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Why you should visit Bali
Bali isn’t just a tropical escape with golden sand. The huge island was a vital cog in the trading triangle between India and China. Asian influences added ayurveda and acupressure to Balinese wellness, and ginger and wok-cooking to island cuisine. Bali remains a Hindu sanctuary, where temples with monkey guardians distill the island’s timeless soul.
The best resorts showcase the Balinese spirit. Find chakra balancing and coconut oil massages in the spas; kite-making and traditional dance in the kids’ clubs; surfing and snorkelling just offshore. The biggest bonus is the Balinese welcome. Wall-to-wall smiles shine down from sacred mountains, through rice terraces and on to the sandy coast.
When is the best time of year to visit Bali?
Bali is cooler than equatorial cities like Singapore. Sea breezes mean that daily temperatures hover around 26C and 28C, every month of the year.
The major seasonal difference is rain. The driest months are from May to September. Blue skies and minimal humidity make Bali blissful for beach days and mountain hikes. The shoulder season months of April and October are mostly pleasant. But from November to March expect frequent tropical showers, although they are mercifully brief.
Bali in low season: the best time for fewer visitors
When the Christmas and New Year festivities cease, yet the threat of showers persists, Bali receives fewer visitors. From the peak rainy season of early January through March, beaches are quieter and rates are lower.
The best time to see nature in Bali
The drier months from April to October are best for spotting nature on land and sea. The end of the rainy season casts a healthy glow over Bali’s forests and rice fields. It’s a bountiful time to observe rusa deers in the avian-rich West Bali national park. Tranquil waters and fabulous visibility make the dry season ideal for spotting manta rays off the wild island of Nusa Pendida, near Nusa Dua, and green turtles along the rugged Uluwatu coast. For maximum greenery, visit during the rainy season for a peek at Javan tree frogs and mating birds.
Where to stay in Bali: the best hotels and resorts
Conrad Bali
Conrad Bali is a sublime beachfront resort centred around meandering infinity pools. Because this slice of paradise has 368 rooms and suites, scattered across seven hectares (17 acres) of tropical gardens, activities are unrivalled. Wellness extends far beyond Balinese massage to include aerial yoga, chakra balancing and circuit training. The family offer includes a kids’ club, cycling tours, live fire dances and dining discounts.
Guests who want to explore more can try Conrad’s signature 1/3/5 experiences, which are based on one-, three- or five-hour workshops. Try a one-hour crystal healing session, a three-hour Hindu art class or a five-hour forest-bathing hike through the Bedugul rainforest. At Conrad Bali, the sense of wonder is neverending.
Hilton Bali Resort
Few hotels are closer to the ocean than Hilton Bali Resort. The swimming pools and 30-metre waterslide are just by the curvaceous white sands of Nusa Dua’s Sawangan beach. The resort offers strikingly good value for families and friends. Loved ones can make memories with chef-led cooking classes, sunset cultural performances and yoga sessions on the beach. Teens and preteens can get lost in the Game Cave, which features pool tables, foosball and PlayStations. Little explorers can join the kids’ club for guided rock climbing and T-shirt painting.
Another distinctive element at Hilton Bali Resort is dining. Its Know Thy Neighbour policy ensures that 90% of produce in the seven restaurants is sourced locally. For example, Paon Bali restaurant and bar pays tribute to island flavours such as jukut wulah, snake beans flavoured with yellow curry, and gado-gado, a tofu salad with peanut sauce. The Shore restaurant has a low-waste philosophy, showcasing sustainable kingfish and the finest seaweed greens from the surrounding seas.
Umana Bali, LXR Hotels & Resorts
At Umana Bali, just 72 luxury private villas are sited on the exclusive Bukit peninsula. Each one has its own infinity pool and hot tub. As the only Hilton LXR property in Southeast Asia, service is bespoke and intrinsically Balinese. Umana integrates natural harmony into every guest’s journey, from organising coffee ceremonies inside a village home to helicopter tours over Bali’s sacred peaks. A private shuttle escorts guests to the resort’s Uma Beach House, which serves Peruvian and Japanese cuisine on the golden sands of Melasti beach.
More than anything else, Umana Bali is a salve for the soul. Rooted in the Hindu philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, the spa balances mind, body and spirit through sound healing and holotropic breathwork. Unconventional wellness activities include cold-water therapy and soul-blessing ceremonies, guiding guests toward a happier, healthier life. For exclusivity and originality, the resort is in a class of its own.
Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport
Everything you require from an airport hotel – and more. Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport is a 10-minute walk from the arrivals terminal and a 30-minute walk to the beach. By taxi, hotel and beach are mere minutes away. Early arrivals can deposit bags at the friendly reception desk then dive into the Java Sea.
The hotel is an oasis for international travellers, whatever timezone their body is in. The fitness centre, business centre and Pavilion Pantry operate across 24 hours. There is a 35-metre resort-style outdoor pool lined with loungers and shaded by palms. The pool is generous enough for a slow reset, while the hotel’s central position makes moving between Seminyak’s cafes, shops and beaches feel effortless. This makes Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Raj Airport perfect for families wanting to combine relaxation with exploration of Bali’s livelier pockets.
Hilton Garden Inn Bali Nusa Dua
Affordable and well-appointed, Hilton Garden Inn Bali Nusa Dua is just 20 minutes from Bali airport. This new hotel, under a year old, is five minutes from the beach and has a pool, fitness centre and a kids’ club. With rates far lower than comparative hotels in this exclusive neighbourhood, guests can balance time by the pool with exploring the sights, made all the easier with free parking and a 24-hour grab-and-go store.
Visitors can relax and let the Hilton Garden Inn Bali Nusa Dua arrange their Balinese immersion. Enjoy a local cooking class or try crafting a canang, a Hindu offering of gratitude, made from palm leaves, incense and flowers. Staff can also arrange a sunset visit to the clifftop Uluwatu temple.
The best areas for holidaymakers to stay in Bali
Seminyak
Seminyak is Bali’s upscale playground, a 30-minute drive (traffic permitting) north of Bali airport, where fine dining follows sunset cocktails. Dawn opens with chants from yoga studios behind the golden beach. Morning tempts surfers on to the consistent breaks. Evening raises the tempo in beach clubs and open-until-late boutiques.
Nusa Dua
Nusa Dua is the eastern sunrise side of the Bukit peninsula, the exclusive landmass that dangles off Bali like a teardrop, a 20-minute drive south of Bali airport. It feels like a different island to Bali: manicured, sandy, private. The most luxurious resorts nestle along sheltered sands like Geger beach.
Ungasan
Ungasan commands the dramatic cliffs at the southern tip of the Bukit peninsula, a 40-minute drive south of Bali airport. Sandy coves are secluded. Beach bars are swish. Wellness retreats are bucolic. In the ocean below Ungusan’s Uluwatu temple, surf’s up any time of day.
A region you can easily take a day trip to
The most appealing day trip from the resorts near Seminyak and Kuta is Ubud, the island’s spiritual heart. The rice terrace town was once home to high-caste Hindu priests. By the 1980s, Ubud was an artists’ village and hippy hub, where foreigners meditated under banyan trees. Today its river valleys shelter the Sacred Monkey Forest sanctuary and the Campuhan Ridge Walk, a green trail through cool air with panoramic jungle on either side.
What to do in Bali: from kid-friendly activities to must-try dishes
History/culture
The Bukit peninsula, at the sacred southern tip of Bali, possesses cultural resonance: its mountains and ocean heralded ancestral spirits. Uluwatu temple, one of six key temples believed to be spiritual pillars, was built to honour the sea and protect the island. The temple’s clifftop setting, 70 metres above the surging sea, is epic. In the caves near Pandawa beach, on the peninsula’s southern tip, giant statues recall characters from the Mahabharata, the Hindu text central to Bali’s soul.
Nature
In the resort area within a 30-minute drive of Bali airport, long-tailed macaques act as temple guardians and, occasionally, thieves of designer sunglasses. Collared kingfishers hunt by day while bats emerge at sunset. The greatest biodiversity is in the sea off Nusa Dua and Uluwatu where you can spot colourful napoleon wrasse and harmless reef sharks.
Food
Balinese flavours are not spicy but bold, and zing with aromatics such as lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime. Must-eats include ayam betutu, a spiced chicken slow-baked for hours inside banana leaves, and dadar gulung, pancakes made from pandan leaf flour topped with grated coconut and palm sugar. The biggest resorts offer cooking classes, allowing guests to join in the fun.
Romance
Love is in the air at ultra-luxe Balinese resorts like Umana Bali and Conrad Bali. (Not least as there will be no arguments about who makes the bed or cleans up after breakfast.) Conrad Bali offers couples’ spa journeys and candlelit dinners on the beachfront, plus a romantic package that includes a floating breakfast in your own private pool. Umana has an oceanic soundtrack, a clifftop wedding pavilion and can shower a bed in rose petals.
Kids
For families, action is either on sea or in resorts. Junior surfers can ride the mellow waves at Baby Padang beach near Uluwatu. Bingin beach, a few kilometers away, is best for more experienced surfers, with better opportunities for wave gazing from hip cafes. The grand hotels have enough activities to delight the trickiest toddler or moodiest teen. Hilton Bali Resort, Conrad Bali and Hilton Garden Inn Bali Nusa Dua have dedicated kids clubs with bona fide Balinese activities like traditional dance classes and kite making. The Umana family experience is a cultural deepdive featuring village walks and games of congklak (imagine a mathematical backgammon played with seashells) above the Indian Ocean, with a dedicated kids’ programme and impressive kids’ club.
Practical travel tips for Bali: getting around, and how to get an e-sim
Bali is huge. For comparison, Thailand’s largest island, Phuket, could fit inside Bali roughly 10 times over. Given the distances, it’s best to base oneself in a buzzing quarter such as Nusa Dua or Uluwatu. Day trips can be taken to the boutique playground of Seminyak, the artsy escape of Ubud or the rugged nature island of Penida. But keep in mind that traffic can make these trips a little longer than anticipated.
At Bali airport, travellers can enjoy a walk-in spa session or foot massage. Tourist sim cards come preloaded with data, with Telkomsel offering good mobile coverage across Bali. Savvier travellers can purchase an e-sim from an operator such as Holafly and get online right away. Instead of queueing for an expensive airport taxi, download the Grab or Gojek ride-hailing apps before you fly.
Beaches on the surfing coast on the western edge of the Bukit peninsula often require a steep hike down from the cliffs. As this is the sunset side, grab a table early for the best view. Find postcard perfect sands on the peninsula’s eastern coast abutting the big resorts of Nusa Dua. And bring cash, not cards. Finally, terima kasih means “thank you”, while gas! is gen-Z slang for “let’s rock”.
If you know, you know: from the border gate to the beach
Bali airport has beaches mere metres from the runway. Planes skim over Sekeh beach, which is a surfing spot for experienced surfers, known locally as Airport reef. Eager sunbathers can walk from the airport terminal to the golden sand in 15 minutes flat.
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