10 Best Things to Do
Bali rewards a journey planned around a few contrasting places. Inland, Ubud and the surrounding villages bring rice landscapes, art collections and some of the island’s most inventive restaurants into the same trip. On the Bukit Peninsula, contemporary villas face the Indian Ocean from limestone cliffs; Jimbaran offers another coastal rhythm, with established resorts close to the bay. Farther east and west, Manggis and Tabanan suit travellers who want more time with the landscape and less movement between addresses. This guide covers the main island of Bali. Its hotel selection balances exceptional service with architecture, privacy and a strong connection to place. The restaurants range from ambitious Indonesian tasting menus to contemporary Italian cooking and relaxed plates designed for sharing. Experiences are chosen to give cultural and natural context to the stay, rather than to fill a checklist of photo stops. Choose a base for each part of the trip and group nearby outings together. Leave generous space between reservations, arrange transport locally and check access conditions before setting out. At temples and working cultural sites, follow the guidance of the people responsible for them; observing respectfully can be more rewarding than trying to participate in everything.
Walk the Jatiluwih rice terraces
Jatiluwih, Tabanan, Indonesia
Jatiluwih is most rewarding when treated as a working landscape rather than a quick viewpoint. Follow the paths between rice terraces and consider how water moves through the fields, linking the scenery to the cooperative subak system that sustains it. The scale invites a longer walk and a slower pace than a single photograph allows. A local guide can add useful context about cultivation and community life, while keeping the visit grounded in the people who maintain this remarkable place.
Understanding a working cultural landscape
Visit Uluwatu Temple and its clifftop setting
Pecatu, Bukit Peninsula, Indonesia
Uluwatu’s power comes from the relationship between temple, cliff and ocean. Walk the permitted paths to appreciate that setting before turning to the details of the sacred site itself. An evening kecak performance can extend the visit, with vocal rhythms and dramatic storytelling adding a different cultural dimension. This is a popular place, so approach it with realistic expectations about crowds and leave space for worshippers. The experience is strongest when the view and the living traditions receive equal attention.
A sea-temple landscape and evening performance
Explore Neka Art Museum
Sanggingan, Ubud, Indonesia
Neka Art Museum gives useful depth to a stay in Ubud. Its collection brings Balinese painting into conversation with work by other Indonesian and international artists inspired by the island. Moving between pavilions makes the visit feel considered rather than hurried, with the changing styles revealing how local traditions developed through contact and experimentation. Choose it early in an Ubud stay: the museum offers a visual vocabulary that can enrich subsequent visits to galleries, workshops and places of cultural significance.
A clear introduction to Balinese art
Visit the sacred springs of Tirta Empul
Manukaya, Tampaksiring, Indonesia
Tirta Empul brings the importance of water in Balinese religious life into immediate focus. Courtyards, shrines and spring-fed purification pools form a place of active devotion as well as a major visitor attraction. A thoughtful visit begins with observation and an explanation of the site’s customs, rather than assuming every ritual is simply another activity to book. Allow time to look beyond the busiest pool, and follow temple guidance if you wish to participate in a permitted cleansing ritual.
Understanding Bali’s relationship with sacred water
Tour John Hardy’s Kapal Bamboo workshop
Mambal, Abiansemal, Indonesia
John Hardy’s Kapal Bamboo workshop offers a focused encounter with contemporary Balinese craftsmanship. The attraction is the opportunity to see skilled making within the brand’s working environment, with the distinctive bamboo boutique providing an architectural counterpart to the jewellery. A prearranged tour gives the visit more substance than browsing a shop alone. It is particularly suited to travellers interested in design, materials and the accumulated knowledge behind handmade objects, with additional experiences depending on the current reservation programme.
Seeing jewellery craftsmanship at work
See Pura Ulun Danu Beratan
Candikuning, Bedugul, Indonesia
Pura Ulun Danu Beratan offers a different perspective on Bali from the southern coast. The lake and highland setting frame tiered shrines associated with water and agricultural wellbeing, creating a scene whose appeal changes with the light and weather. Give the visit time beyond the familiar photograph, walking the accessible grounds and observing the site as a place of worship. It works especially well as part of a carefully paced highland day, with fewer stops and more attention at each.
A highland water-temple setting
Take a guided mainland walk in West Bali National Park
Cekik and Prapat Agung, northwest Bali, Indonesia
West Bali National Park broadens the island’s story beyond rice terraces and beach resorts. A guided walk on the mainland introduces a mosaic of forest, scrub and mangrove habitats, with birdlife and other wildlife providing reasons to pause and look closely. This is a quieter, more observational experience than a packed sightseeing circuit. Plan a stay in the northwest around it, and let the guide match the route to conditions and interests rather than treating animal sightings as guaranteed.
Forest habitats and patient wildlife watching
Wander Tirta Gangga’s water gardens
Ababi, Karangasem, Indonesia
Tirta Gangga turns water into a designed landscape of ponds, fountains, sculpture and paths. Created for the Karangasem royal family, the gardens make an appealing cultural stop during a stay in eastern Bali, where the visit can sit comfortably alongside the region’s wider scenery. Look beyond the most photographed stepping stones to appreciate the composition of the whole site. It is best enjoyed with time to wander, rather than as a distant detour squeezed between appointments elsewhere on the island.
Eastern Bali’s royal garden heritage
Walk the Campuhan Ridge
Ubud, Indonesia
The Campuhan Ridge Walk offers a simple pleasure: leaving Ubud’s busy streets for an open path above green slopes and valleys. It is an opportunity to move at your own pace, notice the changing landscape and build a pause into a culturally busy stay. There is no need to turn it into a strenuous expedition for the walk to be worthwhile. Choose the cooler part of the day, carry water and let the route’s modest scale be part of its appeal.
An accessible change of pace near town
Visit Tibumana Waterfall
Apuan, Bangli, Indonesia
Tibumana offers a satisfying change from built attractions: a path through greenery leads towards a waterfall framed by rock and vegetation. The appeal lies in the concentrated scene and the approach as much as in the pool below. Make it an unhurried nature stop, with attention to the weather and conditions underfoot. A visit does not need to include swimming to be worthwhile; watching the falling water and enjoying the forest setting can be enough.
A compact waterfall outing near Ubud