What day trips can you do from south Bali?

Bali's road speeds mean a day trip from the southern beaches is a real commitment: two to five hours of driving for most of them. These are the ones worth it, with a driver, starting early.

The ones that work

Ubud and the temples. Tegalalang at 7am, Tirta Empul, lunch in Ubud, Goa Gajah or the monkey forest, home by 5. Nine hours including traffic. The classic first-timer day.

Nusa Penida. Fast boat from Sanur, a driver on the island, Kelingking and Broken Beach or the eastern beaches, boat back at 4pm. A very long day and the most spectacular scenery in the region. Leaving from Canggu means a 6am start.

Tanah Lot and the west coast. Tanah Lot, Kedungu, a beach lunch, and Pura Taman Ayun at Mengwi on the way back. Half a day from Canggu, and the easiest trip on this list.

The highlands: Bedugul, Munduk, Jatiluwih. Ulun Danu Beratan, the twin lakes, a waterfall, Jatiluwih on the way home. Ten hours and worth it once.

Uluwatu and the Bukit beaches, if you are based in Canggu or Seminyak. Melasti, Padang Padang, Uluwatu temple and kecak at sunset, dinner in Jimbaran.

Mount Batur sunrise, leaving at 2am and back by noon. The standard version is a guided trek; the lazy version is a sunrise viewpoint at Kintamani by car.

A cooking class or a cycling tour, usually in Ubud or Tabanan, with hotel pickup included. The best value day out in Bali for what you learn.

The ones that do not work as a day trip

Amed. Three hours each way. You would spend six hours in a car for four in the water. Stay two nights.

Lovina and the north. Three to four hours each way. Same problem.

Sekumpul waterfall. Three hours from the south, plus a hard descent and climb. Do it from Lovina or Munduk.

The Gili Islands. Possible as a day trip on paper, miserable in practice. Two nights minimum.

Lempuyang. Two and a half hours each way plus a long queue for the photograph. Do it from Sidemen or Amed.

What a driver costs

Roughly 600,000 to 900,000 rupiah for eight to ten hours including the car and fuel, plus your own entry fees and the driver's lunch if you want to buy it. Split between two to four people it is the cheapest good day you will have here. See hiring a driver.

The rules that make a day trip work

Leave at 7am. Not 9. The single biggest determinant of whether the day is good.

Two or three stops, not six. Bali day tours that promise eight sights are selling car time.

Loop, do not scatter. North and east in one day is fourteen hours.

Check what is open and what it costs, and take cash in small notes for entries, parking and collections.

Eat where your driver eats at least once. It will be the best meal of the day and it will cost two dollars.

Two-day trips that beat any day trip

If you have the nights to spare, the same drive becomes a much better trip.

Sidemen, two nights. Rice terraces under Agung, water palaces, rafting, and the quiet east. Two hours from the south.

Amed, two nights. Shore diving on the Liberty wreck, snorkelling from the beach, sunrise over Rinjani. Three hours.

Munduk, two nights. Waterfalls, lakes, cool nights and walking. Two and a half hours.

Nusa Lembongan, two nights. A 30-minute boat from Sanur into an island that runs at a completely different pace.

Each of these turns six hours of driving into two, and each of them is the part of the trip people remember.

Booking tours versus a driver

Organised group tours cost less per head and run to a fixed schedule with fixed stops, usually including the shopping stops. A private driver costs more per head for one or two people, less for four, and the day is yours. For anything other than a trek that requires a guide, the driver is the better purchase.