The best things to do in Bali are watching the Kecak at Uluwatu Temple as the sun drops, climbing Mount Batur for sunrise, walking the UNESCO-listed rice terraces at Jatiluwih and taking the fast boat to Nusa Penida. Give the island seven to ten days, come in the dry season between May and September, and pay the 150,000 rupiah tourist levy on the official Love Bali site before you land.
Bali is one island of 5,780 square kilometres wearing four personalities at once. The south is surf breaks and beach clubs, the centre is rice terraces and temples, the east and north hold the volcanoes, the waterfalls and the diving, and the Nusa islands sit forty minutes offshore by fast boat. Below are the ten experiences worth your time (each one mapped) plus where to eat, swim and slow down between them.
Temple· Pura Luhur Uluwatu, Pecatu, South Kuta, Badung Regency
The temple stands on a limestone headland roughly 70 metres above the Indian Ocean, and the Balinese count it among the six sad kahyangan, the sanctuaries held to keep the island in spiritual balance. Come for the last hour of light. The amphitheatre beside it stages the Kecak, a retelling of the Ramayana chanted by a seated chorus of men with no instruments behind them, and the sea takes the light while they do it. The dance is ticketed separately from the temple and sells out in high season.
Batur tops out at 1,717 metres inside a far older caldera, so the standard route is about 400 metres of climbing rather than the epic the photographs suggest. Groups leave the trailhead between 02:00 and 04:00 and reach the rim in roughly two hours, which puts you above the cloud with Lake Batur on one side and Mount Agung on the other. The Kintamani trekking association requires every hiker to go with a registered local guide, and that is enforced at the trailhead rather than suggested.
Tegallalang is closer to Ubud and busier for it. Jatiluwih is the one UNESCO listed, part of the cultural landscape built on subak, the farmer-run irrigation cooperatives that have divided this water since the ninth century. Marked walking loops run through the terraces from the ticket gate, from a twenty-minute stroll to a couple of hours, and they take you past the water temples that decide who irrigates when.
Twelve and a half hectares of banyan forest in the middle of Ubud, owned by the village of Padangtegal, holding three fourteenth-century temples and well over a thousand long-tailed macaques. It works as a conservation site rather than a zoo: the paths are the monkeys' territory and you are the visitor. Last entry is 17:15, and the rules are not decorative. No food in hands or pockets, no eye contact, no sunglasses on your head.
A small temple on a rock offshore, cut off at high water and reachable across the reef when the tide drops. Only Balinese Hindus go up into the sanctuary itself; everyone else walks the base, where a spring under the rock is used for blessings. Check a tide table before you commit to the drive, because the difference between the photograph everyone has and a view from the cliff path is a couple of hours of water.
Viewpoint· Bunga Mekar, Nusa Penida, Klungkung Regency
The headland that reads as a dinosaur in every photograph of Indonesia, an hour across the strait from Sanur and another hour of hard road once you land. The viewpoint itself is free and costs only parking. The descent is a roughly 100-metre scramble down rope-assisted steps cut into the cliff, steeper and more exposed than it photographs. Swimming at the bottom is forbidden and the currents are the reason why.
A spring temple founded in the tenth century where Balinese Hindus perform melukat, a purification that works through a line of stone spouts in a bathing pool. Visitors may join, in a sarong, moving spout to spout from the left and skipping the two reserved for funeral rites. Go at opening or leave it: the queue in the water is the difference between a ritual and a photo opportunity.
A 120-metre US Army transport, torpedoed in 1942 and pushed off the beach by the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung, now lying on its side about 25 metres from the black stones of Tulamben. It is a shore dive: you walk in. The hull runs from roughly three metres down to nearly thirty, which makes it one of the rare wrecks a snorkeller and a technical diver can share. Go on the first boat-free slot of the morning.
Seven separate streams dropping into one canyon in the north, three hours from the southern beaches and worth the day it costs. The upper viewpoint is a short walk from the ticket desk; the base takes a guided descent of several hundred steps and a river wade, and a longer circuit adds the neighbouring falls. Local guides run the trail and the tiers are priced separately, so decide which one you want before you pay.
Water park· Jl. Kartika Plaza, Tuban, Kuta, Badung Regency
The one attraction in Kuta that consistently over-delivers, and the obvious answer to a day with children or a day after a night out. Slides run through 3.8 hectares of mature garden rather than concrete, and the park has built its reputation on the landscaping and the waste record as much as the rides. Open every day from 09:00 to 18:00, public holidays included.
Seven to ten. That covers three or four nights in the south for the beaches and the cliffs, three in Ubud for the temples and terraces, and one long day for either Nusa Penida or the volcanoes and waterfalls in the north. Five days works if you drop one of those three.
What is the best time of year to visit Bali?+
May, June and September. They sit inside the dry season without the July and August crowds and prices. The wet season runs roughly November to March, which means afternoon downpours rather than washed-out days, and it is when the evening Kecak at Uluwatu is most often moved or cancelled.
Do you have to pay the Bali tourist levy?+
Yes, if you are a foreign visitor. It is 150,000 rupiah per person per visit, paid on the official Love Bali site or at the airport, and it produces a QR voucher. Pay only on the government domain ending .go.id: lookalike sites charge double. Indonesian nationals are exempt, and the charge is per visit rather than per night.
How do you get around Bali?+
Hire a driver for the long days and use ride-hailing apps for short hops. There is no rail network and distances take far longer than the map suggests, so the north coast or the west is a full day either way. Scooters are cheap and everywhere, but they need a licence that covers them and the traffic is not forgiving.
Do you need a visa for Bali?+
Most Western passport holders buy a tourist visa on arrival at Ngurah Rai, valid for 30 days and extendable once, and the same visa can be bought online before departure. Indonesia renumbered its visa categories recently, so check the current index for your nationality on the official immigration site rather than on a travel blog.
Temples
Best temples in Bali
Six that are worth arranging a day around, from the cliff edge to the lake.
Twenty-three linked temples climbing the southwest slope of Mount Agung, the holiest site on the island. Give it a whole morning and take an official guide from the entrance.
The garden temple of the old Mengwi kingdom, ringed by a moat and listed by UNESCO as part of the subak cultural landscape. Quiet, and twenty minutes off the Ubud road.
Seven streams into one canyon, the best of them on the island. Viewpoint, guided descent to the base, or the longer circuit taking in the neighbouring falls.
The dinosaur headland at Kelingking, Angel's Billabong and the manta cleaning stations. Rough roads, so book a driver on the island rather than a scooter.
Balinese New Year. The island stops for 24 hours from 06:00: no travel, no work, no lights, and Ngurah Rai airport handles only emergency and medical flights. The night before brings the ogoh-ogoh, giant demon effigies paraded and then burned. Nyepi falls on 8 March in 2027.
Every 210 days
Galungan and Kuningan
The biggest event in the Balinese calendar, marking the return of ancestral spirits, with penjor bamboo poles arching over every road. It runs on the 210-day pawukon cycle, so it moves: Galungan on 17 June 2026 with Kuningan ten days later, then 13 January and 11 August 2027.
Apr
BaliSpirit Festival
Five days of yoga, music and healing arts in Ubud, staged at The Yoga Barn and in the gardens of the Puri Padi hotel. The 2026 edition, the seventeenth, ran 15 to 19 April.
May
Ubud Food Festival
Four days of Indonesian cooking, producers and workshops at Taman Kuliner in Ubud. The 2026 edition marked ten years and ran 28 to 31 May under the theme Farmers: Guardians of Land and Sea.
Jun to Jul
Bali Arts Festival
Pesta Kesenian Bali, a month of gamelan, dance and craft at the Taman Werdhi Budaya arts centre in Denpasar, opening with a parade. Admission is free. The 2026 edition ran 13 June to 11 July.
Jul
Bali Kite Festival
Village teams fly bebean, janggan and pecukan kites the size of small aircraft over Mertasari beach in Sanur, with gamelan playing on the sand. The 2026 edition was held on 18 and 19 July.
Jul to Nov
Makepung buffalo races
Water buffalo pulling decorated ploughs at speed through the Jembrana countryside in the far west, run fortnightly on Sunday mornings through the dry season and finishing with the Jembrana Cup in November.
Oct
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival
Southeast Asia's largest literary festival, spread across venues in Ubud. The 2026 edition, the twenty-third, ran 21 to 25 October on the theme Samarasa: Awareness, Empathy, Action.
Getting around
Bali transport & airports
How to arrive and how to cover the island once you have.
DPS
I Gusti Ngurah Rai International
The island's only airport, at Tuban between Kuta and Jimbaran, about fifteen minutes from Seminyak and ninety from Ubud in traffic. Grab and Gojek both operate here through official lounges in the parking buildings rather than at the arrivals curb. It closes completely for 24 hours on Nyepi.
The default way to cover Bali, and cheaper than it sounds when split between two or more. A driver takes a day rate, waits while you walk a temple or a terrace, and knows which road is closed for a ceremony. Agree the itinerary and the rate before you set off.
Ride-hailing works across the south and Ubud, with a motorbike option that halves the price and the journey time. Some areas and beaches are enforced as no-pickup zones by local transport cooperatives, so expect to walk a block occasionally.
Trans Metro Dewata runs cheap provincial buses through Denpasar and the south, and the Kura-Kura Bus links Kuta with Ubud and Kintamani on a tourist timetable. For the Nusa islands, fast boats leave Sanur harbour through the morning and take 35 to 45 minutes.
Suckling pig turned over coals with turmeric, lemongrass and coriander root, served with crackling, blood sausage and rice. A ceremonial dish that became a lunch counter staple.
Bebek betutu
Duck packed with spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf and betel bark and steamed for hours until it pulls apart. Order it a day ahead at most warungs.
Sate lilit
Minced fish or pork mixed with grated coconut and spice, wrapped around a lemongrass stalk and grilled. The stalk is the skewer and the seasoning at once.
Lawar
Finely chopped vegetables, coconut and minced meat bound with spice. The red version uses fresh blood; the white one does not, and every warung makes it differently.
Nasi campur Bali
A plate of rice ringed by small portions of everything: satay, lawar, a hard-boiled egg, peanuts, crackling and sambal. The most useful order on any menu.
Sambal matah
Raw shallot, lemongrass, chilli and lime leaf dressed in hot coconut oil. Uncooked, sharp, and the condiment that makes Balinese food taste Balinese.
Ikan bakar
Whole fish split, painted with spice and grilled over coconut husk. On Jimbaran bay the tables are set on the sand and the fish is picked from the morning's catch.
Dadar gulung
A pandan crepe, green from the leaf, rolled around coconut cooked down with palm sugar. Sold in markets by the stack.
Bali fact sheet
Bali at a glance
The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Indonesia
Region
Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java and Lombok
Population
4.4 million (Bali province)
Founded
A province of Indonesia since 1958
Nickname
Island of the Gods
Language
Indonesian (official) and Balinese
Currency
Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
Time zone
UTC+8 (WITA), no daylight saving
Calling code
+62, area code 0361
Airports
I Gusti Ngurah Rai International (DPS), Tuban
Power
230V, Type C and F two-pin plugs
Emergency
112
Interesting facts
Bali covers 5,780 square kilometres and holds about 4.4 million people, which is one small island out of the roughly 17,000 Indonesia counts.
Subak, the farmer-run irrigation cooperatives that have shared this water since the ninth century, are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Jatiluwih is the easiest place to walk through them.
Bali is the only Indonesian province with a Hindu majority, in a country that is overwhelmingly Muslim.
On Nyepi the whole island stops for 24 hours from 06:00, and Ngurah Rai airport shuts with it, handling only emergency and medical flights.
Mount Batur reaches 1,717 metres but sits inside a much older caldera, so the sunrise trek climbs only about 400 metres from the trailhead.
Headed to Bali?
Get our one-page Bali cheat sheet plus a fresh destination every Thursday. Join 38,000 travelers.
