Bali

March 2026

Basics

First thing you need to do is to apply for an indonesian e-visa on arrival (VoA). It costs around Rp 500,000 and is valid for 30 days. Here is the official website: https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/. Very important, it is required to obtain a return or outbound ticket. Just before entering the country (2 days) you have to fill in the Indonesian arrival card, which is free.

Transportation

The best way is to use Balinese uber (Grab or Gojek) both for car rides and motorbike rides. For nice trips you can rent a scooter, just be very careful, drivers here are crazy! For ferry rides, you can buy tickets on KLOOK, BaliFerries or 12Go.

Ubud

3/5 days

Let’s start with my favourite area in Bali, in my opinion, the most core Bali experience. Yoga, pilates, rice fields, temples and spirituality.

Things to do in Ubud:

Tegalalang Rice Terraces: approx 30k entrance, avoid peek times, cause you will be annoyed by the swing pictures!

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary: if you like monkeys, but be careful, they are stealing! I just walked by the forest and saw three of them on the tree, it was enough.

Ubud Art Market

Prianka Ubud Art Market

Ubud Palace: for free, they organise Balinese dance show KECAK in the evening

Rice fields walk, starting from the sweet orange entrance, peaceful place surrounded by beautiful fields

Tirta Empul Temple- Known for its natural hot spring. Balinese believe the water in this temple holds a holy power.

Yoga class in the Yoga Barn or Alchemy

Spa: Putri Bali, Inka, Sari botanicals spa (hidden gem)

Cafe : BSG Ubud, Yellow flower cafe, Blend cafe, Seniman coffee, Tis cafe, Zest, Huma cafe, Livingstone holyground, Ubud coffee roastery

See Foodie section at the bottom of this page for deep down Balinese cuisine breakdown (vege)

Warungs: Compound warung, Adi warung, Sweet orange warung, Lebah ubud

Restaurants: Alchemy, Arcadia, Nusa by suka, Wedja, This is Bali

Mount Batur

1 day

Sunrise hike, must do!

Mount Batur trekking

Definitely recommend! The sunrise view over Mount Agung is just breathtaking. The hike starts around 4am, so it’s still dark. Be careful on the path, it’s quite slippery and steep. The popularity of the hike doesn’t help (they want to sell you everything there). I would say the difficulty is moderate, it’s steep but not that long, the walk takes less than 2hrs one way including breaks. And then you finish all the hike after 8am. I booked the tour from the Klook website (click here).

The timing looks a bit like that:

  • 2am driver pick up from accommodation in Ubud (klook also offers pickups from Canggu and Seminyak),

  • 3am base camp,

  • 4am start of hiking,

  • 6am sunrise at the top with breakfast (bread, egg and banana),

  • 7am descending,

  • 8am all done,

  • 9am extra trip to the luwak coffee plantation (that is a completely extra thing, considering the lack of ethicality would not recommend),

  • 10/11am back in Ubud.

Sanur

1/2 days

For me it was just a spot from where I was taking ferries to the Nusa islands.

There is the Sindhu Night Market held in the evening, which is a cool option.

For foodie: Warung Sweetheart, Coffee Therapy and Canvas Cafe

Nusa Penida

1 day

Very, very touristy island with iconic views from IG. Worth seeing, but prepare yourself for the crowds. I spend only one day here, taking a ferry from Sanur in the early morning and back with the last one at 5pm

Things to do in Nusa Penida:

  • Crystal Bay: sunbathing or snorkeling

  • Tembeling Waterfall

  • Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong

  • Atuh and Diamond Beach: more remote, most beautiful place imo

  • Kelingking Beach: Ig-famous place where you can hike up and down to the beach (remember the proper shoes)

  • Mantapoint: to spot mantas

  • PS, don’t rent a scooter in a random place, I had an accident, mainly because my bike was not in the best condition. The roads here are just a joke, very narrow and steep, and it’s busy with cars too

Nusa Lembongan

2/3 days

Much less touristy. Be prepared that getting to the island with the ferry requires you to hop on the beach straight from the boat (not helpful if your leg has bandages, but you can just be carried like I was :) Here, you can watch the incredible sunset!

Things to do in Nusa Lembongan:

  • Pantai Pasir Putin beach- went there for the sunset, you can also see Mount Agung there

  • Coconut Beach- cute spot, you can get there by boardwalk from Lembongan beach 

  • Mushroom bay

  • Dream Beach

  • Devil’s Tears: spot for sunset.

  • Panorama Point (aka Ohana’s Lookout)

  • Food: Whitecorner coffee shop (with the ocean view), The beach shack, Dapur Kecil Lembongan, Warung Kecil Lembongan

Seminyak/Canggu

2/3 days

Part of Bali that is not my favourite tbh, too crowded, too much party vibe, too much westernised, beach is ugly, but has some nice cafes and yoga/fitness facilities.

Things to do in Seminyak/Canggu:

  • Tanah Lot temple, located 30 mins from Canggu, great place for the sunset

  • Bali Niki Art Market

  • Surfing clases

  • Yoga or fintess studios: The Practice Yoga, Power + Revive Studio, Nirvana

  • Spa: Bodyworks Spa, Kimberly Spa, Botanika Spa & Wellness

  • FINNS Beach Club

  • Food: Nook (beautiful place), Milk &Madu, Veganlicious (perfect smoothie bowls), La Favela, Waroeng Bernadette, Made’s Warung, SISTA Dumpling, The Avocado Factory

  • Cafe: HUT cafe, Ligma Cafe, Cinnamor, St. Ali, Rise & Shine

Uluwatu

3/4 days

Bigger area, so I can recommend renting a scooter here. Surfing vibes, some nice beaches and less crowds.

Things to do in Uluwatu:

  • GWK cultural park: awesome park, you can even see some performances there

  • Beach hopping: Nyang Nyang Beach, Suluban Beach, Padang Padang Beach, Dreamland Beach, Balangan Beach, Bingin Beach, Nusa Dua Beach, Geger Beach

  • Uluwatu Temple ( Pura Luhur): This 11th-century temple is located on a cliff 70 meters above the ocean. The scenery is beautiful and there are lots and lots of monkeys. They will steal your stuff! Temple is also the best place to experience Kecak dance performance.

  • Sunset: Single Fin bar with an epic view, Copy House Bali outdoor area

  • Museum Pasifika Bali: art museum 

  • Surfing

  • Bamboo fitness Bali

  • Foodie: Sista Dumplings, Nourish Cafe, Waroeng Nyonya, Ours, Hatch, Chela, Mana

  • Cafe: Suka Espresso, Nourish Cafe, Single Fin, Copy House, Karmafree surf shop & cafe, Baked, Nenek Bakery

* Gili Trawangan

Haven’t been there myself (because of my accident), but I had some plan prepared.

Things to do in Gili Trawangan:

  • Sunset Beach: sunsets with the view of Mount Agung (Bali’s tallest volcano)

  • Turtle Point: you can snorkel with sea turtles right off shore

  • Cycle around the island: there are no cars here, so you can rent a bike and spend the day exploring the island

  • Beautiful beaches

  • Trawangan Night Market: held every night, for fresh seafood and Indonesian eats at ultra-cheap prices

Things to do in Bali (other areas):

  • Jatiluwih rice terraces

  • Waterfalls: Kanto Lampo near Ubud, Tegenungan near Ubud, Goa Gajah Elephant Cave, Tukad Cepung Cave in East Bali, Aling Aling in North Bali, Banyumala Twin in North Bali, Gitgit Twin in North Bali, Sekumpul in North Bali

  • Lempuyang Luhur Temple with the view of Mount Agung

  • Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, temple on the lake located in the centre of Bali island

  • Pura Besakih

  • Taman Ayun Temple

  • The Kecak dance performance

  • The Balinese cooking classes ( Ubud offers cool options)

  • The Balinese massage!

Foodie

Must-try vegetarian eats

  • Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng

    This is Indonesia’s most popular dish – fried rice (nasi) or fried noodles (mie). Usually mixed with vegetables and chicken (for me obviously tofu or tempe version), and served with one sunny-side-up egg. You can have this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  • Nasi Campur

    This means “mixed rice”, and that’s exactly what it is –steamed rice with an assortment of side dishes, such as vegetables, tofu, tempe, corn fritter, egg and cracker. It could be spicy ( thanks to chilies).

  • Gado Gado

    Boiled mixed vegetables, tempe, tofu and egg with peanut sauce (sauce is just incredible)

  • Satay sauce

    This Indonesian peanut based sauce is very, very delicious especially with grilled of fried tempe and tofu.

  • Smoothie bowl and coconut water

    Yes, it is not a local eat, but very delicious and perfect for hot weather. You can get the smoothie bowl in literally every cafe. And when it comes to the coconut water, it’s ideal for hydration.

  • https://pin.it/15BLvfIz5

    Avocado juice

    It’s a thing, apparently, very sweet. It’s more like a dessert than a drink. Some places offer avocado coffee too

    photo source: Pinterest

  • https://pin.it/4IVKQ7NtI

    Tempe

    Let’s not forget that Indonesia is the birthplace of tempe, a fermented soybean cake. It’s more firm than tofu and has a nutty taste. You can find it in many formes, grilled, stir fried, deep fried, or even as a chip looking like

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Sambal

    This is a chilli paste you can find everywhere. It’s a blend of chillies, garlic, shallots, lime, tomato, shrimp paste and palm sugar

  • https://pin.it/15BLvfIz5

    Tropical fruit

    You should definitely visit a fruit stall and try:

    Dragon Fruit- very pinky, tastes like kiwi, but the yellow version is also worth a try, Salak (Snake Fruit)- brownish exterior with a bright inside that tastes a bit like pineapple, Mangosteen - segmented purple fruit, mix of lychee and peach, and Rambutan- very similar to lychee.

Foodie top places

  1. Compound Warung in Ubud- I have eaten there twice, that’s how much I liked it. The prices were very reasonable as for a local Warung. Nasi Campur there was my fav from all Bali.

  2. Yellow Flower Cafe in Ubud- the surroundings and the view of rice fields is just spectacular

  3. Alchemy Bar- Ubud, must-eat when it comes to modern, healthy cuisine

  4. BGS Ubud- very good coffee

  5. Sweet Orange Warung- on the rice field trail, atmosphere is just over the top

  6. Veganlicious in Seminyak- been there twice, because smoothie bowls were sooo good

  7. Nook in Seminyak- climatic place with rice fields view, all dishes are beautifully prepared

  8. Suka Espresso - many locations, very trendy with good smoothie bowls

  9. Warung Sweetheart in Sanur- very good warung with delicious mie goreng and dragon fruit juice

  10. Copy House in Uluwatu has a really decent coffee

Thanks for visiting

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