Ultimate 8-Day Bali Itinerary
Bali has remained one of the most popular vacation spots in Southeast Asia for the past several years, and for good reason. If your idea of a perfect vacation involves a tropical paradise filled with turquoise water, lush jungles, waterfalls, and Instagram worthy restaurants, add Bali to your travel bucket list.
You could honestly spend several weeks exploring everything Bali has to offer, but if you’re on more of a time crunch, you’ll want to spend at least 1-2 weeks in Bali to really make your trip worth it. My husband and I recently went to Bali for the first time on an 8-day trip and came up with the perfect itinerary to really experience a little of everything. If you have more than 8-days, I’d plan to spend a few nights over in Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan & schedule in a few down days to fully relax and enjoy the resort amenities.
Itinerary Breakdown:
Ubud (2 days)
Uluwatu (3 days)
Canggu (2 days)
Nusa Penida (1 day trip)
Best Time to Visit: The best time to visit is during Bali’s dry season from April to October. This is also peak tourist season, so expect higher rates and more crowds. Bali can have some pretty bad rainstorms and flooding during the wet season, so to me it’s worth paying a little more for the peak dry season.
Language: Balinese, Indonesian, and English. Everyone we encountered spoke English in Bali.
Currency: Indonesian Rupiah. Most tourist spots will accept cards, however local food stands, market stalls, etc will probably require cash.
Cost Estimate: Bali can be extremely affordable or a splurge, depending on the types of accommodations you choose. We chose a middle ground and it honestly felt like a very luxurious vacation for a very affordable price. Our total trip cost was around $5000, with $3000 being for flights alone. Our accommodations for the entire trip were around $700, additionally, we had a private driver most days and went to very nice beach clubs and restaurants during our trip. So you could lower this cost even more by staying in hostels and skipping the beach clubs.
Safety: Bali is a very safe island, however there has been an uptick of petty theft and burglary after the pandemic. There have been common crimes of people riding by on scooters and stealing phones, bags, and jewelry from people standing on the side of the road.
Transportation: It is extremely easy to find a private driver for the day (about $40 USD when we visited). Additionally there are taxis everywhere and there are two apps similar to Uber — Go-Jek and Grab. There are certain areas though that have banned these apps, so if you go to a beach club for example you’d be forced to leave in a taxi or walk off of the property to call for a driver on an app. Scooters are also extremely common in Bali but can be a bit dangerous as the traffic is pretty bad and some of the other scooter drivers have no idea what they’re doing.
Things to Know before you go:
-Bali Belly can be very common and can unfortunately ruin a few days of your trip. My husband and I were extremely cautious and thankfully did not get ill at all during our trip. Avoid drinking any tap water or ice (we did however have ice in all of our cocktails and were fine). We also went a step further and brushed our teeth with bottled water. Avoid eating any uncooked foods that may have been rinsed in water such as salads or certain fruits. I’d recommend taking probiotics with you on the trip and of course carrying some medicine just in case. We also chose to eat most of our meals at popular tourist spots and beach clubs, as they are more accustomed to having foreigner customers and are likely a little more aware/cautious.
-Most of the popular beach clubs and restaurants require reservations, which ideally need to be made 1-2 weeks in advance. You can usually search them on Instagram and they have a WhatsApp contact number for reservations. We did have some luck without them, but it was usually long waits and less scenic spots without one.
-Most of the beach clubs have minimum spending requirements, which you can usually find listed on Instagram. Typically they range anywhere from $30-100USD equivalent but go towards food and drink costs while you’re there.
Here’s a sample itinerary close to what we actually used on our 8-day trip to Bali (with a few improvements). You obviously don’t need to follow the exact timeline, however this is what worked best for us to make the most of our time each day.
DAY 1
This itinerary starts off in Ubud, Bali, which to me is exactly what I think of when I envision a trip to Bali - lush jungles, waterfalls, the famous monkey forest, and tons of massage spas and cute restaurants.
** If you have a late arriving flight, I would definitely recommend finding a place locally in Kuta for the first night and then starting your planned itinerary the following morning after driving to Ubud, as you’ll likely be extremely exhausted from the travel. The drive to Ubud is anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on traffic.
Morning Timeframe
Enjoy breakfast at your resort or head to one of the many cute restaurants in Ubud. Spend the morning exploring the lively streets of Ubud, where you can find tons of affordable shopping and cute coffee shops for a quick caffeine fix. A lot of the resorts near Ubud usually offer a shuttle to central Ubud if they aren’t within walking distance.
There are numerous Hindu temples all over Bali that allow visitors for a small donation fee. I definitely recommend visiting at least one, as they’re extremely beautiful to see and allow you to learn a little more about the local culture. The temples we stopped at didn’t mind if shoulders were showing, but everyone was required to be wrapped in a special sarong around the waist in order to enter (they’ll provide one and wrap you themselves).
Afternoon
Grab lunch in Ubud and head to the famous Monkey Forest.
The monkey forest is honestly such a cool experience. All of the monkeys we saw here were pretty friendly and unphased by humans. It is recommended that you remove anything that they can take such as sunglasses, hats, etc and you definitely need to ensure you don’t have any food in your bags or pockets before entering. While there you can usually find a local guide who will help you take a photo with the monkeys. Usually they bribe the monkeys with food, which is how people get the popular photo-bombing monkey selfies. We opted to take a photo sitting near some monkeys and the monkey randomly jumped on my husbands head and had to be bribed with food to get down…so just something to be aware of in case you’re scared of monkeys. We spent an hour at the monkey forest which was plenty of time to fully walk around and take some photos.
5pm. Sunset dinner at the Sayan House. If you can only choose one dinner spot in Ubud, I highly recommend this one. The view was so incredibly stunning & the food, drinks, and vibe of the restaurant were all amazing. It was such a great start to our trip.
DAY 2
Hire a driver for the day and head out to see the famous rice terraces and waterfalls!
Morning Timeframe
I’d recommend starting your day no later than 10am so you can squeeze everything in and see the rice fields without tons of tourists. Start your day first at the famous Tegallang Rice terraces. This area is very touristy and is filled with cafes and photo ops, however they unfortunately don’t even grow rice at this field anymore due to money conflicts between the two villages it sits between. After a short time here you can head to an active rice field just a short drive down the same road that you can explore (there’s also plenty of touristy things and photo ops like the Bali swings, ziplines, etc).
After the rice terraces, check out one of the many Hindu water temples in the area along the way to Tegenungan waterfall.
Lunch
Grab lunch at the Omma day club overlooking the Tegenungan waterfall. The decks closer to the pool do have minimum spending to be seated, however the top floor is a restaurant with no minimum spend. After lunch you can walk directly from the Omma property over to the waterfall and swim and take photos.
*Dusten and I personally didn’t swim in any of the waterfalls as I read some posts prior that mentioned people had gotten sick with Bali Belly after swimming in waterfalls. I’m not sure if they accidentally drank some of the water while swimming or maybe someone else in the water with them was sick, but we didn’t want to take any chances.
Afternoon
Spend the afternoon checking out 1-2 more waterfalls in the Ubud area. For more suggestions check out my Ubud guide with a breakdown of the best waterfalls!
Evening
We opted to spend the evening at our resort and had a 90-min couples massage & relaxed dinner at the resort restaurant; it was honestly such a nice way to end the day and unwind after a long day of adventure.
DAY 3
Morning Timeframe
Spend the morning enjoying your resort— relax at the pool or get another massage.
We stayed at the Calma Ubud and highly recommend it! It’s a small boutique hotel that gives you all of the ammentities and safety of a hotel but with a much more private feel. The rooms were beautiful, all of our meals from the on site restaurant were delicious and we really enjoyed the infinity pool, spa, and free shuttle into Ubud. Linking the resort for you here.
Afternoon
Grab lunch in Ubud and head to Uluwatu. Uluwatu is home to the 4th tallest statue in the World, if this is something that interests you definitely ask your driver to stop along the way to your next resort.
Check into your new resort and explore the cute beach towns of Uluwatu. I’d recommend Bingin Beach, Padang Padang, or Uluwatu Beach.
We stayed at the Sunhouse resort, linked here. We opted for the Deluxe Suite with an ocean view; the room was beautiful and you share an infinity pool with just two other suites that sit at the top of the hill. This hotel has stunning views and is definitely very aesthetic, but there are a few things worth mentioning. The hotel is at the top of some very steep stairs, so if anyone in your group has mobility issues, I would not recommend this resort. It is also a bit secluded, so you will need to have a scooter or hire a driver to take you places as the resort is only within walking distance of a few cafes. If you’re looking for a stunning quiet getaway though, this is a great spot to just enjoy the hilltop views and relax in the infinity pool.
5pm. Sunset dinner at El Kabron. Uluwatu is famous for it’s cliffside day clubs and this is one of the popular ones. I made a reservation for a daybed so we could lounge around with dinner and drinks to watch the sunset. Even with a reservation, the daybeds are first come, first serve, so you’ll need to arrive early to have a spot right by the edge. A lot of people actually come and spend the whole day here as there is a pool/DJ, etc. This is by far one of our favorite spots we went to in Bali, the food and service was AMAZING, the view was stunning, and we enjoyed the best sunset of the entire trip that night.
DAY 4
Morning Timeframe
Wake up and head to Uluwatu Beach! Grab breakfast at your resort beforehand or eat at one of the many cute little restaurants right by the beach. One thing you’ll notice about Uluwatu is that everything is perched on cliffs, so there are A LOT of stairs to get down to the beaches. If you want to see the famous Blue Point Beach (literally right next to Uluwatu Beach) you’ll need to arrive during high or mid tide. During low tide the cave area is completely filled with local vendors.
Afternoon
Head to Bingin Beach! This was the most beautiful beach we saw during our trip. It almost reminded me of the Mediterranean, as the entire staircase down is lined with cute restaurants and cafes and there were lush flowers and greenery growing on the buildings. There are plenty of restaurants here to choose from, we personally ate at Kelly’s Warung and loved it.
5pm Enjoy a sunset dinner at the nearby Mu Restaurant. We unfortunately didn’t make reservations in time during our visit, but the photos of this spot looked beautiful.
DAY 5
Morning Timeframe
Head to Sunday’s Beach Club for the day. This was such a beautiful spot to spend the day. They open at 10am and you’ll need to be there early or make a reservation prior. The reserved spots require a minimum spend, with various amounts depending on the type of spot (ex. beach chair, bungalow, etc). All of the bean bag chairs on the beach are first come, first serve, dependent on the tide (the club assigns them as they become available, so it’s actually very orderly to get a spot based on who arrived first). During high tide you won’t be able to get many seats and the club only allows people down on the beach when their spot is open (they will however let you enjoy their bar, restaurant, and infinity pool while you wait). We unfortunately didn’t have a reservation during our trip and showed up at noon and spent two hours waiting for the tide to go down for more seats to be put out.
5pm Sunset dinner at Ulu Cliffhouse. This was another beautiful cliffside day club that had really great pizza, drinks, and desserts. There’s no minimum spend for the cliffside tables for dinner, however if you choose a daybed there is.
DAY 6
Morning Timeframe
Time to switch locations! Grab breakfast in Uluwatu or your resort and then head to Canggu.
Afternoon
After getting checked into your new resort, explore the streets of Canggu. This is SUCH a cute area and there is so much to do. This is definitely the top place to find the cute Instagram-famous cafes and restaurants and there’s plenty of shopping to include local vendors and some boujie brands as well.
5pm Head to The Lawn Beach Club for some sunset cocktails. This beach club was very nice but definitely on the smaller side. You’ll want to reserve a daybed in advance or you can try for some hightop tables near the bar area that are first come first serve. We had some burgers here that were pretty good, but you could definitely just have sunset drinks and then find another top-rated restaurant for dinner afterwards in Canggu.
DAY 7
Take a day trip to Nusa Penida Island to see Diamond Beach! We booked a private tour on Trip Advisor which coordinated everything for us, including a driver to pick us up and drop us off afterwards. Our day trip looked like this:
6:15am our tour arranged for a driver to pick us up and take us to the boat docks.
7:30am Speedboat to Nusa Penida. As a fair warning, this boat was a bit sketchy. It was a large boat that was jam packed with people sitting inside.
9am-4:15pm Our tour guide took us to Diamond Beach, Kelingkeling Beach, and Crystal Bay.
4:30pm Speedboat back to Bali
Evening
There will likely be quite a bit of traffic getting back, so pack some snacks with you. After getting back and showering, head to dinner at The Common in Canggu. We stumbled into this restaurant while walking through the streets of Canggu and LOVED this spot. They had the best margaritas I’ve ever had (try the vanilla roasted pineapple margarita!) and a really amazing salmon bowl. We also grabbed ice cream after at a place across the street called Mad Pops, which was also amazing.
DAY 8
Morning
Spend your last morning relaxing at the resort pool, a local beach, or indulge in one more Balinese massage.
We stayed at the Planta Boutique Resort in Canggu, which was another amazing spot that I highly recommend! The resort is beautiful and feels very private and peaceful while still being within walking distance of tons of Canggu restaurants and beaches. The customer service was exceptional, the morning of our tour our resort prepared to-go breakfast for us since we were leaving at 6am, and the day of our checkout they held our luggage and even prepared a bathroom for us to shower before our evening flights. Linking the resort for you here.
Afternoon
Grab lunch at one of the many vibey restaurants in Canggu, we opted for Penny Lane, which had the cutest decor. Afterwards, spend the afternoon shopping, exploring the markets, and pop into happy hour at The Common.
5pm Sunset dinner at La Brisa beach club. We weren't able to get a reservation, but thankfully this beach club is massive and was able to seat us in an amazing spot with a nice sunset view. The food here was also great and made for a really nice last evening to close out our trip.
You can also find more specific tips for things to see and do in my Canggu, Ubud, and Uluwatu guides.
For more Bali content and tips, check out my Instagram page here.
*as a note, this article contains affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you book through my links. Thank you for supporting my business.
xoxo
Alicia
