Want to plan a trip to bali

[New Lad]

Selamat siang!

I want to plan a trip to Bali.

I mostly want to see the temples and the beaches. I'm not interested in partying or raving.

Can someone suggest a 6 day iterinary?

I tried looking for this answer online, and although other places do exist, they all give open answers on where to go and stay.

What I can gather is that the place I want to be is at Ubud and that one should hire tour guides / drivers.

I'm a first time solo traveler so can someone suggest good tour guides they may have any contact info for from their trip. If someone could put me in touch with their tour operator, that would help too.

I'm getting stuck on the basics here, like I know I can do hotels, but how many days per location? how many days per hotel? Cant I get a single driver who'll drive me around Bali (all places I want to see) and then I also have this balance of being able to roam around on my own (like backpacking a lot). I dont know how to balance my trip. I can see the locations but cannot see how to get that trail of plans connecting them. Can someone who has faced the same share their experiences with me / share their itinerary? I'm sure you all have traveled to Bali once at least, how did you all do it? I want to hear all of it.

I know that sometimes, good tour guides leave their contact info with tourists in case they travel into the country again, if you do have something like this then you could help me with some pre-planning.

I'm willing to skip a few beaches if I can do ALL the temples and palaces. I'm into that stuff a lot.

Terimakasih,

NL

 

[Kim26]

Ubud is indeed a beautiful place, and a great base for a Bali adventure. Expat residents or frequent visitors to Bali will all probably have a favourite driver to recommend. I am sure that you will get many suggestions. An experienced driver can make a good trip great. Perhaps like a London cab driver, Bali drivers know all the best spots, and will suggest places to visit based upon your length of stay and interests. I have never had a bad experience with Bali drivers, and have been visiting Bali for more than twenty years. We exercise care, and agree prices in advance. We utilised the services of several during our early trips, often just selecting a driver from the street in Ubud. There is no shortage - you will see what I mean when you get there. I can recommend an excellent Ubud-based driver. We utilise him during a month's stay in Ubud each year, and can vouch for his english language skills, extensive tourism knowledge, honesty and professionalism. We will book him again for our next trip. His name is Nyoman Sumertayasa, and he can be contacted via email at [email protected] Nyoman can assist you in planning your trip. We have enjoyed using Nyoman's services in recent years, and now consider him a valued friend.

Regards,

Kim

 

[New Lad]

Hello Kim, thank you for your response. Is it possible to tour bali all while staying in a single hotel? How often should one change hotels to tour all of bali in 6 days?

(This is an open question to all who read this)

I want to live in a beachside hotel at least once, and if there are multiple changes required then I'm willing to stay in mainland hotels.

 

[Kim26]

Hello Kim, thank you for your response. Is it possible to tour bali all while staying in a single hotel? How often should one change hotels to tour all of bali in 6 days?

(This is an open question to all who read this)

I want to live in a beachside hotel at least once, and if there are multiple changes required then I'm willing to stay in mainland hotels.

 

[Kim26]

We usually stay for the majority of our time in Ubud, but we book a hotel in Sanur or somewhere down that way for a few days. It really depends on your interests. Another option is to book a trip with a tour company (ie: Intrepid) My first experience of Bali & Lombok was on an Intrepid trip. My kids still talk about it. It was a great experience, and I can strongly recommend it. That should scratch your beachside itch. The more often we go, the more I have planned to see and do on the next trip!

 

[William King]

Sounds like you are trying to pack too much into 6 days...sometimes doing nothing is the best. 2 nights Sanur & 4 nights Ibud. Trips from each place. Sorted.

BTW ; Bali is too big to see all of it in that timeframe (comfortably).

 

[New Lad]

sometimes doing nothing is the best.

I dont ... get this part ... how is this relevant to seeing temples?

EDIT:

Did you mean that I should fit less into the trip?

 

[scouser59]

If you are comfortable on a scooter , rent one, get a copy of lonely planet study your chosen subject ie temples , set waze on your phone , off you go , I would suggest 2 nights in candidassa 2 in ubud and the rest in north bali , then you can cover the island the interesting temples history etc , It will be hard traveling .

 

[CaturMuka]

Sounds like you are trying to pack too much into 6 days...sometimes doing nothing is the best. 2 nights Sanur & 4 nights Ibud. Trips from each place. Sorted.

BTW ; Bali is too big to see all of it in that timeframe (comfortably).

I second this. 4 Days Ubud, 2 days Sanur. This is your best bet.

A couple of tips:

• Don't visit the "mother temple", Pura Besakih, without checking the TripAdvisor reviews. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...1-Reviews-Besakih_Temple-Karangasem_Bali.html
• Don't wear glasses of any kind at the Ulawatu temple. The bastard monkeys may jump on you and rip them off your head. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...tu_Temple-Pecatu_Nusa_Dua_Peninsula_Bali.html
• I really liked the temple in the monkey forest at Sangeh. A lot quieter than the other Monkey spots. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...Reviews-Sangeh_Monkey_Forest-Sangeh_Bali.html

 

[New Lad]

Thank you for your responses. Barrage of questions incoming?

Hello, I came across many beach resorts on bali. I want to find an economic (I'm willing to splurge a bit for this one, a bit) sparsely populated beach resort. I want to end my trip there. After covering ubud + other temples / palaces completely (what I can do), I want to spend the last remaining days of the trip there. Can anyone suggest such a beach resort?

I see Sanur fitting the above description, but this is so confusing! So many options! Dont know which resort to pick from here! It is true, impossible to see Bali in 6 days! The google searches make it worse!!

I'm honestly more confounded than when I started, there are literally a million options infront of me right now! I would love to see other sample itineraries.

Should I do hotels bookings online or after reaching there? My budget is $20 - 40 per night.

Also say I ask a driver for a 6 day trip to not only drive me around but stay with me the whole trip, how much would the charge come up to be? Can anyone give me a per day estimate that I should expect?

Also what do you do about Jet Lag? Should I account for an extra day to sleep off the lag?

Anyone ever been diving? What if someone doesn't know how to swim?

Everyone posting on this thread, name the best hotel you stayed in!

 

[New Lad]

Correction, dont get me wrong here, but there is a slight addition to all of the above parameters! I need a places which are least populated, least visited but all of the above apply (especially the beach resort), I have to get away from the crowds

 

[fastpitch17]

Jet lag isn't slept off in a day so your best bet it to start adjusting before your departure. That or fight through it. As for the best hotels stayed at on Bali. I doute a list of them woulf fit your budget. For 20 to 40 dollars a night, you will be hard pressed to find anything beachside.

Rental cars with drivers with everything included will run around 50 dollars a day. They are your best bets for getting around to the sites you seem to want to see. Just make sure they are knowledgeable of your interest and do all negotiations before arrival.

Bali is not some cheap costing Island in the middle of the ocean. It can be very costly, especially for inexperienced tourist. Someone is always close by willing to take your money and some extra just because. There will be plenty of people willing to assist you, for a price or even a total rip off where someone just runs off with your cash. Bali can be a tropical paradise for someone with some smarts and knowledge of the area or a tropical hell for those that don't have it. The temples are nice to visit but be aware the bigger ones are surrounded by those that see you as a source of income.

 

[fastpitch17]

Correction, dont get me wrong here, but there is a slight addition to all of the above parameters! I need a places which are least populated, least visited but all of the above apply (especially the beach resort), I have to get away from the crowds

Wanting to get away from crowds basically eliminates visiting the larger tourist promoted temples. Did you watch the movie Eat, Pray, Love? If so, forget it.

 

[CaturMuka]

Correction, dont get me wrong here, but there is a slight addition to all of the above parameters! I need a places which are least populated, least visited but all of the above apply (especially the beach resort), I have to get away from the crowds

Your needs are your own and you've every right to them. All I would add is that Indonesia doesn't reward the fussy, it can be an infuriating place at the best of times.

 

[New Lad]

Wanting to get away from crowds basically eliminates visiting the larger tourist promoted temples. Did you watch the movie Eat, Pray, Love? If so, forget it.

I know the temples + attractions are populated, I'm talking about whatever remains. A beach resort which fits the above criteria would be nice.

Also I was asking about the personal opinion of the people on the best hotel they stayed in (their best may not necessarily have to be the costliest, it might be the most economic), not the one which is the best. I can vary my budget as long as my holiday is good!

> Did you watch the movie Eat, Pray, Love?

Heard the name, never seen it.

> There will be plenty of people willing to assist you, for a price or even a total rip off where someone just runs off with your cash.

Common phenomenon in any part of the world if you've lived life long enough! I've been to India many times and I can say, some parts are just pure chaos!

 

[Puspawarna]

You are getting excellent advice in this thread (personally I vote the 2 days Sanur, 4 days Ubud, or maybe a little north of Ubud). There are off-the-beaten-path types of places around Lovina Beach in the north and west of Bali where you might get more solitude, but it takes many hours to get there after landing in Denpaasar - and with a six-day visit, you really shouldn't be wasting a day-and-a-half in a car (unless you really enjoy seeing the island, both scenic-and-not-so-scenic views, that way).

To add to the cautions about being ripped off, one piece of advice is to establish the price you are paying for a car VERY CLEARLY up front. I've had a couple of cases where there was a "misunderstanding" at the end and the driver insisted that I was supposed to pay more than I did. When you negotiate an agreeable a per-day fee at the beginning, write it on a slip of paper, point to it, and say, "this much per day, right?" Then you can't get guilt-tripped at the end into paying more.

 

[steveandpenny]

I dont mean to be a wise ass or put andamper on your excitement but you do realize there are over 6000 temples in bali dont you? Of course they arent all major temples but still...
So make a list of the ones you have to see and then add time for chilling and massage. Hear way too many times about trips that just got out of hand and were no fun.
Also i dont know where you are from, but if you are from the states, europe , or aussie you have to understand if you are looking at a map and figure it will take a half of a hour to get some where....double that and add 15 mins. Goggle maps seem ok to figure travel time but alwas add to that also.

Oh also just to save you a little trouble never touch something that a street vendor is trying to sell you. It means you will buy it, this isnt true at a set up shop just the people walking around around selling trinkets.
Smile and enjoy bali it is a wonderful place

 

[dafluff]

Thank you for your responses. Barrage of questions incoming?

Hello, I came across many beach resorts on bali. I want to find an economic (I'm willing to splurge a bit for this one, a bit) sparsely populated beach resort. I want to end my trip there. After covering ubud + other temples / palaces completely (what I can do), I want to spend the last remaining days of the trip there. Can anyone suggest such a beach resort?

I see Sanur fitting the above description, but this is so confusing! So many options! Dont know which resort to pick from here! It is true, impossible to see Bali in 6 days! The google searches make it worse!!

I'm honestly more confounded than when I started, there are literally a million options infront of me right now! I would love to see other sample itineraries.

Should I do hotels bookings online or after reaching there? My budget is $20 - 40 per night.

Also say I ask a driver for a 6 day trip to not only drive me around but stay with me the whole trip, how much would the charge come up to be? Can anyone give me a per day estimate that I should expect?

Also what do you do about Jet Lag? Should I account for an extra day to sleep off the lag?

Anyone ever been diving? What if someone doesn't know how to swim?

Everyone posting on this thread, name the best hotel you stayed in!

Hello and welcome to the forum. Just a general observation, Bali (and Indonesia) is not Disneyland where you have to check-off all your "favorite" rides as efficiently as possible. In fact the opposite approach is probably better. Bali is all about being laid back, going with the flow, and accidentally discovering little unexpected things. Like a small Hindu ceremony, or a nice Babi Guling warung, or a traditional massage place on the beach or a walk along rice paddies. You get the idea.

Specifically on your questions:

1) You should at least book the first few days in advance. After that you can us various online booking site. Still, I would just book everything in advance, so that you don't have to waste time finding hotels at the last minute.

2) Jet lag is a function of time difference between where you came from and where you are, compounded with the lack of good sleep during the flight. The more time zones you cross, the worse the jet lag. Try to get a lot of sleep before and during your flight.

3) You will have no trouble finding a driver, in fact you will probably wish it was harder after a few days. No need to commit to one driver for the whole trip, take it on day by day basis. The rate to rent a driver full time for a 10 hour day is about Rp 350k for a small car. Alternatively you can use ride sharing apps like Uber or Grab. If you like the driver, ask them for their daily rate.

4) Diving is a non-starter if you can't swim. You can try snorkling or sea walking instead (http://www.seawalker.co.id)

Alternative itinerary for you:

Spend first day or two in Kuta. It's close to the airport so you can rest, has beaches and is basically Bali on steroids. Take a day trip from here to Uluwatu Temple.

Check out from Kuta in the morning, drive up to see Tanah Lot temple. Then drive on to Ubud for the night. Spend a couple days there.

Leave Ubud to either go to the mountains (Bedugul + Ulun Danu Temple) or to the beaches on the eastern side (Candi Dasa + Goa Gajah Temple, and possibly Tenganan Village)

 

[William King]

To dive, you need a diving licence. Minimum 4 or 5 day course, or 2 weeks part time. You need to be able to swim 400 metres and float minimum 5 minutes or something like that.

But you can snorkel instead.

 

[New Lad]

You are getting excellent advice in this thread (personally I vote the 2 days Sanur, 4 days Ubud, or maybe a little north of Ubud). There are off-the-beaten-path types of places around Lovina Beach in the north and west of Bali where you might get more solitude, but it takes many hours to get there after landing in Denpaasar - and with a six-day visit, you really shouldn't be wasting a day-and-a-half in a car (unless you really enjoy seeing the island, both scenic-and-not-so-scenic views, that way).

To add to the cautions about being ripped off, one piece of advice is to establish the price you are paying for a car VERY CLEARLY up front. I've had a couple of cases where there was a "misunderstanding" at the end and the driver insisted that I was supposed to pay more than I did. When you negotiate an agreeable a per-day fee at the beginning, write it on a slip of paper, point to it, and say, "this much per day, right?" Then you can't get guilt-tripped at the end into paying more.

Thanks for the advice, can I ask about your profile pic? Does it represent anything special? I'm asking because I feel I've seen it somewhere, but for the life of me cant put a finger on where.