10 Day Bali Itinerary
Bali baby!
I just got back from a phenomenal 10-day girl’s trip to Bali, Indonesia! Bali is a wonderful island full of kind people, beautiful views and never-ending fun. My friends and I managed to create an itinerary with the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure and I’ll share it here so you too can eat, love and pray all over Bali!
Getting there: Fly in to Denpasar International Airport
It’s a LONG flight from America to Bali - I’m talking 26+ hours of traveling. Check out my blog on how to survive a long flight and keep your eye on the prize - Bali!
day one: Seminyak
In Seminyak, we stayed in this Airbnb - it is so cute, has a private pool and is close to the beach! The woman who runs it is very sweet and helpful.
We had breakfast at KYND Community - a must do in Seminyak! They have smoothie bowls with BALI written in mango. It’s an Intagrammer’s paradise. My friend Carly is a vegan foodie so check out her IG for photos of our food tour around Bali - including the cute smoothie bowl at KYND!
From here we walked down to the beach to find the famous Potato Head Beach Club! This place is awesome but very popular and expensive compared to other places in Bali. We paid to get a day sofa but only used it for a few rounds of drinks before we discovered the swim-up bar in the pool, which we found to be much more fun.
Then we got a taxi to Finn’s Beach Club since it was pretty far away from Potato Head. Finn’s is another famous beach club we just had to see. It had more party vibes compared to the chill atmosphere of Potato Head. It has a live DJ, 4 pools, 9 bars (including 2 swim up pool bars) and 5 restaurants. We got a drink by the pool and then made our way over to the St Tropez restaurant inside Finn’s for some appetizers while we enjoyed the gorgeous sunset over the ocean.
Another beach club we did not get to but wished we had time for was La Plancha Bali Beach Club! This club is on the beach in the sand and looks so colorful and fun! Next time we’re in Bali we are making a point to go.
We ended our day by heading home to change and recuperate before heading to Motel Mexicola for dinner! Motel Mexicola is a fun dinner spot that will be packed so make a reservation in advance. We did not make reservations but the bar has good drinks so it worked out well. The food was great and the party really kicked off when we were just getting done with our meal. The stage was flooded with partiers and people started dancing on the tables that weren’t occupied by diners. Of course we had to join in on the fun!
day two: Nusa Penida Day Trip
Our Airbnb host set us up with transportation from our Airbnb to the island including a ride to and from the ferry and the round-trip ferry itself. This cost us about $35 USD per person and was well worth it. We ventured to Nusa Penida for the day with no real plan and ended up having a wonderful day.
There are plenty of taxi drivers waiting for the ferries to transport the visitors around the island. We found one and told him we were starving and wanted to eat somewhere cute. He knew immediately where to take us - Penida Colada Beach Bar! This place has the best tempeh burger I’ve ever had and such a perfect view of the ocean it almost doesn’t even seem real. A must-do if you are on Nusa Penida!
From here, our driver took us to Kelingking Beach - one of the most beautiful places on the island. We fell in love with the astonishing view but did not expect all the physical exertion it would take to get down to the beach. It was A LOT of stairs. People were sweating. We were sweating. Getting down wasn’t even that much easier than getting up because the stairs are so steep and uneven. But look at the VIEW! We only ended up going down halfway and didn’t make it to the beach because we didn’t have the proper footwear for this stair climb but looking back, we wished we would have gone down all the way.
Side note: the road to get to Kelingking Beach is quite possibly the most winding road in the world. One of our friends almost threw up in her hat on the way there. BRING DRAMAMINE if you even have the slightest history of motion sickness.
Since we still wanted to hang out on a beach while on the island, we asked to go to Crystal Bay next. It was a nice place to relax and spend some time in the water before heading back to the ferry.
When we arrived back in Seminyak, we got ready and went to Ling Ling’s for dinner. Ling Ling’s is an Asian fusion restaurant with a great playlist and fun vibes. We maxed out on sushi, tacos, and dumplings and had a giant frozen watermelon drink in an actual watermelon!
day three: Amed
We booked a driver that we found on Instagram from a well-known blog. He was our driver for the majority of time we were in Bali and we loved him! His name is Pandu and I highly recommend him. Here is a link to his Instagram where you can contact him to set up the dates you need a driver and to get a quote. It ended up being around $70 USD a person for the entire 7 days we had him! He and his cousin picked us up early in the morning on Monday with two minivans - one for our luggage and one for the five of us. They took us to our Amed Airbnb to drop off our bags and then we just used the one minivan for any travels that didn’t involve luggage. Not having to worry about transportation each day made our lives so easy!
Amed is about a 3 hour car ride from the Seminyak area. It’s a sleepy little coastal town that is not highly inhabited by tourists. It’s main draw is scuba diving - which is exactly what we were there to do. We all agreed that Amed was one of our favorite towns in Bali. Once we dropped our bags off at our boujee Kardashian-esqe Airbnb, we went directly to our scuba dive excursion.
After a lot of prior research on what company to dive with, we chose Eco Dive Bali. Their focus is on preserving the natural beauty of Bali. They are the oldest and largest dive center in Amed and an industry leader. Eco Dive’s commitment to the environment and to the development of sustainable tourism in Bali is why scuba diving in Amed is still going so strong!
I reached out to them via email in advance to set up a time for our group to dive. Since four of the girls in our group were not certified, they did a beginner’s dive and I did an open-water dive with a random partner and a dive master. We were able to do our second dive together - the Liberty Shipwreck! It was a cargo ship bombed in WWII that ended up directed off shore. It became a home to a ton of underwater creatures and is now beautiful and full of life. This was one of the coolest dives I’ve ever done!
After our second dive, we debriefed as a group and went over all the fish and sea critters we saw down there. The dive masters are so knowledgeable on the area and we learned so much about our dives. We then said our goodbyes and got a ride to our Airbnb from a driver at Eco Dive.
We decided to walk to a restaurant near our Airbnb, Blue Moon Villas Restaurant - Komang John’s Cafe. This was our first real Balinese meal and it was wonderful. We had dragon fruit margaritas, frozen mojitos and different variations of curry for our meals. After dinner, we bought a few bottles of wine from them and went back to our Airbnb to feel like royalty in our infinity pool on the ocean.
day four: Amed
We woke up early to get to Heaven’s Gate at the Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang Temple. This is one of the world’s most photographic places! Get here super early to beat the crowd. You have to wear a sarong that you rent from them for 10,000 IDR around your waist and keep your shoulders covered at all times because it is a religious temple. I suggest you wear a white t-shirt and shorts so the sarong will compliment your outfit.
Now for some real talk. Heaven’s Gate is possibly one of the greatest Instagram facades in history. They give you a number when you’re walking up and you sit with 100+ other people while you wait for your number to be called so you can get your photo taken. We didn’t get there as early as we would have liked so we ended up waiting an hour and half for a photo. I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you right now - I feel like I’m breaking the laws of Instagram. The photo itself is indeed heavenly - but it’s not real. They hold a mirror underneath your phone while they take the photo to make it look like a mystical pool of water is below you. The photo included here is us with our driver, Pandu!
After our long morning trying to be Instagram influencers, we went to Tirta Gangga, home of Taman Tirta Gangga or The Water Palace. The palace has several exquisite pools filled with Koi and lotus blossoms. We bought some fish food from one of the vendors outside the palace and went in to make some new fish friends. Luckily, it wasn’t too packed at the time we went so we got some great photos without people in the background.
We then went to eat some more delicious Balinese food at Galanga Restaurant, stopped at Adi’s shop for inexpensive wine and went back to our Airbnb for massages set up through our Airbnb host! The masseuses came to us at our accommodation and gave us wonderful, hour-long massages for only 100,000 IDR per person. We spent our afternoon relaxing and hanging out at our gorgeous Airbnb!
For dinner, we went to another restaurant near where we were staying - Trattoria! We loved this Italian meal and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Amed. We maxed out on pasta and pizza before going home to drink the wine we bought earlier.
day five: Ubud
In the morning we got back in the minivan with Pandu, got some snacks for breakfast and rode to our new home in the heart of Bali - Ubud! Our Ubud Airbnb had an infinity pool and was in the rainforest!
After dropping off our bags, we went to the Ubud Market. If you choose to go here, practice your bargaining skills and bring cash. However, I’d suggest skipping it and shopping around in town at the local boutiques where things are actually handmade and people won’t harass you to buy things. Ubud is a yoga town so I found a lot of great yoga shops with some lovely treasures. Be sure to check out the Bali Yoga Shop!
We went home to change and drop off our purchases and spent the rest of the day at Folk Pool and Gardens! This is Ubud’s first swim up bar located right in the heart of the town. They have private daybeds, teepees and decks lining the pool. We sat at a table by the pool to have dinner and then spent the rest of the evening at the swim up bar. This was one of our favorite nights in Bali!
day six: Ubud
Our Airbnb included free floating breakfast every morning in our pool! It was a magical experience eating traditional Indonesian breakfast in the pool overlooking the jungle.
We kicked off our day by seeing the Pura Taman Saraswati Temple. It’s a beautiful temple right in town surrounded by pools of lotus flowers. We got lucky and were there at a time without many tourists. Just know you normally need to go to this temple early if we want to take photos without 100 people in them.
Next was the famous Ubud Monkey Forest! The entrance fee is only 50,000 IDR (about $3.50 USD) and that money goes towards conservation, research, and maintaining the local community. We spent about two hours hanging out with the monkeys. This was a highlight of our trip and you obviously have to do it when in Ubud.
Note on monkeys: The monkeys at the monkey forest are relatively tame but still wild animals. Do not look them in the eye because it portrays dominance and they could get upset. Do not bring a purse or anything shiny because they will try to steal it and they will win. I suggest wearing a hip bag instead. Do not wear any jewelry or anything loose that the monkeys can grab. If one jumps on you and you don’t want her there, simply walk away calmly and she will jump off. They aren’t scary creatures but you still have to use caution!
After the Monkey Forest, we went to the Tibumana Waterfalls. This is a lesser known waterfall but it is phenomenal and well worth seeing! It’s a small hike to get to the waterfall so I suggest using waterproof hiking shoes like Chacos or Tevas. Most waterfalls in Bali charge a very small entrance fee so bring small change.
From here, we continued onto the magnificent Kanto Lampo Waterfall. You’ll hike down some stairs to get to it so be prepared. This is a must-see and well worth the process to get a nice photo! There is usually a small line and then you have to climb the rocks to get to the photo-op spot but the outcome is awesome.
After a long day of exploring Ubud, we got dinner at a traditional Indonesian restaurant and went to bed to prepare for our early start the following day.
day seven: Ubud
We started our morning at 2:30 am for our sunrise hike of Mount Batur. We booked through this Airbnb Experience so it also included a visit to the hot springs and the coffee plantation. They had a driver come pick us up at 2:30 am on the dot and take us to the base of the mountain. We then met our guide and started our hike in the dark with headlamps and walking sticks he provided. At the top, he made us breakfast and we sat to watch the sun come up. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day so we didn’t get to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain. Instead, our guide showed us the steam rising up from the volcano and we paused for a photo op. On our way down it was light out so we got to see the mountain and all its glory. There were also some beautiful views of the valley and the horizon so it turned out to be a great hike despite the lack of sunrise!
After our long morning of hiking, our driver met us in the parking lot and took us to the hot springs! He got our tickets for us as they were already included in the cost of our tour and gave us a little over an hour to spend time in the springs. We tried out every pool and enjoyed the relaxation.
Next was the coffee plantation! Which was perfect timing because we were all exhausted at this point so coffee was a must. This experience was so fun and we were happy we got to do it as part of the Airbnb Experience. We met the man who runs the plantation and he gave us a tour, showed us what a Luwak looked like, how the Luwak coffee is made and shared their coffee-making process - which is entirely by hand! We then got to taste test all the coffee and tea they make and buy our favorites to take home with us.
Note on what to wear or bring for this excursion: hiking shoes, warm jacket for the top of the mountain, backpack, swimsuit, flip flops, and extra clothes. Know that a towel is provided at the hot springs so don’t bother bringing one.
We got dropped off at our Airbnb around noon and took naps to recover from our early wake-up call.
Once we were feeling refreshed, we went to Jungle Fish Bali. This is Ubud’s famous open-air, split-level restaurant with a pool and swim-up bar. They have an Indonesian and International menu and a great selection of drinks. We ended up here during happy hour so we basically got to try them all. You can’t make a reservation so get there early and reserve a day sofa or day bed with a set amount for food and drink. Jungle Fish was so fun and is well worth a visit while in Ubud!
day eight: Ubud
We ate our floating breakfast in the pool and met Pandu to have him take us to The Tegalalang Rice Terrace. This site is about 30 minutes from Ubud and is best visited in the early morning. Here you can explore one of the most popular rice terraces in Bali and get some nice photo ops like the Bali swing and the nest! The Bali swing was a lot of fun and allowed for a lovely view over the rice terraces.
Note that you have to pay for each photo op - anywhere from 25,000 to 350,000 IDR depending on which one you choose so bring cash.
After the rice terraces, we went to Tirta Empul Holy Water Temple. This was an amazing spiritual experience and you absolutely must do it while in Bali. Tirta Empul is a large temple and you will probably spend over an hour here if you plan on getting in the water, and if you do - bring a swimsuit to change into. We were given a sarong at the entrance to tie around our waists for the walk through the temple. These specific sarongs are not to be gotten wet so you can only wear them to view the temple from the side. We decided to get in the water - which I highly suggest doing, and headed over to the changing and locker rooms to rent water sarongs and a locker. We changed into our swimsuits and wrapped the sarong over ourselves to cover as much of our bodies as we could and then we partook in the Balinese Hindu ritual of bathing in the fountains.
We didn’t even bother drying off too much after the temple and went straight to the Tukad Cepung Waterfall. It requires a small hike but is massive and gorgeous. We explored a little, took some photos and headed to KAFE for a late lunch. Per usual, we maxed out on the spectacular food before heading home.
Then we decided to spend time together in our Airbnb pool! We got a bunch of snacks on our way home, put them in the floating breakfast tray and just enjoyed each other’s company. It’s always nice to take time to relax together when on vacation with your best friends.
day nine: Uluwatu
We woke up early and went to Yoga Barn for a morning flow! It was inexpensive (approximately $9 USD/class) and in the most amazing open air studio. The class was an hour and a half and included 30 minutes of meditation. There are so many yoga studios in Ubud but this one is a great option. I will definitely be returning to the Yoga Barn one day to try out some of their other class offerings.
After our lovely morning practice, we went back to the Airbnb for our last floating breakfast in Bali. Then we packed up our bags and set off to Ululwatu. It was about an hour drive south and we stayed in a beachy Airbnb. We dropped off our bags and went to Pura Uluwatu, a temple sitting on the cliffs overlooking the sea. It’s one of the most atmospheric temples in all of Bali and has some seriously perfect views.
Then we checked into our new home, changed and made Pandu to come to lunch with us at Nourish for breakfast. We loved this place! It has a surfer vibe to it, the staff is so kind and they have phenomenal food.
After lunch, we got dropped off by Pandu for the last time at the famous Omnia Dayclub Bali, an infinity bar overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was definitely boujee and we felt famous just being there. We got a daybed and a bottle and spent a fun afternoon in the infinity pool.
We then got a ride back to Nourish again so we could eat the other half of the menu before we walked to our Airbnb for the night.
day ten: Uluwatu and homeward bound
On our last day in Bali, our Airbnb host made us breakfast and we lounged on Padang Padang Beach, which was recommended to us by some of the locals that work at Nourish. After we grabbed a quick bite to eat, we got a ride to the airport through a driver set up by our Airbnb. We flew out than evening!
Bali was the trip of a lifetime - it belongs on your bucket list of places to visit pronto. You can see our trip in pictures on my Instagram!