Section
Where to go in Bali, and who each place suits
Every part of Bali worth your time, what it is actually like, and who each one suits.
Bali is not one destination. Canggu, Ubud, Uluwatu, Sanur, Amed and Munduk are six different holidays, and picking the wrong one is the most common way a first trip disappoints. These pages cover what each area is actually like now, what it costs, how far it really is from everywhere else, and the beaches, temples, waterfalls and itineraries that earn the drive.
Every answer in this section
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Where should you stay in Bali?
Nine areas, what each one is actually like, who it suits and who it ruins. Picking wrong is the most common reason a first trip disappoints.
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What is Canggu like to visit?
The busiest part of Bali for under-40s, with excellent beginner surf and a cafe on every corner. Also the worst traffic on the island and a beach that is not for everybody.
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What is Seminyak like to visit?
The most polished part of Bali, walkable by local standards, with the best dinner scene on the island and a long sunset beach. Older and calmer than Canggu, busier than Sanur.
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What is Ubud like to visit?
Rice terraces, river gorges, temples, yoga and the best food outside the south. Also traffic, crowds at the famous sights, and 90 minutes to the nearest beach.
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What is Uluwatu like to visit?
The most dramatic scenery in Bali, the best waves in Indonesia, and beaches at the bottom of long staircases. Wonderful for surfers and views, hard work for everyone else.
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What is Sanur like to visit?
The east coast, protected by a reef, with shallow calm water, a flat beachfront path and none of the surf-town noise. The best base in Bali for families and the easiest for everyone.
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Should you stay in Jimbaran or Nusa Dua?
Jimbaran is a working fishing bay with seafood on the sand. Nusa Dua is a manicured resort enclave, 25 to 40 minutes from the airport by toll road.
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Is Kuta still worth visiting?
Bali's original resort strip: cheap rooms, a long beginner surf beach with lifeguards, heavy nightlife, and a reputation that has moved on without it.
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Is Sidemen worth visiting?
Rice terraces under Mount Agung, a river valley, almost no tourism and a handful of beautiful small hotels. What Ubud looked like before everyone found it.
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Is Amed good for diving and snorkelling?
The best accessible underwater sites on the Bali mainland, including a wreck you can snorkel from the beach, in a string of quiet fishing villages on the east coast.
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What is there to do in Munduk and Bedugul?
Highland Bali at 1,200 metres: crater lakes, clove and coffee plantations, the best waterfall cluster on the island, and nights cold enough for a jumper.
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What is the north coast of Bali like?
Calm water, black sand, dolphin boats at dawn, hot springs and the best snorkelling in Bali at Menjangan. The least visited coast and the longest drive.
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Which waterfalls in Bali are worth visiting?
There are dozens. About eight are worth the drive, and which ones depend on whether you want the photograph, the swim or the walk.
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Where are the best rice terraces in Bali?
One is 20 minutes from Ubud with swings and a queue. The other is a UNESCO site with walking trails and almost nobody. They are not the same experience.
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Which temples in Bali are worth visiting?
Six that earn the drive, what each is actually like, when to go, and the dress rules that get people turned away at the gate.
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Is the Mount Batur sunrise trek worth it?
A 2am pickup, a two-hour climb in the dark and a sunrise over a caldera and lake. Straightforward for anyone reasonably fit, and busier than the photographs suggest.
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Which are the best beaches in Bali?
White sand, black sand, calm water, big surf and empty sand are five different lists. Here is which beach belongs on which one.
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Where should beginners surf in Bali?
Sand-bottom beach breaks with schools and lifeguards, not the famous reef waves. Kuta, Canggu and Sanur are where you learn; Uluwatu is where you watch.
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Where is the best diving in Bali?
A shore-accessible wreck at Tulamben, manta rays and mola mola at Nusa Penida, and the island's clearest reef at Menjangan. Four regions, each with its own season.
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What should you eat in Bali?
Babi guling, bebek betutu, nasi campur and sate lilit are the Balinese dishes worth going out of your way for, and almost none of them are at the beach clubs.
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What is nightlife like in Bali?
Sunset beach clubs in Seminyak and Canggu, late bars in Kuta, cliff sunsets in Uluwatu and almost nothing in Sanur. Plus the drinks warning that actually matters.
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Where do you do yoga and wellness in Bali?
Drop-in classes for a few dollars, teacher trainings, silent retreats and spa treatments at a fraction of home prices. Plus what to look for before paying for a week-long retreat.
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Where do you shop in Bali?
Ubud and Sukawati markets for crafts, Seminyak and Canggu for design, and a bargaining convention that confuses almost every first-time visitor.
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What day trips can you do from south Bali?
Seven trips that work as a day, with honest driving times, and the three popular ones that do not work at all from the south.
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What can you do in Bali in 5 days?
One base, not three. Five days is enough for one region properly, and the mistake everyone makes is trying to see the whole island.
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What is a good 7 day Bali itinerary?
Three or four nights inland or on the cliffs, three or four on a beach, with one long day trip. The version that does not involve living in a car.
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How should you plan 10 days in Bali?
Ten days is the length at which you can add a third region or an island without spending the trip in transit.
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What can you do in Bali in two weeks?
Fourteen days covers the south, the centre, the east or north, and an island, with rest days built in. The version where you actually see Indonesia rather than a strip of the south.
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What mistakes do first-time visitors make in Bali?
Booking four areas in seven nights, underestimating drive times, learning to ride a scooter here, and six more that are entirely avoidable.
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What can you do in Bali when it rains?
Spas, cooking classes, museums, markets, coffee, and the specific indoor things that make a wet afternoon better than the beach day you lost.
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Is west Bali worth visiting?
Black-sand beaches with nobody on them, the island's best rice terraces, a long left-hand surf break and a national park with dry forest and the last Bali starlings.
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What is there to do in Bali with teenagers?
Surf lessons, waterfalls, volcano treks, rafting and a social scene they can join. The areas that work and the ones that will bore them.
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Where are the best photo spots in Bali?
The gates of heaven use a mirror, the swing costs extra and the queue is an hour. Here is what each famous shot actually involves, and where the better pictures are.
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Are Bali cooking classes worth it?
A market visit, a spice paste ground by hand, five or six dishes and lunch, for 300,000 to 600,000 rupiah. The best-value half day on the island.
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Is Denpasar worth visiting?
The island's capital, almost entirely ignored by visitors, with the best markets, a good museum, serious food and no tourism infrastructure at all.
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What should you know about animals in Bali?
The monkeys will take your phone, the dogs are a rabies question, and a large part of the animal tourism on offer should be avoided outright.
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What adventure activities are there in Bali?
White-water rafting on two rivers, canyoning in the gorges, downhill cycling from the crater rim, and the safety questions worth asking before you book any of them.
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What is Pererenan like to visit?
Ten minutes past Canggu, with a better beach, wider roads and most of the same cafes. Where the people who found Canggu too busy went.
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How much is a massage in Bali?
An hour-long Balinese massage costs 100,000 to 250,000 rupiah at a local spa and about five times that at a resort. What each treatment actually is.
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Where can you find quiet in Bali?
The tourist crowd occupies about 20 kilometres of coast and one town inland. Everywhere else is quiet, and here is where to go.
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What are the best things to do in Bali?
Twenty things worth your time, ranked by whether they justify the drive, plus the famous ones that do not.
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