Let’s Talk Travel Insurance For Bali: Everything You Need To Know
FINNS Holidays is all about holidays in Bali, and tens of thousands of people visit Bali every year without a single issue. In fact, many
Five days in Bali might not sound like much, but it’s plenty of time to get a taste of what makes the island so popular.
The trick is not trying to see everything. Spend your whole trip racing between temples, beaches and rice terraces, and you’ll probably remember more about Bali traffic than Bali itself.
Our 5-day Bali itinerary takes you from the beaches and dramatic cliffs of the Bukit Peninsula to Canggu and Seminyak on the southwest coast, before heading inland to the heart of the island.
There’s time for temples, surfing, rice fields, nightlife and a few hours doing absolutely nothing at the beach too.
We’ve also kept things flexible. You can swap activities around, skip the early start for Mount Batur, spend longer somewhere you love or change the final day depending on your flight time home from Bali airport.
Think of this as a route to work with, rather than a schedule you need to follow by the book.
Five days isn’t a long time in Bali, so a little planning before you arrive can make a big difference. When you visit, where you stay and how you travel around the island can all affect how much you can realistically fit into each day.
You don’t need to plan every hour before your trip to Bali, but there are a few things worth thinking about before you start packing.
Bali has two main seasons: the dry season, which generally runs from April to October, and the rainy season from November to March. There’s no bad time to visit, but the weather can affect what you decide to do during your five days.
The dry season brings lower humidity and less rain, making it a good time for beaches, surfing, hiking and exploring the island. It’s also the busiest time of year, particularly around July and August, so expect more travellers, busier attractions and higher accommodation prices.
The wet season is hotter, more humid and brings regular tropical rain, but that doesn’t mean it rains all day. You can still get plenty of sunshine, and you get some of the best Bali scenery while the rice fields and jungle are at their greenest. It’s generally less crowded too, outside busy periods such as Christmas and New Year.
If you’re planning activities such as the Mount Batur sunrise hike, surfing or spending a day exploring outdoors, it’s worth keeping the weather in mind.
One advantage of our guide is that there’s enough flexibility to swap things around if the forecast doesn’t cooperate.
Getting around Bali can take longer than you might expect. Distances that look short on the map can turn into lengthy journeys once you factor in traffic, particularly around the busy areas. This is another reason why our itinerary moves around the island rather than using one place as a base for all five days.
Grab and Gojek are convenient for shorter journeys and transfers between many of the main tourist areas. However, they aren’t available everywhere, and they’re not always the most practical option when you want to spend a full day sightseeing.
For longer days exploring Bali, consider hiring a private car and driver. You’ll have more flexibility over where you go, how long you spend at each stop and when you move on.
Group tours can also be a good option, particularly if you’re travelling solo and want to keep costs down, although fixed itineraries aren’t always ideal when you’re following your own schedule.
Hiring a motorbike or scooter is popular in Bali and might sound like an easy and inexpensive way to get around, but we don’t recommend it for the average traveller. Traffic can be chaotic, road conditions vary and riding in Bali is very different from riding at home.
Unless you’re an experienced rider with the correct licence and insurance, stick with a car and driver or a ride-hailing service; it’s best to leave Bali without any unwanted injuries or legal issues.
Bali has an enormous range of places to stay, from cheap hostels and family-run guesthouses to private villas and some of the most luxurious resorts in Southeast Asia.
You won’t struggle to find somewhere to stay in any of the areas on our itinerary, although prices and availability can vary considerably depending on the time of year.
For a five-day trip, we’d recommend booking your accommodation in advance, particularly during the busiest months. However, check cancellation policies if you want to keep some flexibility in your itinerary.
You might decide you want another night in Ubud, change your plans because of the weather or head back to the coast earlier than expected.
You also don’t need to spend a fortune. If you’re going to be out exploring from morning until evening, paying for a huge resort that you barely get to use might not make much sense.
On the other hand, if relaxing by the pool is a big part of your Bali holiday, factor that in rather than treating your accommodation as somewhere you only go to sleep.
Start your five-day Bali adventure in the south. If you land at Ngurah Rai International Airport during the morning or early afternoon, you can head straight to the Bukit Peninsula. If your flight arrives late at night, stay near the airport and make an early start the following morning instead.
You have a couple of different ways to approach your first day. Nusa Dua is the place for a high-end resort splurge, with a long stretch of golden sand and some of the island’s biggest luxury hotels.
Head further west and Uluwatu feels very different, with dramatic cliffs, smaller beaches, surf spots and considerably more rugged scenery.
The Bukit Peninsula isn’t huge, so getting between the main areas isn’t particularly difficult. That gives you plenty of freedom to choose where you stay and explore different parts of southern Bali during the day.
Hire a private driver and spend a few hours exploring some of the smaller beaches around the Bukit Peninsula. Uluwatu is surrounded by little bays and beaches tucked beneath the cliffs, so you don’t need to commit to just one.
Padang Padang is one of the best-known, but there are plenty of others to choose from, including Bingin, Balangan and Thomas Beach. Pick a couple that appeal to you, stop for lunch somewhere along the way and take your time.
There’s no need to turn your first afternoon into a race around every beach on the peninsula.
Later in the day, head to Uluwatu Temple, dramatically perched on the cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean. Sunset is the most popular time to visit, particularly if you want to stay for the famous Kecak fire dance performed in the open-air amphitheatre.
Keep an eye on your belongings while you’re exploring the temple grounds. The resident monkeys have a reputation for grabbing phones, sunglasses and anything else they can get their hands on. Losing your phone to a monkey probably isn’t how you want to remember your first day in Bali.
If you’d rather spend part of your first day in the water, you’ve got very different options depending on where you’re staying.
Uluwatu and the western side of the Bukit are famous for surfing, with breaks attracting experienced surfers from around the world. Beginners can find lessons too, although choose a suitable beach rather than heading straight for the serious reef breaks.
Over on Nusa Dua Beach, you’ll find a much wider choice of organised watersports, including jet skiing, parasailing and other activities.
You might be tired, particularly if you’ve landed in Bali that morning after a long flight. There’s absolutely no reason your first day needs to be packed with sightseeing.
Check into your hotel, have a shower, take a wander around the local area and find somewhere for lunch. Head down to the beach, park yourself somewhere comfortable and enjoy the fact that you’ve finally arrived. You’ve still got four busy days ahead of you.
Travel north to the southwest coast of Bali on the morning of day two. Grab or Gojek should be fine for the journey from Uluwatu or Nusa Dua, although exactly how long it takes will depend heavily on traffic.
Canggu, Seminyak, Legian and Kuta are all relatively close together on the map, but don’t let that fool you. Traffic can make travelling between them surprisingly slow.
Each area has a slightly different vibe, but for this itinerary we’d recommend staying in either Canggu or Seminyak. Both have excellent restaurants, bars, shopping and easy access to the beach, while putting you in a good position for the rest of day two.
Spend the morning exploring Canggu and Seminyak at your own pace. Both areas are packed with cafes, restaurants, shops and bars, while the coast is lined with beaches where you can surf, walk or simply stop somewhere for a drink.
Canggu has spread considerably in recent years, with Berawa, Batu Bolong and Pererenan each offering slightly different scenes. You’ll find everything from surf shops and local warungs to brunch cafes, boutiques and increasingly upmarket restaurants.
Seminyak feels a bit busier, with plenty of shopping and dining around the main streets and beach clubs and bars along the coast.
Don’t try to cover everything. Pick an area or two, have a wander and spend some time at the beach rather than wasting half the morning sitting in traffic.
By the afternoon, head to FINNS Beach Club on Berawa Beach. With several pools, bars, restaurants and a beachfront location overlooking the surf, it’s an easy place to spend the rest of the day without needing to make any more plans.
You can reserve a day bed if you want your own space, or simply come in and find somewhere for a drink, food and a swim. Arrive during the afternoon, and you can relax for a few hours before watching the sunset, with the music and atmosphere picking up as the evening gets going.
If you’re travelling as a family, remember that FINNS is an over-16s venue, so you’ll need to make different plans if you have younger children with you.
If you’d prefer a temple and sunset, head north from Canggu to Tanah Lot Temple. Built on a rocky outcrop just off the coast, it’s one of the most recognisable temples and particularly impressive when the tide surrounds the rock.
Sunset is the most popular time to visit, so don’t expect to have the place to yourself. Give yourself enough time to explore the surrounding area before finding somewhere to watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean.
Tanah Lot is close enough to include on day two without turning it into a huge expedition. Alternatively, leave it until the following morning and stop there before continuing inland to Ubud.
Canggu and Seminyak have some of the biggest concentrations of restaurants, bars and nightlife in Bali, so there’s no shortage of options once the sun goes down. Start with dinner, find a bar for a few drinks or some live music, or carry on into the early hours if you’ve still got the energy.
Seminyak has everything from restaurants and cocktail bars to late-night venues, while Canggu has become one of the main nightlife areas. You certainly don’t need to plan the whole evening before you head out.
And if you didn’t visit FINNS during the afternoon, evening is another option. If you did, there’s also nothing saying you have to leave after sunset. Stay for dinner, drinks and music and carry on until midnight if you’re enjoying yourself.
On the morning of your third day in Bali, it’s time to head inland for a couple of days in Ubud and the surrounding area.
Grab or Gojek are fine if you’re travelling directly from the coast, while hiring a private driver gives you more freedom to turn the journey into part of the day’s sightseeing.
If you didn’t make it to Tanah Lot the previous day, you could visit the temple before heading to Ubud. Hiring a driver also makes sense if you want to stop at another attraction or activity along the way before checking into your accommodation.
One of Ubud’s most popular attractions is the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, a large area of jungle right in the town. Hundreds of long-tailed macaques live in their natural habitat among ancient temples, huge trees, bridges and walking paths.
It’s easy to spend an hour or two wandering through the forest, but remember that the monkeys are wild animals. Follow the rules, don’t feed or tease them and keep loose belongings secure. After our warning about the monkeys at Uluwatu, you really don’t want to give them a second opportunity to steal your phone.
If you’re taking a Grab from the coast or travelling with a private driver, you could also make the Monkey Forest your first stop before checking into your hotel, particularly if you’re not carrying too much luggage.
It’ll be cooler in the morning, and there’s a good chance you won’t be able to check in yet anyway.
Spend some time exploring central Ubud itself rather than treating the town purely as a base for attractions elsewhere. It’s a great place to explore on foot, with temples, cafes, restaurants, galleries and independent shops tucked between the busier streets.
Stop at Ubud Art Market to browse clothes, bags, souvenirs, handicrafts and locally made products, then wander around Ubud Palace and the surrounding streets. You’ll pass small temples and galleries along the way, with plenty of cafes and restaurants when you want to stop for something to eat or drink.
Traffic through the centre can be hectic, but once you’re out of the car, you’ll realise most attractions in central Ubud are within walking distance of each other.
If you’ve still got some energy, the Campuhan Ridge Walk is an easy way to escape the busy streets of central Ubud for a while. The trail follows a ridge through greenery and rice fields, with some lovely views along the way.
Early morning and late afternoon are generally the most comfortable times to walk, avoiding the worst of the midday heat. You don’t have to complete the entire route either. Walk as far as you feel like, enjoy the scenery and turn around when you’re ready.
It’s one of the easiest trails in Bali, and an optional addition to an already fairly busy day, not another attraction that you need to tick off.
Ubud isn’t known for wild nightlife in the same way as Canggu and Seminyak, but there’s still plenty happening after dark. The evening is a good opportunity to slow things down after a busy day exploring.
Head out for dinner, find a bar for a few drinks or look for live music around town. You can also watch a traditional Balinese dance performance, with several venues around central Ubud holding shows in the evening.
If yesterday turned into a late night on the southwest coast, you might be perfectly happy with some good food, a couple of drinks and an early night.
Day four takes you beyond Ubud to explore more of central Bali. Hiring a private driver is a good option, or you can book a group tour if you’d rather have the day’s transport and stops organised for you.
There’s plenty to see and do just outside of Ubud and further north towards Kintamani and Lake Batur, so you can shape the day around the places that interest you most. Of course, you could also start ridiculously early with the Mount Batur sunrise trek, which we’ll get to in just a moment.
If you don’t mind an extremely early start, hiking Mount Batur for sunrise is one of the island’s most popular adventures. Most tours collect you from Ubud in the early hours, with the climb beginning in darkness so you reach the 1,717-metre summit before sunrise.
The hike generally takes around two hours each way, depending on your pace.
You’ll need decent footwear, something warm for the summit and enough energy to function after very little sleep. The reward is sunrise over the surrounding mountains, Lake Batur and the huge volcanic landscape of the Kintamani area.
Just remember that this is optional for a reason. If getting up in the middle of the night sounds horrific, skip it. And if you do book the trip, try not to stay out too late the night before!
If you’d rather have a more relaxed start, stay closer to Ubud and head north towards Tegalalang. The famous rice terraces are only a relatively short journey from town and are best explored before the middle of the day gets too hot and busy.
There’s plenty more to see around Tegalalang, so the rice terrace doesn’t need to be your only stop. With a private driver, you can pick a few places and spend most of the day exploring the area north of Ubud. Options include:
You can then head back towards Ubud during the afternoon and enjoy a much easier final evening inland.
For a bigger day out, continue north into the Kintamani highlands around Mount Batur and Lake Batur. The landscape changes considerably as you climb, with cooler temperatures, volcanic scenery and views across the enormous Batur caldera.
There’s absolutely loads to see around Kintamani and the central highlands, so don’t try to fit everything into one afternoon. Pick two or three places that appeal to you and build the rest of the day around them. Some options include:
If you’ve already hiked Mount Batur at sunrise, you’ll obviously be in the area anyway and can continue exploring from there. On the other hand, after getting up in the middle of the night and climbing a volcano, you may be completely knackered.
There’s nothing wrong with heading back to Ubud for a shower, food and a nap instead; then you have the rest of the day to explore the town and enjoy yourself.
Travel back towards the coast either on the evening of day four or early on day five.
How you spend your last day will depend a lot on your flight plans. If you’re leaving Bali that evening, you’ll need to keep one eye on the clock. If you’ve still got another night to stay, you’ve effectively got a full day and evening to play with.
For this itinerary, we’ve chosen two options: head back to the southwest coast around Canggu and Seminyak, or spend the day somewhere quieter in Sanur. Grab or Gojek should be fine for travelling to either from Ubud.
If you’ve hired a car and driver, you could also stop at a few places on the way down. Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Tegenungan Waterfall and several other attractions are easily worked into the journey if you haven’t visited them already.
If you enjoyed it the first time, then there’s nothing wrong with another day in Canggu to round your trip up.
Spend some time shopping, relax on the beach or book yourself into a nice hotel and enjoy a little luxury before you fly home.
You could also spend the afternoon and evening at FINNS, particularly if you didn’t make it there on day two. Stay for sunset, dinner and drinks, and turn your final night into one last Bali blowout.
If you’d rather finish your trip somewhere quieter, head to Sanur. The beach has a much slower pace than Canggu or Seminyak, and you’re also relatively close to the airport when it’s finally time to leave.
There’s plenty to do around Sanur, or you could explore nearby areas such as Renon. If you travelled down on the evening of day four, another option is to enjoy Sanur during the morning before heading back across to Canggu for your final afternoon and night.
This itinerary for 5 days in Bali can be followed by the book, or used as a rough guide.
You can swap days around, travel between destinations in the evening instead of the following morning or skip something entirely if you’d rather spend longer somewhere else.
Your arrival and departure times make a difference too. Five full days on the island gives you considerably more time than arriving late on day one and flying home early on day five, so adjust the itinerary to fit the time you actually have.
Of course, you don’t have to travel around Bali at all. If your idea of a good holiday is booking a nice hotel by the beach, relaxing by the pool and heading out for dinner and drinks each evening, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Pick somewhere you like, unpack once and enjoy your five days. You can always take a day trip or two if you decide you want to see more of the island.
Bali is a big island, and there are plenty of other places you might have heard about and be tempted to squeeze into your five days. Some can be worked in with a little rearranging, while others are probably better saved for a longer trip.
Here are a few of the most obvious options.
Lovina and northern Bali could work as an alternative for your final day, particularly if you travel north on the evening of day four. Just make sure you leave yourself enough time to get back to the airport if you’re flying out that evening.
What To See And Do There: Take an early-morning dolphin-watching trip from Lovina, explore the waterfalls of northern Bali or head further west towards West Bali National Park and Menjangan Island, one of the island’s best areas for snorkelling and scuba diving.
Amed is another option for your last day, although again, travelling there on the evening of day four would give you much more time. It’s a quieter alternative to the busy resorts in the south and particularly worth considering if you want to spend your last day in the water.
What To See And Do There: Snorkel or scuba dive straight from the coast, explore Amed’s black-sand beaches and fishing villages, or simply spend the day by the sea with views of Mount Agung in the background.
Nusa Penida can be squeezed into a five-day trip, but you’ll need to sacrifice some time elsewhere. Day trips leave Bali in the morning and return later the same day, giving you time to see some of the island’s highlights, but expect a long and fairly rushed day.
If Nusa Penida is a priority, we’d consider fitting it in around days three and four. Staying overnight gives you considerably more time to explore and makes the trip feel less rushed.
What To See And Do There: Kelingking Beach, Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong are among Nusa Penida’s best-known sights, while Crystal Bay is popular for swimming.
You can also explore the island’s cliffs and viewpoints, visit temples or head to the quieter eastern side for places such as Diamond Beach and Atuh Beach.
The Gili Islands are a popular island destination not far from Bali, which gives you a taste of another side of Indonesia.
They are popular and certainly worth visiting, but we wouldn’t try to squeeze them into five days in Bali. Getting there, staying long enough to enjoy the islands and travelling back would take too much time away from Bali itself.
If you’ve got a longer trip of around 10 days, adding a couple of nights on the Gilis becomes much more practical.
Five days in Bali isn’t a long time, but it’s enough to get a feel for the place, move around, and hit some of the top attractions. Of course, it’s nowhere near enough time to see everything.
This itinerary includes several areas of Bali: the Bukit Peninsula, the southwest coast, Ubud and the central highlands, without spending the entire trip racing between attractions.
You’ll probably leave with plenty of places you want to explore on your next Bali trip.
How much you need for five days in Bali depends enormously on how you travel.
Local food, guesthouses and inexpensive transport can keep costs low, while private villas, restaurants, beach clubs, spa treatments and nights out can quickly increase your budget.
Remember to allow for transport and activities too. Private drivers, tours, temple entrance fees and surfing lessons all add up. Bali works well for budget travellers, luxury holidays and almost everything in between.
Pack light. You’ll be moving around during these five days, and dragging a huge suitcase between different parts of Bali gets old quickly.
Bring light clothing, swimwear, comfortable footwear, sunscreen and a hat, plus something suitable for visiting temples. A light rain jacket is useful during the wet season.
If you’re hiking Mount Batur, bring proper footwear and something warm for the early morning. Anything basic you forget can easily be bought in Bali.
For five days in Bali, we’d plan the main trip by yourself and use tours when they make sense. This gives you the freedom to change plans, stay longer somewhere you like or skip somewhere that doesn’t interest you.
Tours are useful for activities such as the Mount Batur sunrise hike, while group day trips can be particularly good for solo travellers. You can also hire a private car and driver when you want the convenience of a tour without following a fixed schedule.
There isn’t one. Some people come to Bali for the surf and beaches, others for temples and traditional Balinese culture, while plenty are happiest eating, drinking and watching the sunset.
If temples in Bali interest you, then Tanah Lot Temple, or Uluwatu Temple and the Kecak dance at sunset are both difficult to beat. You get cliffs, ocean views, a spectacular temple and traditional dance in one evening.
And, of course, we’d say a day at FINNS Beach Club should be pretty high on your list too. But we might be slightly biased.
Five days isn’t enough to see everything Bali has to offer, but it’s enough days to enjoy yourself and to experience several different sides of the island.
You can explore beaches and temples in the south, enjoy the restaurants and nightlife of Canggu and Seminyak, head inland to Ubud and the rice fields, and still find some time to simply enjoy being on holiday.
We’ve deliberately left plenty of room to change things around. Skip the sunrise hike, stay somewhere an extra night, swap one coastal town for another or spend all five days in the same hotel if that’s what you want to do.
This itinerary is just an idea. At the end of the day, it’s your holiday and your itinerary. However you choose to spend your five days in Bali, we’re sure you’re going to have an amazing time.
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