What are the best things to do in Bali?

Bali has an enormous number of attractions and a much smaller number of things that are actually worth arranging your day around. This is the short list.

The ten that are genuinely worth it

1. Sunset and kecak at Uluwatu temple. A cliff 70 metres above the sea, a hundred men chanting, and the sun going down behind them. Touristic and excellent.

2. A cooking class with a market visit. Three to five hours, 300,000 to 600,000 rupiah, and the one activity you take home with you.

3. Snorkelling or diving at Menjangan or Amed. The Liberty wreck at Tulamben lies 30 metres from the beach and is one of the most accessible great dives in the world.

4. Nusa Penida's west coast. Kelingking, Broken Beach, Crystal Bay. The most dramatic coastline in the region.

5. Jatiluwih at 7am. UNESCO-listed rice terraces with walking trails and no crowd.

6. A village temple anniversary. Ask your driver what is happening this week. Nothing organised comes close.

7. Learning to surf at Kuta or Batu Bolong. Sand bottom, schools everywhere, and a skill in two days.

8. The Munduk waterfalls and the twin lakes. Cool air, clove plantations, Banyumala twin waterfall, and almost nobody.

9. Mount Batur at sunrise. A 2am start and two hours uphill for a caldera at dawn, in dry season.

10. A long spa afternoon. Two hours of massage, scrub and flower bath for less than a haircut at home.

Worth it with conditions

Tegalalang rice terrace, but only at 6.30am before the swings and buses.

Tirta Empul, at opening, with a guide who explains the purification sequence.

Tanah Lot, at sunrise or mid-morning rather than in the sunset crush.

Ubud Monkey Forest, with nothing loose in your hands or on your head.

The Gili Islands, if you have three nights rather than a day trip.

Lempuyang, for the temple complex rather than the gates photograph, which involves a mirror and a two-hour queue.

A beach club, once, arriving by 4pm rather than at sunset.

Waterfalls, choosing one cluster rather than driving between three regions.

Things that are better than their reputation

Sanur's beach path at 6am, when the fishing boats come in.

Denpasar's Pasar Badung market, which almost no visitor sees.

Sidemen, where the rice terraces have no gate, no fee and no queue.

West Bali National Park, which looks like nowhere else on the island.

The Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, mid-year, with dance and gamelan from every regency.

A night market, anywhere.

Things that are worse

Luwak coffee plantation stops, which usually involve caged civets and coffee that is not good.

Elephant rides and elephant "sanctuaries", which should be avoided entirely.

Dolphin shows and swim-with-dolphin pools.

The floating breakfast, which is a tray in a pool.

Any tour promising eight sights in a day, which is a day in a car.

Handara Gate, a golf course entrance with a queue and a fee.

By how much time you have

One free day in the south: Uluwatu temple and kecak, with Melasti or Padang Padang beforehand.

Two days: add a day trip to Ubud with Tegalalang early and Tirta Empul at opening.

Three days: add Nusa Penida from Sanur, or the Munduk and Bedugul highlands.

A week: add a cooking class, a surf lesson, a spa afternoon and two nights somewhere quiet.

Two weeks: add Amed or Pemuteran for the diving, Sidemen for the terraces, and an island.

The rule underneath all of it

Everything in Bali is better before 9am, and almost everything is worse after 10. The visitors who come back saying the island was crowded and the ones who come back saying it was extraordinary usually went to the same places at different hours.