Ubud is a base, not a day trip. Here is what to book from it.
What time the Batur jeep really collects you. Which waterfall day reaches Tukad Cepung while the light still drops through the cave roof. Whether the Nusa Penida boat earns a six o’clock start. Reviews of every tour you can book out of Ubud.
Four mornings that decide the shape of an Ubud week.
The crater, the waterfall run, the circuit through the valley and the crossing to Nusa Penida. What each costs, and what the travellers who took it say.
01The 2am startMount Batur Sunrise Hike with BreakfastCollection around half one, two hours up in the dark with a head torch, and breakfast cooked on the steam vents while the sun comes over Lombok.
02The waterfall runBest of Bali Waterfalls: Tibumana, Tukad Cepung and TegenunganTibumana, Tukad Cepung and Tegenungan in a day. Tukad Cepung wants late morning, when the beam still reaches the floor of the cave.
03The valley circuitBest of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle SwingMonkey forest, a swing over the gorge and the Tegallalang ladder, with a driver who waits at the top while you climb down.
04The boat eastNusa Penida Snorkeling 3 Point with Manta Bay & Land TourManta Bay and the Penida cliffs. Forty-five minutes out of Sanur, and the swell decides whether it sails at all.
Six directions out of Ubud, and the best day in each.
North to the crater lake, east to the gates and the water palaces, south to the cliff temples and the surf, west to the UNESCO terraces, and across the strait to Nusa Penida. Ubud itself takes a full day before you leave the valley.
Ubud sits on a gorge, and everything in the valley runs downhill to a waterfall.
Tibumana under its single curtain, Kanto Lampo spread across stepped rock, Tukad Cepung inside a cave with a shaft of light through the roof. Between them the Ayung rapids, the terraces above Tegallalang, and the swings hung off the rim.
Bali counts its temples in thousands. Four of them run the day trips out of Ubud.
Every temple day →
Lempuyang for the gate, Tirta Empul for the spouts, Ulun Danu out on the lake at Bedugul, Besakih high on the flank of Agung. A sarong and sash come with the ticket at every one, and the queue at Lempuyang starts before eight.
Lempuyang, and the queue for it
The mirrored lake under the gate is a phone screen held at arm’s length by a temple photographer, and everybody knows that now. Arrive before eight or take a number and wait two hours for it.
Melukat, spout by spout
Spring water runs through a row of stone spouts into a bathing tank and you work along it in order, head under each one. Sarong and sash are included; a change of clothes and a towel are not.
Tanah Lot, and the tide
The rock is only walkable at low water, and the reason to go is the sun dropping behind it. Days out of Ubud reach the car park around five and leave in the dark.
The days out of Ubud more travellers book than anything else.
The whole review list →The volcano morning, the full-day driver, the swing circuit and a dance ticket that costs less than lunch.
1
All-Inclusive Ubud Private Tour
Spend 8 to 10 hours touring Ubud by private air-conditioned car with a local guide such as Guna, Eka, or Swandi. Visit a Balinese home, Monkey Forest, Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Tirta Empul, and Tegenungan Waterfall, with lunch, a jungle swing, entry fees, bottled water, and photo help included.
From · $100
Read our review →
2
Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swing
from $56
3
Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple
from $31
4
Best of Ubud 1-Day Private Tour
from $54
5
Ubud Palace Legong Dance Show Ticket
from $6
6
Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beach
from $35
7
Tanah Lot and North Bali Tour: Scenic Journey
from $100
8
Body Massage Experience in Ubud Traditional Spa
from $21
The terraces photograph at seven and fill up by eleven.
Tegallalang is twenty minutes north, cut into the slope in stages, with the swings and the nests strung along the same rim. Jatiluwih, an hour west, is the UNESCO one: flatter, wider, and usually empty.
Every rice terrace day →
The Ayung rapids start ten minutes from the Ubud market.
Grade two and three water down the Ayung with a stop under a carved cliff, quad tracks that run through a tunnel and out beneath a waterfall, river tubing through a cave, ziplines strung over the paddy. Most of it runs twice a day and ends with lunch.
- 1ATV Quad Bike Through Tunnel and Waterfall in Balifrom $33
- 2Bali ATV Ride and White Water Raftingfrom $47
- 3Cave Tubing Adventure & Rice terracefrom $18
Three ways up Mount Batur, and only one of them is a climb.
The crater rim at 1,717 metres is the most-booked morning out of Ubud. Walk it in the dark, ride the lava field by jeep, or skip the summit and go straight to the hot springs on the lake below.
What a day out of Ubud actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what you pay per head. Most of the good days here still land under fifty dollars.
Dance tickets, the monkey forest, jeep mornings, quad runs and most of the waterfall circuits.
Full days with a private driver, the Penida boat, cooking schools and the east coast gates.
- 1All-Inclusive Ubud Private Tourfrom $100
- 2Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swingfrom $56
- 3Best of Ubud 1-Day Private Tourfrom $54
Overnight runs to Ijen and Bromo, chartered boats, and the guides who plan a whole week.
Three things that happen on this island and nowhere else.
Volcanoes, jungle and rice fields run the length of southeast Asia. A purification queue at a spring temple, seventy men chanting a monkey chorus on a cliff, and a rope seat swung out over a gorge do not.
Melukat at Tirta Empul
Spring water has been piped through a row of stone spouts into a bathing tank here since the tenth century, and Balinese families still queue along it to wash under each one in turn. Visitors join the same queue in a temple sarong. The last two spouts belong to funeral rites and are left alone.
- 1Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,160 reviews
- 2Half-Day Ubud Electric Cycling Tour to Tirta Empul Water Temple★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 315 reviews
- 3Ubud Tour – Balinese Healing By Shaman And Self Purification★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 236 reviews
Kecak on the Uluwatu cliff
No instruments at all. Around seventy men sit in rings and chant the cak rhythm while the Ramayana plays out in the middle of them, timed so that Hanuman burns as the sun goes into the sea. The amphitheatre is open stone on a cliff edge, so a wet evening stays a wet evening.
- 1Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beach★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,681 reviews
- 2Private Tour: Uluwatu Temple & Southern Bali Highlights★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 387 reviews
- 3Bali Beaches Hopping – Uluwatu Temple★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 119 reviews
The Bali swing
Somebody tied a rope seat to a coconut palm above the Ayung and the whole valley copied it. There are dozens now, from a single swing to stacked platforms with nests, glass floors and a dress rack by the till. All harnessed, all pitched at the same photograph, and the high ones cross the river.
- 1Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swing★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8,571 reviews
- 2Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,160 reviews
- 3Ubud Tour with Swing, Temple, Monkey Forest, and Waterfall★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 224 reviews
Four bookings around Ubud that will not wait until you land.
Most of this valley can be arranged over breakfast the day before. These four run on tides, boat manifests, temple calendars and a collection list that closes the night before.
- 01Mount Batur Sunrise Hike and Natural Hot Spring OptionCollection starts around half past one in the morning and the guide list closes the evening before. Booking on the day means the morning after, at best.
- 02Nusa Penida Snorkeling 3 Point with Manta Bay & Land TourThe fast boats out of Sanur run to a manifest and the popular Penida days fill through the dry season. Rough water cancels the crossing outright.
- 03Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran BeachOne performance a night at Uluwatu, on open stone benches that fill an hour before the sun goes down. The seats are counted.
- 04Ubud Cooking Class Bali with Balinese ChefThe classes that begin at the market begin at six. Shopping and the kitchen are sold as one slot, and the kitchen has a fixed number of stations.
When the afternoon rain lands, Ubud moves indoors and gets better.
November to March the mornings usually stay clear and the rain arrives after two. The falls run brown and fast, the Batur summit clouds over, and the Penida boats cancel. Book the outdoor half for the morning and put a kitchen, a silversmith or a bathhouse in the afternoon.
In Bali the itinerary is a driver, and he waits in the car park.
Ten hours, hotel door to hotel door, anywhere you point on the map. Fuel and parking are his, entry tickets and lunch are yours, and it is the only arrangement that lets you change your mind at eleven in the morning.
By direction — out of Ubud
By kind of day — crater, water, temple or kitchen
Six days out of Ubud without changing rooms once.
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