This is our epic 18 day Bali itinerary and what an incredible island it is! We covered several of the islands and it was too good not to share.
Table of Contents
Day 1 Seminyak
Hotel: Villa Kresna Boutique and Suites
After three flights we arrived in Bali. Taxi from airport to Seminyak accomodation: 170,000 IDR. Relaxing at the villa followed by an evening out in Seminyak, visiting numerous bars and ending up at Hotel Mexicola for lots of dancing.
Day 2 Seminyak
Hotel: Villa Kresna Boutique and Suites
We relaxed in our private villa and went to Chandi for a late lunch introducing us to Bali’s incredible cuisine. Then we had relaxing massages followed by sundowners at La Plancha beach club and chilling out on bean bags under colourful parasols.
Day 3 Seminyak
Hotel: Villa Kresna Boutique and Suites
Finn’s Beach Bar is a fun beach bar near the sea with a great vibe. The food is amazing and there is a DJ playing as the sun goes down. After we left the beach club we went dancing at La Favela. The club is huge, really fun and has various rooms with some music for everyone.
Our Epic Travel Video of Bali
Day 4 Seminyak → Ubud
Hotel: Budi House Bungalows
Taxi from Seminyak to Ubud: 400,000 IDR. Staying in central Ubud we explored the lively area and had an excellent dinner at Kismet. The food was so healthy and we are still dreaming about the garlic, chilli and lime edamame beans.
Day 5 Ubud → Mount Batur sunrise trek
Hotel: Imagine Bali
Up at 2am for the Mount Batur trek. After the trek we visited the nearby Lake Batur Hot Springs to soak our aching muscles. Then massages and lunch in Ubud before heading to our new hotel slightly out of Ubud. We had sundowners and dinner at Sayan House; excellent food and spectacular views. Then met our friends at No Mas for some great live music.
Day 6 Ubud
Hotel: Imagine Bali
After a morning of relaxing and chilling by the pool we arranged to go to the temple Tanah Lot at sunset by taxi (150,000 IDR pp for a return trip). Later we discovered that we’d gone on a special day that occurs once a year when people come to celebrate at the temple. Dinner at Bebek Bengil Crispy Duck. Surroundings were lovely, but the food was bland and disappointing.
Day 7 Ubud
Hotel: Imagine Bali
Tegalalang rice terraces early in the morning by taxi (100,000IDR pp for a return trip). We saw them plant the new rice seedlings and rice terraces were stunning. A quick lunch at the beautiful Mandapa, the Ritz-Carlton hotel before heading to the wedding at the Royal Pita Maha, where our friends got married. The most incredible wedding in a stunning jungle venue.
Day 8 Ubud
Hotel: Imagine Bali
After a lazy morning, we had lunch at Sayan House. We wanted to share the sensational views with our friends and again the food was incredible. After lunch we went onto a pool party in central Ubud at an awesome Air BnB property, nestled in the jungle with spectacular sunset views over the rice terraces. We enjoyed late night nibbles at Spice where the food was full of flavour and the portions were surprisingly large.
Day 9 Ubud
Hotel: Arana Garden Ubud by Suka Hospitality
Organised tour with Dama Tours. We walked past some stunning rice terraces before reaching Sekumpul and Fiji waterfalls. Afterwards we went to the temple Ulan Danu, situated in a lake and then to the stunning UNESCO Jatiluwih rice terraces. For dinner we went to Hippie Fish in central Ubud and although the food was slightly delayed and the portions slightly small, the Coconut Daiquiris were fantastic.
Day 10 Ubud → Amed
Hotel: Double One Villas Amed II
Taxi from Ubud to Amed via Tirta Gangga and Penataran Lempuyang: 750,000 IDR. The water palace Tirta Gangga was the most stunning temple we went to during our time in Bali.
The next temple, the Gates of Heaven, was beautiful but it was so unbelievably hot we didn’t explore as much of the temple complex as we should have. Once in Amed we had dinner at Sails enjoying fresh seafood as we watched the sunset turn the sky pink.
Day 11 Amed
Hotel: Double One Villas Amed II
Up early for Deep Sea fishing with Bali Fish Amed, on our 7 hour trip we caught over 20 enormous fish. Heading back to land a pod of 20 dolphins accompanied our boat, jumping out of the water and surfing the waves. An experience we’ll never forget. Our second fishing trip to catch mackerel at sunset saw us catch 57 fish in one haul! For dinner we ate our catch on the beach under the stars after it had been prepared by a local cook. A magical day!
Day 12 Amed → Gili Air
After a yummy breakfast at Vienna Beach, we caught the Fast boat from Amed to Gili Air: 350,000 IDR per person. To sit upstairs you pay 50,000 IDR extra. Pay it. The waves are high!
Once on Gili Air we had sundowners at Mowie’s for some happy hour wines. We had dinner at Scallywags, enjoying the large seafood platter and gorgeous beach views.
Day 13 Gili Air
We had breakfast at Gili Bliss and enjoyed some smashed avocado and delicious juices. We enjoyed 2 hours of pampering, (massage, body scrub, facial) at The Krishna Sunset Spa, followed by lunch at Warung Alan Damai.
The restaurant was cheap and cheerful local food and was absolutely packed. After walking round the island, we had more sundowners at Mowie’s and then a huge dinner of a large fish, a squid and prawns followed by evening drinks on the beach relaxing on bean bags.
Day 14 Gili Air → Gili T
Hotel: Marta’s Hotel
Fast boat Gili Air to Gili T: 150,000 IDR per person. Our accommodation was heaven after the dreadful Air BnB on Gili Air. We had a lovely lunch at the Pearl of Trawangan, which had a great menu of local and western food.
Our friends arranged a boat to take us out for sunset (250,000 IDR per person) where we saw lots of fish through the glass bottomed boat and even saw turtles as they popped up to the surface for air in front of a stunning sunset.
Day 15 GilI T
Hotel: Marta’s Hotel
After a relaxing morning we had a yummy pasta lunch and lunchtime cocktails at The Italian Job. Later we met our friends for a wonderful seafood dinner at Scallywags on the beach. Keen for a dance we went to Sama – Sama Reggae Bar for some excellent live music. There was a brilliant crowd and it was a fantastic final night with our friends on the Gilis.
Day 16 Gili T → Sanur
Hotel: Abian Harmony Hotel
Boat from Gili T to Padangbai: 300,000 IDR per person (supposedly including a transfer to your hotel). The boat was late, the waves were huge, everyone felt sick / was sick and it took 3 hours! Feeling queasy we paid for a taxi from Padanbagi to Sanur (300,000IDR) as we were meeting friends at Soul on the Beach for dinner.
The meal was wonderful and really made our day after the dreadful boat crossing. Our friends suggested further drinks at the beautiful Tandjung Sari Hotel, a beautiful and traditional Balinese hotel. A perfect evening catching up with friends.
Day 17 Sanur
Hotel: Abian Harmony Hotel
Armed with excellent suggestions from our friends on where to go, we spent our last day in Bali pampering ourselves. Starting with a Balinese massage, afterwards we had some Japanese nibbles at Akari Japanese Cuisine, before the best facial I’ve ever had at Glo. We then had some fabulous Mexican food at Jalapeno followed by an ice cream at Gelato Massimo 1996.
Our final day in Bali ended with some happy hour sundowners on the beach and afterwards we walked to Genius Café Sanur for some mouth-watering food and fresh coconuts.
Day 18 Sanur → Home
Our hotel organised a taxi to the airport which cost 200,000IDR and took half an hour. Extremely glad we’d taken their advice as check in took nearly an hour! We left Bali having seen some of the most incredible sights on this beautiful island, caught up with old friends and celebrated our friends’ wedding.
We feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface and that there is still so much to explore, which provides the perfect excuse to return.
We hope our 18 day bali itinerary inspires you to visit the beautiful island of Bali, it is a truly incredible part of the world. Let us know if our this article helps with planning your trip or if you have places you can recommend to us?
