Start from 76 curated places around Bali, ID, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Merah Putih Restaurant
Arguably the most architecturally ambitious restaurant in Bali — a soaring bamboo canopy above open-sided dining pavilions on Jalan Petitenget in the Seminyak/Kerobokan border. The menu is split into traditional Indonesian recipes on one side and a chef's contemporary reinterpretation on the other, inviting direct comparison. The Indonesian seafood and slow-cooked meat preparations are what the kitchen does best; the wine list is unusually considered for Bali.
Kaum Bali
An Indonesian regional-cuisine restaurant inside the Potato Head complex on Seminyak's Petitenget strip, dedicated to recovering traditional recipes from across the archipelago — dishes from Kalimantan, Maluku, and Papua that rarely appear on Bali menus. The setting is exceptional: a light-filled dining room above the beach club with an open kitchen, communal table, and the best view of the ocean at lunch in Seminyak. This is not warung food elevated; it is serious regional Indonesian cooking.
Trails & outdoors
Mount Batur Sunrise Trek
Bali's most popular sunrise hike, a 7-km round trip up the flank of an active volcano to the 1,717-metre summit above a caldera lake. The trailhead is at the village of Toya Bungkah and most groups start at 2am to reach the summit by first light — the reward is a sunrise view across the caldera lake with Mount Agung behind it and, on clear days, the silhouette of Mount Rinjani on Lombok. Guides are mandatory and include breakfast cooked on volcanic steam vents.
Campuhan Ridge Walk
A 2-km ridge walk along the natural divide between the Wos and Campuhan river valleys, starting from the Ibah resort bridge just west of central Ubud. The path runs through grass meadows with views down into jungle gorges on both sides, passing rice paddies further along the ridge. It requires no elevation effort, no guide, and no entrance fee — just walking shoes. It is the reason long-term Ubud residents say they never get bored of the town.
Things to do
Kecak Fire Dance at Uluwatu
The most atmospheric performance of Bali's signature Kecak dance — 50-plus men in a torchlit circle above the Indian Ocean at the cliff edge of Uluwatu Temple, chanting the a-cappella polyphonic score of the Ramayana as the sun drops behind the water. The setting is not incidental; the cliff stage, the sunset, and the fire dancer who appears at the end of the performance combine in a way that makes this the one cultural experience in Bali that exceeds its reputation.
Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA)
Ubud's most complete art compound — a collection of traditional and contemporary Balinese painting housed in multiple open-air pavilions within a working rice paddy and garden setting in the Pengosekan neighbourhood. ARMA hosts regular evening performances of Balinese dance forms including Kecak, Legong, and the rarely-seen Wayang Wong shadow puppet theatre, and the setting is more intimate than the Palace performances in town. The collection itself is strong enough to justify a 2-hour visit independent of any performance.
Landmarks & sights
Pura Luhur Uluwatu
A sea temple perched on a sheer 70-metre cliff above the Indian Ocean on the Bukit Peninsula, one of Bali's six directional temples. The compound itself is compact, but the cliffside walk around the perimeter with the ocean far below is what makes the visit — best done in the hour before sunset when the light turns golden. Long-tailed macaques patrol the path and are notorious for snatching sunglasses and phones.
Tanah Lot Temple
The most photographed temple in Bali, a Hindu shrine set on a rock formation just offshore that becomes an island at high tide. What photos don't show is the sprawling clifftop park surrounding it with multiple viewpoints, a snake shrine, and small souvenir lanes — arrive before the tour buses to have the best angles to yourself. The temple itself is off-limits to non-Hindu visitors, so the draw is entirely the setting.