sunrise spot at Bromo to showing me a secret waterfall off the beaten trail, Erick really made the trip a success.
- The trip was generally well organised, even though I booked it with less than 24 hours notice. All the logistics went smoothly.
- I wouldn’t normally recommend a package, but in this case I definitely would. There are so many different logistics, and there’s a huge benefit to not having to haggle in each place for guides as it’s all covered.
- The hotels were generally good. Bromo Terrace is nicely done and I finished and the impressive Movenpick in Surabaya.
- Communication with the operator was good - very responsive on WhatsApp.
The not so good:
- There is A LOT of driving, and not a lot of sleep. If you can add a day to this itinerary for more time do it.
- Both hotels I stayed at are quite far from the respective sight. This means more driving in the middle of the night and dead time in the day.
- Bromo Terrace is 30 mins from where the jeeps collect people. That just means an earlier start (2am) than if you stay closer to Bromo. Grand Padi is a whopping two hours from Ijen in some one horse town. This meant a midnight wake up which was a killer!
- Grand Padi is a bit all style no substance. Looks impressive but the pool is freezing, they had blaring music in the evening even though there was no one there, and the packed lunch was pretty awful (plain bread buns and cold fried eggs and badly packaged so it all came out in my rucksack). Given its location a long way from Ijen I would recommend staying elsewhere.
- Despite paying top dollar for the VIP package, I was told this didn’t cover the new toll motorways. The alternative routes can take twice as long and don’t make for comfortable driving, constantly playing chicken with huge lorries and a multitude of motorbikes. For the sake of about USD 10 each way, I would definitely take the toll roads. As I said, there is A LOT of driving on this tour.
Overall, however, I had a great time and will 100% be recommending this tour to others
