Bali

The island packs very different trips into a small space. Ubud, in the green hills of Gianyar, is the centre for crafts, dance and walks through the paddies. The south-west coast, from Seminyak to Canggu, is about beach clubs, cafés and waves, while the limestone cliffs of the Bukit peninsula around Uluwatu hold some of the island's best-known surf breaks. Sanur and Nusa Dua offer calmer water for families. Private pool villas, apartments and village houses are common everywhere, which makes Bali well suited to long stays and group trips.

Where to stay in Bali

Ubud suits travellers who want culture and greenery: palace courtyards with evening dance, galleries, yoga studios and walks along ridges and rice fields. Villas here often look over paddies or river valleys, but the sea is about an hour away.

Seminyak, just north of Kuta and Legian, is polished and busy, with boutiques, restaurants and sunset bars along a wide sandy beach. Canggu, further up the coast, grew from surf village to one of Bali's most popular areas in the early 2020s; it is lively and full of cafés, with traffic to match.

Uluwatu and the rest of the Bukit peninsula suit surfers and anyone after cliff-top views. Sanur, on the south-east coast, is quieter and gentler, a good choice for families and older travellers. Nusa Dua is a planned resort enclave with manicured beaches and very calm days.

Temples and Balinese Hinduism

Bali has thousands of temples, from family shrines to great public sanctuaries. Besakih, on the flanks of Mount Agung in Karangasem, is regarded as the most important temple of Balinese Hinduism: a complex of 23 linked temples about 1,000 metres up the mountain. Tanah Lot, in Tabanan, stands on an offshore rock that can be reached on foot only at low tide, and Uluwatu temple sits at the edge of a cliff around 70 metres above the sea, where a Kecak dance based on the Ramayana is performed in the evening. Tirta Empul, near Tampaksiring, is built around a spring where Balinese Hindus come to purify themselves.

Visitors are welcome at many temples, but they should cover their legs with a sarong and wear a sash, and keep belongings away from the macaques at Uluwatu.

Rice terraces, volcanoes and nature

Bali's rice fields are watered by subak, a cooperative irrigation system of canals, weirs and water temples generally dated to around the 9th century. In 2012 UNESCO listed the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province, which includes the Jatiluwih terraces in the Batukaru area, the royal water temple of Taman Ayun, the Pakerisan watershed, and Lake Batur with its temple Ulun Danu Batur.

Mount Agung, at 3,031 metres the island's highest peak, erupted catastrophically in 1963 and was active again from late 2017 to 2019. Mount Batur, an active volcano in the Kintamani highlands, is a popular pre-dawn hike for sunrise over its crater lake. Off the south-east coast, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, part of Klungkung Regency, offer clear water, snorkelling and steep coastal viewpoints, reached by boat from the Sanur area.

Beaches and surf

The west-facing beaches from Kuta through Seminyak to Canggu are long and sandy, with famous sunsets and steady waves; Canggu's Batu Bolong and Echo Beach are known surf spots. These beaches face open ocean, so currents can be strong: swim between the flags where lifeguards are present.

On the Bukit peninsula, small beaches tucked beneath limestone cliffs lead to reef breaks for experienced surfers, and the water is clearest in the dry season. Sanur and Nusa Dua, on the east side, are sheltered by reefs and are among the easiest places on the island for young children to swim, although low tide can leave the water shallow. Jimbaran, on the bay south of the airport, is known for seafood eaten on the sand at sunset.

A short history

Bali's culture took shape over many centuries of Hindu and Buddhist influence from Java, and the island was later divided among several Balinese kingdoms. The Dutch extended their control over the south in the early 20th century. In 1906 Dutch troops landed at Sanur and marched on Badung, where members of the royal court chose a puputan, a ritual fight to the death, rather than surrender; a similar puputan followed in Klungkung in 1908.

In the 1930s European artists such as the Belgian painter Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur, whose house in Sanur is now a museum, helped make the island known abroad. Bali became a province of independent Indonesia, and today it is divided into eight regencies and the city of Denpasar, its capital.

Getting there and around

I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), also called Denpasar or Bali airport, is in Tuban in the south of the island, about 13 kilometres south of Denpasar. Seminyak, Sanur and Nusa Dua are usually reached in well under an hour, Canggu and Uluwatu take longer at busy times, and Ubud is roughly an hour or more by road.

There are no trains, and traffic in the south can be slow. Most visitors use private drivers, ride-hailing apps or rented scooters; anyone riding a scooter needs a valid licence and a helmet. Fast boats link Sanur with the Nusa islands.

Since 14 February 2024, foreign visitors pay a tourist levy set by the Bali provincial government, which can be paid online through the official Love Bali portal.

Weather and when to visit

Bali is warm all year, with daytime temperatures around 30°C in the lowlands and cooler evenings in the hills around Ubud and Kintamani. The rainy west monsoon runs roughly from October or November to April, with the heaviest rain from December to March, usually in strong afternoon downpours. The drier months, roughly April to October, bring lower humidity and the most reliable beach and surf weather, and July and August are especially busy.

Plan around Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence that usually falls in March: for 24 hours from 6 a.m., everyone, visitors included, must stay indoors and the airport closes. The evening before brings ogoh-ogoh parades of giant demon figures through the villages.