Bali itinerary: 5 days for a first visit

Bali is an island, not a city, and that changes how you plan it. Distances look short on the map and are slow on the road, so the trick is to stop thinking in sights and start thinking in areas. Five days is enough to see three of them properly: the hills around Ubud, the temples and water gardens of the east, and the cliffs and beaches of the south.

This plan gives each day to one area, so you spend your time looking at things rather than sitting in traffic. It moves from the inland hills to the coast, which means you end the trip by the sea, with a sunset and a swim.

Before you go: the short version

• How long: five days is the minimum for a first visit. Six or seven lets you add a day on the beach or a trip to a neighbouring island.
• Where to stay: Ubud for the first two nights, then the Bukit peninsula (Uluwatu) or Seminyak for the last two. Changing base once is easier than commuting between them.
• From the airport: the airport is at Denpasar, on the south coast. Ubud is about an hour and a half away by car depending on traffic, and the south coast resorts are 30 to 60 minutes.
• Getting around: there is no useful public transport. Hire a driver for the day or take ride-hailing where it is allowed. More in the Indonesia travel guide.
• Book ahead: a driver for the east coast day, your seat at a sunset dance performance, and your rooms in the dry season, from roughly May to September.

Bali is mostly Hindu, and temples are working places of worship. Cover your shoulders and knees, wear the sarong a temple lends you, and step around the small woven offerings on the pavement rather than over them.

Day 1: Ubud, the town and the ridge

Morning. Begin on the Campuhan Ridge Walk, a path along a grassy ridge just west of the centre. Go early, while the air is cool and the light is low across the valley. Walk back into town for breakfast, then spend an hour in the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where macaques live among old temples and moss-covered statues. Keep your sunglasses and anything loose in a closed bag.

Afternoon. Wander Ubud's market and the lanes around it for woodcarving, textiles and basketwork, then visit the Ubud Palace and the Saraswati Temple, which sits behind a lotus pond. If you want to learn something, this is the town for a Balinese cooking class or a short course in silver-making, both easy to arrange on the day.

Evening. Ubud has the island's best concentration of places to eat, from simple warungs serving nasi campur, a plate of rice with small portions of meat, vegetables and sambal, to restaurants built around vegetarian and vegan cooking. Many groups also go to a traditional dance performance in one of the town's temples or halls; the legong and kecak shows run in the evenings throughout the week.

Day 2: Around Ubud, rice terraces and holy water

Hire a driver for the day. You will cover a loop of sights north and east of Ubud in a few hours, none of them far from the next.

Morning. Start at the Tegallalang rice terraces, about 20 minutes north of Ubud, before the crowds and the heat. The terraces step down both sides of a valley, and a path runs along the top and down through them. Then continue to Tirta Empul, a spring temple where people queue to bathe in the pools in a purification ritual. You can take part with a sarong and some respect, or simply watch from the edge.

Afternoon. Visit Gunung Kawi, a set of shrines carved into the rock face of a river gorge, reached down a long stone stairway through the paddies. It is quiet, and the climb back is the workout. On the way back, stop at one of the roadside coffee plantations, where you can taste the island's local coffee and teas and see how they are grown.

Evening. Back in Ubud, rest. If you are still keen to be outdoors, walk through the rice fields on the edge of town at dusk, when the heat drops and the farmers head home.

Day 3: The east, water palaces and the coast

The east coast is the least visited of the three areas and the best for scenery. The drive from Ubud is long, about two hours each way, so start early and accept that this is a full day in the car with good stops.

Morning. Drive to Lempuyang Temple, a series of shrines up the slope of a mountain, famous for its tall split gate framing Mount Agung beyond. The queue for the photograph can be long. The climb to the higher shrines is longer still and worth it if you have the energy and the time.

Afternoon. Continue to Tirta Gangga, a water palace with stepping stones, fountains and fish-filled pools, built in the last century by the last king of Karangasem. Nearby, the villages and terraces of the Sidemen valley are a calm place for lunch, with views to the volcano on a clear day.

Evening. Rather than going back to Ubud, you can drive on to the south coast and sleep there, which saves a second long drive on day 4. Check in, eat nearby and rest. If you prefer to keep your Ubud base, you will be back in the evening, tired, in time for a late dinner.

Day 4: Uluwatu and the southern cliffs

Morning. Beaches first. The Bukit peninsula, at the island's southern tip, has a string of coves reached down steps cut into the cliffs: Padang Padang, Bingin and Suluban among them. The surf is famous, and even if you do not surf, the waves and the people riding them are worth an hour. The tide changes how much sand there is, so ask your accommodation when low tide falls.

Afternoon. Rest through the worst of the heat, then head to Uluwatu Temple, set on a cliff high above the Indian Ocean. The walk along the cliff-top path gives the best views. Keep a close hold of your glasses and phone: the macaques here are fast.

Evening. Watch the sunset from the temple's cliff-top amphitheatre, where a kecak dance is performed, a chorus of men chanting around a story from the Ramayana. Book your seat and arrive early. Dinner afterwards is easy at one of the cliff-side places along the road back, or on the sand at Jimbaran, where grills line the beach and the tradition is grilled fish and seafood by the sea.

Day 5: Seminyak, Canggu and the west coast

Morning. The last day is for the sea and a slower pace. Swim or walk along the beach at Seminyak, then browse the shops and cafes of its streets. Further up the coast, Canggu is a surf town of rice fields, coffee shops and long black-sand beaches. Pick one and give it the morning rather than racing between them.

Afternoon. Drive up the coast to Tanah Lot, a temple built on an offshore rock that you walk to at low tide and photograph from the cliffs at high. Allow time before you go for the traffic; the coast road is slow in the late afternoon.

Evening. Spend your last night at a beach bar or restaurant on the sand at Seminyak or Canggu, watching the sun go down over the Indian Ocean. Many travellers head to the airport the next day, so check how long the drive will take with your driver and add a margin.

With more time

• A sixth day: go north to Munduk and the lakes of Bedugul, with the lakeside temple of Ulun Danu Beratan and the waterfalls of the highlands, or up Mount Batur for sunrise (a night start, with a guide).
• Nusa Penida: a fast boat from the east coast takes about 45 minutes to the island's cliffs and beaches. Allow a full day, or better, stay a night.
• The Gili islands and Lombok: a longer boat ride east, and a very different, quieter pace. The Indonesia travel guide sets out the routes, and you can read more about the crossings in island hopping by ferry.

Where to stay

• Ubud: the cultural centre, with rice fields, temples and the island's best food. It is inland, so no beach, but the hills are cooler. Stay in or just outside the centre so you can walk to dinner.
• Uluwatu and the Bukit: cliffs, surf beaches and a laid-back feel. Best for the last nights. You need a scooter or a driver to get anywhere.
• Seminyak: the most developed stretch of the south-west, with beaches, shops and restaurants, and the easiest base for a first visit if you want everything within a short ride.
• Canggu: a younger, surfing neighbourhood, with cafes and rice fields. It gets busy and the roads are narrow.
• Avoid for a first visit: Kuta, which is close to the airport but crowded and noisy, and not representative of the island.

Getting around

Public transport on Bali is not designed for visitors, and distances are measured in hours, not kilometres. Most visitors hire a driver with a car for the day, which works well for a group splitting the cost between them, and the driver doubles as a guide. Ride-hailing apps work in parts of the south but are restricted in some areas; check locally. Scooters are common, but the traffic is dense and your travel insurance may not cover you without the right licence, so think hard before riding one.

Traffic is the main constraint. A journey of 30 kilometres can take two hours at busy times, so keep your days to one area and add a margin to anything with a fixed time, like a sunset performance or a flight.

Planning Bali as a group

Bali suits a group well, as long as the transport is organised. A driver with a minivan carries four or five people as easily as two, so splitting one between you is the simplest way to travel. Decide early who wants the long east coast day and who would rather have a beach day, since this is where groups divide. Villas with a pool suit larger groups, and the guide to splitting a villa fairly covers who pays for what. Keep the shared costs, like drivers, temple donations and dinners, in one place so nobody has to add them up at the end.

What to pack

Light, loose clothes that cover your shoulders and knees for temples, a sarong or scarf, and shoes you can take off quickly, since you remove them at many doors. The heat and humidity are constant, and the rainy season brings sudden downpours, so a light rain jacket helps. Bring reef-safe sun cream, a swimsuit, insect repellent and shoes with grip for wet steps. The hot weather packing list covers the rest.