Things to do in Bali
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bali
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, low humidity, best surf on the west coast, best diving visibility and reliable Batur sunrises.
Shoulder months and the smart money: dry conditions with thinner crowds and softer prices.
Peak inside the dry season: best weather, worst crowds, prices and traffic.
Wet season, peaking December to February, with downpours, flooding, plastic wash up and waterfalls at full power.
What's on
- Nyepi March, on a date set by the Balinese calendar
Balinese New Year, the island shuts for about 24 hours, with ogoh-ogoh parades the night before.
- Galungan & Kuningan Every 210 days; next 13 to 23 January 2027, then 11 to 21 August 2027
Festival of good over evil, streets lined with penjor, ceremonies everywhere and busy roads.
- Bali Arts Festival Mid June to mid July each year
A month of Balinese dance, gamelan, parades and exhibitions in Denpasar.
- BaliSpirit Festival Usually April or early May
Yoga, dance, music and healing festival at The Yoga Barn in Ubud.
- Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Late October each year
Five days of talks and panels drawing an international literary crowd to Ubud.
- Bali Kite Festival July-October, main events around September
Giant traditional kites flown competitively over the coast around Sanur.
Best things to do in Bali
Uluwatu Temple
Clifftop sea temple plus the sunset Kecak fire dance, touristy but genuinely worth it on a first trip.
Tirta Empul Temple
Holy spring temple where you can join the melukat purification ritual properly with a local guide.
Jatiluwih Rice Terraces
Huge UNESCO subak rice terraces under Mount Batukaru, with marked walks and far fewer queues.
Mount Batur
Guided pre-dawn volcano climb for sunrise over Lake Batur and Mount Agung, with breakfast at the rim.
Nusa Penida
Island day for manta snorkelling and the Kelingking cliff view from above, best done with an overnight.
Sekumpul Waterfall
The island's best waterfall cluster, dropping into a jungle gorge reached by a steep guided walk.
Sidemen
Quiet east Bali valley of rice terraces, weaving villages and Mount Agung views, with no headline attraction.
Batu Bolong Beach
Learner friendly surf beach in Canggu where a proper lesson on a soft top beats renting and guessing.
Where to stay in Bali
Ubud
first trip, culture and wellness base
Temples, terraces and the best restaurants are closest, mornings start calm, but there is no beach.
Seminyak
polished beach base
Best dining street, grown up beach clubs and famous sunsets, pricier and slower traffic.
Pererenan / Canggu
surf, cafes and a social younger trip
Surf schools, gyms and brunch cafes, but notorious traffic and a surf first dark sand beach.
Uluwatu / the Bukit
best beaches and couples
White sand coves under cliffs and grand clifftop resorts, but nothing is walkable between spots.
Sanur
families, early risers and island boats
Calm reef protected beach, sunrise promenade and the fast boats to Penida and Lembongan.
Sidemen
quiet second base
Two or three nights here resets a trip, with few restaurants and no nightlife.
Think twice about
- Kuta and central Legian
Loud bar and club strip aimed at drunk tourism, with vendor hassle, heavy traffic and wet season beach wash up.
- Denpasar
The working capital with government, malls and traffic, and almost no visitor infrastructure on foot.
- Nusa Dua
A gated resort enclave cut off from Balinese street life, food and culture, book it only if the resort is the trip.
Best restaurants in Bali
Locavore NXT
The island's defining tasting menu, an expedition through Indonesian ingredients worth planning around.
Nusantara by Locavore
Regional Indonesian dishes from across the archipelago, more traditional and accessible than NXT.
Mozaic
Bali fine dining's pioneer, French technique with Indonesian ingredients in a garden setting.
Hujan Locale
Modern Indonesian dishes and strong cocktails in a handsome house just off Ubud centre.
Mama San
Pan Asian street food elevated, with serious cocktails and a buzzy room everyone agrees on.
Merah Putih
Refined Indonesian classics in a translucent roofed room over an indoor garden.
Warung Babi Guling Pak Malen
The reliable babi guling plate, roast suckling pig with crackling, lawar and sambal, served to locals.
Warung Biah Biah
Tiny busy warung for Balinese home dishes at warung prices in the middle of Ubud.
Outdoor things to do in Bali
New Kuta Golf
Links style clifftop round whose ocean holes above Dreamland Beach are the most dramatic in Bali.
Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club
Eighteen par 3 holes on a cliff top, a full round in about two hours with caddie and cart.
Ayung River
Gentle Grade 2 to 3 rafting through the jungle gorge below Ubud, suited to beginners and families.
Telaga Waja River
Longer, wilder Grade 3 to 4 rafting in a remote gorge, the step up for confident swimmers.
Aling-Aling Waterfall
Guided canyoning down a waterfall chain with slides, abseils and optional cliff jumps, all one by one.
Bali Quad Discovery Tours
Small group quads or buggies through rice fields, jungle and a working village, not a built circuit.
Munduk Waterfall
Self guided village walk linking five waterfalls through clove and coffee country, superb value.
Nusa Lembongan
The slow Nusa island to sleep on, with morning snorkelling, mangrove kayaking and sunset at Devil's Tear.
Best hotels in Bali
Capella Ubud
Tented camp splurge in the Keliki valley jungle, built without felling trees.
COMO Shambhala Estate
The destination spa original above the Ayung, with resident experts and serious wellness programmes.
Bisma Eight
Boutique and walkable to the Monkey Forest and centre, with rice field views out the back.
Alila Ubud
Hillside valley classic on the Ayung valley edge, famous for its pool.
Puri Garden Hotel & Hostel
Garden hotel and hostel with dorms, private rooms, pool and cafe at hostel prices south of the centre.
Desa Potato Head
Design landmark beachfront complex combining beach club, culture, restaurants and rooms, zero waste run.
Alila Seminyak
Calm beachfront five star directly on the sand at the quieter Petitenget end.
The Legian Seminyak
All suite, low rise, old money Seminyak directly on the beach.
Is Bali expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | IDR 900,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | IDR 1,800,000 a person |
| Splurge | IDR 3,600,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Uluwatu Temple: a few days ahead
- Mount Batur: a few days ahead
- Nusa Penida: a few days ahead
- Ayung River: a few days ahead
- Locavore NXT: weeks ahead
- Mozaic: a few days ahead
- Mama San: a few days ahead
- Merah Putih: a few days ahead
- Locavore NXT weeks ahead, and Mozaic, Mama San, Cuca and Merah Putih days ahead, more in July and August.
- Book Batur treks, Penida boats and hotels furthest ahead for July, August and Christmas to New Year.
Is Bali safe?
- A scooter is only legal with a motorcycle licence and an International Driving Permit endorsed for motorcycles, and insurers deny claims without them.
- Never accept free pour local spirits from unknown sources, methanol poisoning from counterfeit arak recurs.
- Respect red flags and do not swim at Angel's Billabong or Kelingking, rogue waves have killed visitors.
- Drugs carry extreme penalties in Indonesia, including life imprisonment and the death penalty for trafficking.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Bali travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Lempuyang Gates of Heaven photo uses a mirror under the phone and the queue is routinely 2 to 4 hours.
- Tegalalang and the Bali Swing circuit is a pay per photo stop circuit, go to Jatiluwih for terraces.
- Jimbaran Bay seafood by weight shocks people nightly if the full price is not agreed before grilling.
- Skip Kopi luwak plantations that lean on caged civets, and the Lovina dawn dolphin chase fleet.
Getting around Bali: public transport and more
- No useful public transport for visitors: hire a private driver by the day for sightseeing and use Grab or Gojek for short hops.
- Halve any speed Google Maps implies at peak times and build each day around one area.
- Some areas restrict ride hailing pickups, so walk a street or two to a permitted pickup point.
Who Bali suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Bali your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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