Top 5 Places to visit in Bali
Bali is one of the most visited place in Indonesia. It has varied landscape of mountains, rocky coastline, sandy beaches, lush green paddy fields and barren volcanic hillsides. Bali combines of 4 islands- Bali, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. Bali mainland is the largest and most popular among four. There are many wonderful places to see in Bali, so for the people who visit Bali for 3-4 days, it can be a great confusion for them that where to go in Bali. For those people, I will share top 5 places to visit in Bali. In addition to that I will share some other useful information such as- Where to stay in Bali and budget ways of transport in Bali. You can consider these places for 3 days Bali itinerary.
For one day trip to Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan please click here to know about how to book the ferry, timing etc.
Here is the name of the top 5 places to visit in Bali:
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Kuta Beach:
Kuta is one of the most popular and crowded beach in Bali. It is also very popular for surfing .You can witness the panoramic view of the blue ocean and the white sand. It is also the nearest beach from Bali International (DPS) airport, so from here you can see the takeoff and landing of all airplanes. You can see the amazing Sunset from the beach.
Things to consider:
Kuta beach is in very crowded place with many hotel and guest houses with very narrow approach road. You may get high traffic jam (which is applicable for most of the evening time) in the roads connecting to the highway.
Also Read about Ubud Monkey Forest from thetravelblogs.
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Pura Luhur Uluwatu :
One of the six most key Hindu temple in Bali is Uluwatu temple. The temple is positioned at the end of the cliff and approximately 70 meter above the sea. It is also very popular as Sunset spot, where you can see the beautiful Indian Ocean, a small jungle with full of monkeys!
Every 6 months there is a big celebration and pooja is done by the all Hindu people in Bali. Luckily the day I visited, there was also some pooja was going on.
Things to remember:
This place is quite remote, so you should have your own vehicle booked for return. From here you will not get much option of vehicle to return and whatever available, are very costly. Check out here what happend to me. It was an unexpected situation and thankfully I got saved somehow.
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Tanah Lot:
Tanah Lot is another most beautiful temple I have ever seen. The temple is located almost 300 meters inside the sea and it can be only reachable overland at low tide. The temple is called Batu Bolong and it is inside a cave of a big rock.
You will get many good handicraft collection at a cheaper rates. You may have to do little bargain for getting better deal.
Tanah Lot is almost 45 Km to the north of Kuta Beach and you will witness green valleys of paddy field while going from the South Bali.
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Nusa Dua Beach:
Nusa Dua is mostly popular for its world class international chain of hotels. It is also very popular stay for honeymoon couples. This is also a white sand beach but is not crowded as Kuta. If you are peaceful kind of beach lover then you will love it.
If you are planning to visit Komodo Island from Bali, check out this awesome post Exploring Komodo Island.
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Padang Padang Beach:
Padang Padang beach is very near to Uluwatu temple (approx. 10 minute of car/bike ride) and I find the beach very unique. This beach can be seen from the same height as Uluwatu and at the same time you will get the stairs to reach the beach unlike Uluwatu where you cannot go to the sea level.
Read about Ultimate Bali Bucketlist.
Ways of Transport:
All the places can be reached by Car. If you want to know about budget way of travelling in Bali, you can consider these option:
1. Hire a Bike:
If you are good at two wheeler driving and have international driving license, then this is the best option. You will get a bike for Rp.50K-100K/day on rent (this is the rate of Nov,2017) depending on the time of visiting. I got my bike at Rp 70K/day. The gas price was Rp. 20K/litter. To give you an idea that if you purchase 2 littler petrol then you can travel 100-120 Km easily.
If you don’t have international driving license (which I believe applicable for most of the people!!) still you can hire a bike but my suggestion will be don’t drive at night. The Bali Police will mostly catch the bikers at night and they will charge very high ($100) if you don’t show the proper license.
2. Take Go jek/Go Car:
Go-Car is an app based car hire system and it is best option for foreigners (as they don’t overcharge you as unlike the taxi drivers) .You can download the app and set your desired location. The price is quite cheap compare to blue Car or other Taxi.
You can take Go jek if you are traveling alone and don’t want to hire a bike.
Read: The truth about Bali
More : 13 things to do in Bali
Where to stay in Bali:
Bali is a big island and if you are not travelling for more than 7-10 days then you should decide/priorities that which part of Bali do you want to visit. Let me help you. If you want to see the exotic white sand beaches of the Bali and want to do activities like surfing, Scuba then South Bali is the better option. For south Bali, you will get lot of hotels/Airbnb/homestays option around Kuta, Jimbaran beaches.
If you want to trek to the beautiful active volcanos (Mount Agung, Mount Batur) and see the green paddy rice field then stay at central Bali/ Ubud.
If you are planning more than 10 days then you can move to the North Bali, which is having some less populated but good places to visit.
To know more about Things to consider before visiting Indonesia read this. If you want to share your Bali experience, put a comment below.
Also read : 1. Best Waterfalls in Bali
Thanks alot for this informative post. I am planning a trip for Bali with my friends. And i will go there in these places
I am glad that you liked the post. Definately Bali is an awesome place. Thanks for reading the post.
Hey SUDESHNA
Very nice article.
Bali is truly very beautiful. I have never been outside of the country but later this year I am planning to go to Dubai.
I think I should give Bali a chance. 😛
Hi Bhawna,I am glad that you liked the article. If you love nature then bali is definately better option and in addtion to that it is cheaper. Hope you will enjoy your vacation in Bali. Thanks
My mom went to Bali when I was younger and she had a wonderful time! I’ve been wanting to go ever since I saw her photos. Im going have to add all of these places you mentioned to my Bali Bucket List! Thank you for posting this!
KAcie best of luck for your trip to Bali!