Bali tourist attractions

One of Bali's great sea temples sits on a wave-battered rock off the island's southwest coast near Beraban, appearing to float at high tide and reachable on foot across a stone causeway once the sea retreats. Holy sea snakes are said to guard it from a cave at the base, where priests offer blessings at a freshwater spring, and the west-facing setting turns the shrine into a silhouette that draws the island's biggest sunset crowds.

Location: Beraban, Tabanan Regency, southwest Bali coast

Access: Ticketed area entry; the walk out to the base depends on the tide.

High on a sheer sea cliff above the Indian Ocean on Bali's southern Bukit Peninsula, Uluwatu is one of the island's six directional temples, believed to guard against evil spirits. Its split gates and pavilions look out over a long stretch of coast, macaques patrol the walls, and every evening a Kecak fire dance is staged on a clifftop platform as the sun drops behind the sea.

Location: Pecatu, Bukit Peninsula, Badung Regency, southern Bali

Access: Ticketed; a sarong and sash are provided at the entrance and required inside. The sunset Kecak dance is a separate paid performance.

The Mother Temple of Bali climbs the southwestern slope of Mount Agung at about 1,000 metres, dozens of clan, public and state temples terraced up the volcano around Pura Penataran Agung, whose split gate and long stairway are the image of Balinese Hinduism. Worship on this site goes back more than a thousand years, and when Agung erupted in 1963 the lava flows passed close by and spared the complex. Tickets are sold at the visitor area below the temples and include a sarong and the shuttle up the hill; ceremonies have right of way, and processions arrive almost daily.

Elevation: about 1,000 m · Central temple: Pura Penataran Agung

Location: Besakih village, Karangasem, eastern Bali

Access: Ticketed; a sarong and the uphill shuttle come with the ticket

Puri Saren Agung, the seat of Ubud's royal family, stands at the crossroads of the town's main street in the cultural heart of Bali's central highlands. Its carved stone gateways and garden courtyards, built in the early 19th century under Tjokorda Putu Kandel, open to visitors by day, while traditional Balinese dance fills the front courtyard most evenings. The Ubud Art Market trades crafts directly across the road.

Location: Jalan Raya Ubud, central Ubud, Gianyar Regency

Access: Free to enter the courtyards by day; the evening dance performances are ticketed.

Photo: "Ubud Palace" by inspiring! (CC BY-SA).

Bathers queue along a row of carved stone spouts for the melukat purification ritual at this holy spring temple in Tampaksiring, north of Ubud, founded in the 10th century over water still channelled for cleansing rites today. Beyond the bathing pools, walled courtyards hold shrines and a sacred spring that feeds the whole complex, and fresh offerings are laid across the temple each day.

Location: Tampaksiring, Gianyar Regency, central Bali

Access: Ticketed; admission includes a sarong and sash. Joining the bathing pools uses the changing rooms and lockers at the entrance.

The limestone headland that curls off Nusa Penida like a resting dinosaur is the most photographed cliff in Indonesia, and the ridge viewpoint looks about 180 metres straight down onto a ribbon of white sand. Nusa Penida is a separate island: fast boats cross from Sanur in about 45 minutes, and the drive to the southwestern coast takes another 45. From the ridge, a steep dirt path with bamboo handrails drops to the beach; the way down takes half an hour or more, the climb back far longer in the heat, and the water below is a no-swim zone with heavy surf.

Island: Nusa Penida · Boat from Sanur: about 45 minutes

Location: Southwestern coast of Nusa Penida, Klungkung

Access: Entrance and parking fees at the viewpoint; the path down is at your own risk

Sculpted paddies step down a river valley just north of Ubud, watered by the centuries-old subak system, a cooperative Balinese network of canals and weirs shared between farming villages. Narrow paths cross the terraces for a small farmer donation, passing palm-shaded huts and, on the far slopes, rope swings that charge their own fee. Early morning brings the clearest light over the valley and the fewest tour buses.

Location: Tegallalang, north of Ubud, Gianyar Regency

Access: Small farmer donations along the terrace paths; swings and viewpoints charge separately.

A monstrous face carved into the rock marks the mouth of this cave sanctuary near Bedulu, east of Ubud, its entrance dated to between the 9th and 11th centuries and rediscovered by archaeologists in 1923. A Ganesha statue sits in the dim interior, and outside a bathing pool holds carved figures pouring water from stone pitchers, set among banyan trees and rice fields in the valley below.

Location: Bedulu, near Ubud, Gianyar Regency, central Bali

Access: Ticketed; a sarong is provided at the gate and required to enter.

More than 1,260 long-tailed macaques roam this forest sanctuary and temple complex in Padangtegal, at the southern edge of central Ubud, their troops centred on a moss-covered holy spring temple hidden among the trees. Paved paths wind past carved stone gateways and a ravine crossed by a footbridge, through dense canopy managed by the local village. Visitors are asked to keep sunglasses, food and loose bags out of reach of the monkeys.

Location: Padangtegal, central Ubud, Gianyar Regency

Access: Ticketed entry to the sanctuary.