SEMINYAK · BALI
Surf at the door, volcanoes at dawn, islands by lunch.
Seminyak is the beach-club base; the rest of Bali is a pick-up away. Nusa Penida cliffs, Mount Batur sunrises, Ubud rice terraces, the Uluwatu fire dance and every temple, waterfall and reef in between.
The big three
The three days a Bali trip is built around.
Beach clubs and spa days you can have anywhere warm. The fast-boat island crossing, the dawn climb up an active volcano and the cliff-temple fire dance belong to Bali.
The island day
Nusa Penida
A fast boat crosses the strait to the wild island off the south-east coast. The T-Rex ridge above Kelingking Beach, the arch at Broken Beach, the natural infinity pool at Angel’s Billabong, and snorkelling the cleaning stations where the manta rays glide in. The single most-booked day in Bali, and it earns it.
- 1 Nusa Penida day trip: boat, 4 snorkeling, Manta rays & Land tour
- 2 Bali Nusa Penida West Private All-Inclusive Tour
- 3 Nusa Penida One Day Trip with All-inclusive
Dawn on the volcano
Mount Batur Sunrise
A 2am pick-up and a head-torch climb up the black flank of an active volcano to reach the crater rim at 1,717 metres just before first light. The sun comes up over Lake Batur and the cone of Gunung Agung, and breakfast eggs are cooked in the volcanic steam venting through the rocks.
- 1 Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking Private Tour with Breakfast and Hotel Transfer
- 2 Private Tour Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking and Natural Hot Spring
- 3 Small Group Mount Batur Sunrise Hike
Cliff temple at dusk
Uluwatu & the Kecak
Pura Luhur Uluwatu clings to a limestone headland seventy metres above the surf, guarded by a troupe of cheeky long-tailed macaques. As the sun drops into the Indian Ocean, a hundred bare-chested men chant the Kecak in a ring of firelight, telling the Ramayana without a single instrument.
- 1 Uluwatu Sunset Tour: Kecak and Fire Dance with Jimbaran Dinner
- 2 Uluwatu Temple Entry and Kecak Fire Dance Ticket
- 3 Private Tour Bali Beaches and Uluwatu Temple with Dinner
Start with the standout
The single most popular thing to do in Bali.
More travellers build a Bali trip around this one than anything else on the island.
The classics
Bali's Most Popular Tours
Nusa Penida, Mount Batur, Uluwatu and the jungle waterfalls. The days most travellers fly in for.
Where to begin
The guides a Bali trip starts with.
Nusa Penida, Ubud, Mount Batur, Uluwatu, the waterfalls and the manta bays. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each one.
The signature day trip
How to do Nusa Penida.
It is a 45-minute crossing to a big, rough island with one-lane cliff roads, so the how matters as much as the if. Three ways to take it on, depending on whether you want the viewpoints, the water or both at your own pace.
Ubud
The green heart of the island.
Half an hour inland the beaches give way to terraced rice fields, river gorges and forest. Ubud is Bali’s cultural centre: the carved Tegallalang terraces, the Sacred Monkey Forest, jungle swings that fling you out over the valley, and waterfalls a short ride in almost any direction.
Read the guide: the best things to do in Ubud →Into the jungle
Falls hidden in the green.
The interior is laced with waterfalls, from the wide curtain of Tegenungan a short hop from Ubud to the towering multi-tier drop at Sekumpul in the north. Most are a quick scramble down jungle steps to a cool plunge pool, with the spray drifting up through the canopy.
See the best Bali waterfalls →Golden hour
The sunset is the main event.
Seminyak faces due west, and at the end of every day the whole strip turns out for it. The sky over the Indian Ocean runs gold to pink, the surf goes to silver and the beach bars fill up. Take it from the sand with a cold Bintang, from a clifftop bar above Uluwatu, or from the deck of a dinner cruise off the south coast.
Sunset cruises & dinners →Tanah Lot
The temple that sits on the sea.
Pura Tanah Lot perches on a wave-battered rock just off the west coast, cut off by the tide twice a day. It is the most photographed temple on the island, and most people come for one moment: the tiered shrine in silhouette against a flaring sunset, with the surf breaking white around the base.
- 1 Tanah Lot Tour with Ubud Monkey Forest, Rice Terraces, and Waterfalls
- 2 Bali: Tanah Lot Temple Sunset Kecak & Fire Dance Show Ticket
- 3 Private Full-Day Tour: Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Jatiluwih and Tanah Lot Temple
By pace
Pick your day, by pace.
Bali runs at every speed. A spa morning and a long lunch when you want to do nothing, a temple-and-waterfall day when you want the classics, a volcano dawn or a river full of rapids when you want the rush.
Slow it down
Spa mornings and rice-terrace afternoons.Flower-bath spa days, a cooking class over a wood fire, long lunches above the Tegallalang terraces.
The classic days
Temples, terraces and island runs.Jungle waterfalls, the Uluwatu fire dance, a fast boat to Nusa Penida and a day through the Ubud valleys.
Full adventure
Volcano dawns and white water.The pre-dawn Mount Batur climb, the Ayung river rapids, quad bikes through the mud and manta dives off Penida.
Manta Point
Eye to eye with a five-metre manta.
Off the south coast of Nusa Penida, giant oceanic mantas glide into shallow cleaning stations all year round, wingspans up to five metres across. Snorkel or dive Manta Point and Manta Bay and you hang in the blue while they bank and loop below you. Add the cool clear water of Crystal Bay for turtles and coral on the same boat.
See all 35 manta & diving trips →By place
Bali, eight ways.
Seminyak for the beach clubs, Kuta for the surf, Ubud for the rice terraces. Nusa Penida for the cliffs, Uluwatu for the temples, Kintamani for the volcano. Jimbaran for the seafood and Nusa Dua for the calm water.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
Waterfalls if you want the jungle. Snorkelling if you want the reef. A jungle swing if you want the photo. Rice terraces, a cooking class, a spa afternoon or a sunset cruise.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Bali? Here is a three-day run that hits the island's best without a wasted hour.
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