Bali, Indonesia
Rice terraces, temples, and surf from beginner to Uluwatu-serious. Dry season May to September.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27° | 23° | 377 mm | |
| Feb | 27° | 23° | 369 mm | |
| Mar | 28° | 23° | 342 mm | |
| Apr | 28° | 23° | 214 mm | prime |
| May | 27° | 22° | 124 mm | prime |
| Jun | 27° | 22° | 93 mm | prime |
| Jul | 26° | 21° | 87 mm | prime |
| Aug | 27° | 20° | 66 mm | prime |
| Sep | 28° | 21° | 76 mm | prime |
| Oct | 29° | 22° | 119 mm | prime |
| Nov | 28° | 23° | 263 mm | |
| Dec | 27° | 23° | 363 mm |
30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $80 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Nyepi March
The island shuts down for a day of silence
Bali Arts Festival June
A month of dance and gamelan in Denpasar
Worth knowing
Cash for warungs, markets, scooter hire and temple donations. Cards in hotels and larger restaurants. Use machines attached to banks rather than the freestanding ones in shop doorways.
money · editorial
Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, shuts the entire island for twenty-four hours each spring: no flights in or out, no vehicles, no lights, nobody outside. It moves year to year, so check before booking. Temples require a sarong and sash, provided at the gate, and menstruating women are asked not to enter.
know before · editorial
January and February are the wettest, and the west-coast beaches collect rubbish carried in by the current, which is seasonal and unpleasant while it lasts. July and August are dry and busy enough that the south is one continuous traffic jam.
when not to go · editorial
Canggu is surf, cafes and a long-term foreign crowd. Seminyak is beach clubs and shops. The Bukit, around Uluwatu, is cliffs and serious waves, spread out and needing wheels. Ubud is inland: rice, temples, no beach. Sanur is flat, calm and older. Amed and Pemuteran in the north-east and north-west are for diving and quiet.
where to stay · editorial
A scooter is how the island moves, and a hired driver by the day is the easy alternative. There are no trains and the southern traffic is severe. Fast boats run to the Nusa islands and the Gilis from Sanur and Padang Bai.
getting around · editorial
Denpasar is the only airport. From there it is half an hour to Seminyak, an hour and a half or more to Ubud, and longer again to the north and east, all of it dependent on traffic rather than distance.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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Tanah Lot
A temple on a rock that becomes an island at high tide.
Uluwatu
Seventy metres of cliff, a small temple on top and thieving monkeys.
The Tegallalang terraces
Watered by the subak, a ninth-century communal system recognised by UNESCO.
Ubud Monkey Forest
Seven hundred macaques and three temples inside. Do not meet their eyes, and do not carry a bag.
Tirta Empul
A sacred spring since 962. Balinese purify themselves at the spouts, in order.
Seminyak beach at dusk
Dark volcanic sand and the sun dropping straight into the sea.
See
Watch the Kecak at Uluwatu with the sun going down behind the dancers
Eat
Eat babi guling at a neighbourhood warung, at lunch, because it runs out early
Babi guling
Suckling pig rubbed with spice paste and roasted whole. A ceremonial dish.
Nasi campur at a warung
Rice with six or seven small things around it. Point at whatever you want.
Kopi tubruk
Grounds in the bottom of the glass, hot water over them, then wait for it to settle.
Moment
Reach the top of Batur before 6am
Kecak at sunset
Seventy men in a circle making the rhythm with their voices, with no instruments at all.
Notice the canang sari
Palm-leaf offerings, remade three times a day, everywhere.
Trail
Mount Batur at dawn
1,717 metres, a four in the morning start, and steam coming off the crater at the top.