Bali takes four days. Indonesia takes the other three weeks.
Which Batur sunrise trip starts late enough to sleep. What the fast boat to Nusa Penida really costs. Whether Borobudur is worth the flight over to Java. Reviews of every tour you can book in Indonesia.
01Before dawnMount Batur Sunrise Hike with Breakfastfrom $30
02Off Nusa PenidaNusa Penida Snorkeling with Manta Bay and Land Tourfrom $56
03The gate at Lempuyang️ Bali Instagram Tour: The Most Famous Spots (Private & All-Inclusive)from $114
04Sunset at UluwatuUluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beachfrom $35
05Java, at altitudeMount Bromo Sunrise Tour from Surabaya or Malang – 1 Dayfrom $153
A temple, a waterfall and a rice terrace, in one day out of Ubud.
The classic Balinese day strings three or four sites together with a driver filling the gaps. Three ways to build it, what each one costs to board, and where the coaches are at nine in the morning.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple
Temples and lake palacesBesakih on the volcano flank, Ulun Danu on the lake, the split gate at Lempuyang.
Waterfalls and canyonsTibumana, Tukad Cepung, Tegenungan. Short steps down, cold water at the bottom.
Terraces and the swingTegalalang and Jatiluwih, and the swings strung out over the valley above them.
All 240 temple days on the island →
Indonesia saves its best hour for people who get up at two.
Batur is a head torch and two hours of loose scree for breakfast above the cloud. Bromo is a jeep across a sea of ash. Ijen burns blue until the sunrise kills the colour. All three run in the dark, and all three earn it.
Six bases, and the day out each one is genuinely good for.
Rice valley or beach club, Javanese temple city or a harbour full of dive boats. Pick the base and most of the days plan themselves.
The best water in Indonesia is a boat ride from wherever you are sleeping.
Manta cleaning stations off Nusa Penida, turtles in the Gili shallows, dragons and pink sand out of Labuan Bajo. Most of it is a day trip. Some of it is worth two nights on a boat.
The days out most travellers in Indonesia end up taking.
Every day out in Indonesia →The trips that book out first across Bali and Java, and what each one actually gets you for the money.
1
All-Inclusive Ubud Private Tour
Review of Ubud’s private day tour, covering temples, rice terraces, monkeys, a waterfall, lunch, transport, value, and practical tips.
From · $100
Read our review →
2
Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swing
from $56
3
Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple
from $31
4
️Nusa Penida by Private Boat – Snorkeling 4 spots, Swim with Mantas + Land Tour
from $100
5
Best of Ubud 1-Day Private Tour
from $54
6
Ubud Palace Legong Dance Show Ticket
from $6
7
Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beach
from $35
8
Tanah Lot and North Bali Tour: Scenic Journey
from $100
What a day out in Indonesia actually costs.
Every tour here grouped by price. A great many of the best Indonesian days land under what a taxi to the airport costs at home.
Temple runs, waterfall loops, dance tickets and the short hops out of Ubud and Kuta.
Full days with a driver, the Nusa Penida boat, Bromo out of Surabaya, cooking schools that start at the market.
Komodo liveaboards, the Rinjani crossing, Sumatran jungle nights and a private car for the week.
Three things that happen in Indonesia and nowhere else.
Beaches and buffets exist all over the tropics. A hundred men chanting a monkey army at a cliff edge, a crater that burns blue in the dark, and a great ape looking back at you from a fig tree do not.
A hundred voices at Uluwatu
There are no instruments. Seventy or a hundred men sit in rings around a fire and make the whole gamelan out of their own throats, chanting chak-chak-chak while the Ramayana plays out in front of them. At Uluwatu it runs as the sun drops behind the cliff, so the light does half the staging. Tickets are timed and the amphitheatre is small, which is the only reason to book it rather than turn up.
- 1Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beach★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,681 reviews
- 2Ubud Kecak and Fire Dance Show Tickets★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 2,631 reviews
- 3Private Uluwatu Temple and Kecak Fire Dance Evening Tour in Jimbaran Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,199 reviews
The Ijen Crater
Sulphuric gas leaves the vents at 600 degrees and ignites on contact with the air, which reads as electric blue flame running down the rock in the dark. It is only visible before dawn, so the walk up starts around one in the morning with a gas mask handed over at the gate. By seven the same crater is a turquoise acid lake and the miners are carrying eighty-kilo baskets back up the path.
- 13Days – Tumpaksewu Bromo Ijen Adventure via Malang or Surabaya★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 405 reviews
- 2From Surabaya / Malang : Mt Bromo Sunrise – Ijen Blue Fire 3D2N★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 351 reviews
- 3Mount Bromo – Tumpak Sewu Waterfall – Ijen Bluefire Tour – Bali 4d3n★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 350 reviews
The orangutan rivers
Two islands hold the last wild orangutans on earth, and both let you meet them on their terms rather than through glass. In Sumatra it is a walk into the forest above Bukit Lawang; in Borneo it is a klotok boat up the Sekonyer, sleeping on deck while the proboscis monkeys crash about overhead. Neither is a zoo day and neither is quick.
- 13-Day Ethical Orangutan Jungle Trek | Bukit Lawang, Sumatra★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 401 reviews
- 22Ns Orangutan Kelotok Tour in Tanjung Puting Kalimantan – Borneo★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 208 reviews
- 33ns Private Orangutan and Bornean Primates Kelotok Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 176 reviews
Four Indonesian trips that will not wait for you.
Most of this country can be arranged over breakfast for the same afternoon. These four run on park permits, boat manifests and gates that open once a day, and they do not care when your flight lands.
- 01Mount Rinjani 2 Days 1 Night Senaru Crater RimThe Rinjani route opens with the dry season and shuts with it, and the crater rim runs on a park permit and a porter arranged in advance.
- 02Exclusive Early Bird Komodo Tour: Beat the Crowds by Speed BoatBoats leave Labuan Bajo once in the morning and the park charges per person per day. The manifest closes the evening before.
- 033Days – Tumpaksewu Bromo Ijen Adventure via Malang or SurabayaThe trail up Ijen opens around one in the morning and closes again whenever the gas readings climb. There is no second attempt the same night.
- 04Borobudur Sunrise from setumbu Hill , Merapi Volcano & Prambanan Full Day TourSunrise access to the upper terraces is capped at a few hundred people a day and goes weeks ahead through the dry months.
What to do in Bali when the afternoon rain comes in.
From November to March the mornings are usually clear and the sky opens somewhere around three. The answer barely changes year to year: put the volcano and the waterfall in the morning, and hold something with a roof over it for the afternoon.
By place — Bali, Java, Lombok, Flores
By kind of day — volcano, reef, temple or workshop
Ubud, the south coast, Nusa Penida, then over to Java: the run almost everybody does first.
Uluwatu
BromoThe newest Indonesian tour reviews.
The rest of the new Indonesian reviews →
Bali Spa and Uluwatu Sunset Trip with Dinner Packages
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Borobudur, Prambanan, Bromo, & Ijen (Private car)
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Explore Rice Fields and Hidden Villages with Ubud E-Bike Tour
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Treasure Bay Bintan Island Resort: 1-Day Entry Ticket
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5 Day’s 4 Night’s jungle Tour trekking in Bukit Lawang
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Private Tour: Heaven Gate Temple, Tirta Gangga and Blue Lagoon Snorkeling
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Ubud Monkey Forest Rice Terrace Temple Waterfall Private Tour
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Full Day Private Tour in Lake Toba View and Karo Highlands From Medan City
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