Complete 3-week travel guide to Bali, Island of the Gods

I don't know about you, but for me Bali was one of the long dreamed destinations I had had on my bucket list for many years. I don't even know how I discovered this island when I was only 18 and over the years, this desire to get there has grown even stronger. It always seemed so far away (and it really is), but once I got there, I simply fell in love with everything Bali entails.

In this article I will briefly present our itinerary, with details about the accommodations we had and the restaurants we tried, and each area explored and experience will be elaborated in a dedicated article.

Essential information about Bali

Bali is an island in Indonesia, located between the islands of Java and Lombok. The time difference between Bali and Romania is 5 hours in summer and 6 hours in winter. It is an affordable destination, but it can also be extremely expensive, depending on what you want to experience.

Bali is different from the rest of Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim. About 87% of Bali's population practice Balinese Hinduism, a unique form of Hinduism influenced by local traditions and animism. Temples are everywhere and daily offerings (canang sari) are an important part of everyday life.

Bali is also known as"The Island of Gods"because of its spiritual wealth, its large number of temples (over 20,000!) and the legend that gods and spirits watch over the island.

When it is the best time to go in Bali?

The year is divided into two main seasons: dry season: April - October (pleasant weather, lower humidity, perfect for sunbathing, hiking and surfing, peak tourist season, can be very crowded and more expensive) and wet season: November - March (rains are more frequent, but usually short and intense, landscapes become greener and more spectacular, fewer tourists, but more dangerous because of the frequency of mosquitoes that can carry Dengue fever). Preferably go during the dry season

Because it was our most dreamed destination, we wanted to stay as long as we could and live it up the balinese life at least a little bit. So we chose to go for 3 weeks, from May 24 to June 14. The weather was perfect, it only rained one day for a couple hours, otherwise 35 degree temps with 90% humidity, but it was just what we were looking for. It's good to know that no matter what months you go, sunrise is at 6 in the morning and sunset is at 6 in the evening, but also what sunsets you'll catch on the island!

How did we get there?

The option we chose was with Qatar Airlines, and the price for two round-trip tickets with hold luggage included was 2000 euro and that's about how the prices are with this company. It's probably a bit high, I looked at Turkish Airlines, but the price at the time was €400 more. But you can check several airlines, you might get a discount. Another advantage of Qatar Airlines is that you fly 4 hours to Doha where you have a layover and then fly 8 hours to Bali. With Turkish Airlines you fly 1 hour to Istanbul and the rest of the 11 hours all at once and that seemed a bit much.

Also, with both airlines, after you become a member and keep flying with them, you collect some points that become discounts for the next flights, so we are only going with Qatar at the moment. The layover was 10 hours overnight and was not comfortable at all, and the flight to Bali, being a day flight, was extremely tiring. We found out, after struggling through Doha airport, that there is some sort of hotel you can use if the layover is that long.

What we like about the airline is the convenience and the staff. They always jump to help you, they are extremely nice and there are enough people for the large number of passengers. And the whole company process is very easy. I'm sure we could have found cheaper tickets with more airlines, through more cities, but the whole boarding process is complicated and we didn't see the point.

The entry process in Bali

To enter Bali, you need a tourist visa, which is valid for 30 days and which you can get online from here., and I recommend it so you don't stand in the huge queues once you get to the airport. At the moment it costs 35 dollars, but you should constantly check the website local website for any other last-minute information. Of course, it's compulsory to have medical insurance and accommodation booked, because they might ask. As of February 2024, a fee of about $9 has been introduced to further reduce mass tourism that you can pay either through the app https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/ or via the site https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/

SIM card

For mobile data, you can either get a SIM card from anywhere in the better known cities and airport or you can get e-SIM from Airalo because it's much easier and hassle-free. We use Airalo on every departure out of Europe and find it has ok prices. For 3 weeks, we paid 25 euros for a single card. We only used the cellular data to get around the island by scooter, otherwise everywhere else is very good Wifi.

Medicine kit

Although it is not compulsory to have any vaccinations, there is a risk of specific diseases, such as Dengue Fever or Bali Belly, the last being from food. We have not had any vaccinations and have taken that risk, but I recommend you ask a doctor first and go on his recommendation. For Dengue Fever there is no vaccine and the only precaution is mosquito spray which you should use in the jungle if it rains and in the evening at sunset. In the wet season, the risk of being bitten by a carrier mosquito is much higher.

Bali belly is much said a disease, but it is common among tourists because we are not used to their dishes and the kitchen hygiene is not the best either. We didn't have any problem from food but we were very careful about hand hygiene and still, we chose warung rated well on Google.

What meds we had that are good to have in your luggage: Smecta, Enterol, Metoclopramide, Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Aerius, Betadine, medicated rubbing alcohol, antibacterial wipes, Omeprazole, Gaviscon, moisturizing salts, Coldrex, Fervex, and an antibiotic just in case.

About balinese food

Not that we liked everything we ate there, we loved their food! Chicken satay, nasi goreng, nasi goreng, mi goreng, dadar gulung...whatever, whatever you try there, you're sure to love it. Everything is with rice or noodles, and a little spicy, and the desserts are with coconut. I daily dream of the food in the warung overlooking the rice terraces! Other dishes you can try are nasi campur, babi guling, nasi padang, nasi padang, soto betawi, nasi uduk and many more.

Recommended restaurants

Below is a short list of places we've eaten at that I recommend as safe and great food. Try to look for places with lots of reviews left by other western tourists and look at Google pictures to get an idea of what the place looks like. The central area of Ubud is full of extremely European and touristy cafes and bars with Western food, so it's easy to choose.

Our 3 weeks itinerary

For 3 weeks, we had 4 accommodations in 4 different locations: Sideman, Bedugul, Ubud and Uluwatu. Valid for all accommodations: we rented scooters from the accommodations, it seemed more comfortable and safer. A total price for the scooter for the whole vacation was 120 euro and gas was 18 euro at the time. Don't be scared, but at all accommodations you might get Gecko lizzards. They're not dangerous, they stay up on the ceiling and catch other insects, but they do make some very interesting sounds. You'll get used to them very quickly. Breakfast is included in all the accommodation mentioned.

Sideman - 4 days

The first day we missed our flight, so we arrived late in the evening at our first accommodation, Barong Villas in Sideman, a family compound of a few private cottages with a shared pool. Although the flight made us very tired, the fact that we arrived in the evening and didn't see the surroundings and woke up in the morning to the sound of cicadas, proved to be the best choice. The cottage is built on wooden legs on top of a rice terrace, and offers a gorgeous view over the huge valley full of rice terraces where everything is so green and with that island sound. An indescribable feeling and I think it was the most beautiful morning of our trip so far.

The first 4 days we spent in this area we liked it very much. Everything very authentic, extremely welcoming and warm people, everything cheaper than Ubud and less tourists. The rustic wooden villa, with a shared pool and private terrace, gave us just the Balinese cultural entrance we needed. I loved that here they used to light scented sticks and put them in all the cottages, including the lodging temple, and it was such a powerful spiritual state. To see what we visited and did in Sideman, click here.

Bedugul - 3 days

Because I wanted to explore the Jatiluwih rice fields and really explore them, we changed the location further north to the village of Bedugul. To get here, we called a taxi via the app Grab and we traveled almost 2 hours with him, and not because of the distance, but because the traffic is very busy. The accommodation in Bedugul was Vila Gajah Mas Bedugul where we had an even more rustic cottage, with a view, this time also overlooking a beautiful valley. Interestingly, here we had our own waterfall in the huge courtyard of the accommodation.

Being further north, the temperature was also lower, especially the evenings were a bit chilly but pleasant. In the village I didn't find many accommodations, as many tourists were in transit here for Ulun Danu Beratan Templeso we were pretty much the only tourists here, the locals being extremely curious about us. To see what we visited and did in Bedugul, click here.

Ubud - 7 days

Of course we had Ubud on our list, but we preferred to stay about 15 minutes by scooter from the touristy and crowded center, in Sayan. The accommodation was the icing on the cake of this vacation, which was a traditional villa with a private pool and a small exotic jungle surrounding. The villa is called Candy Villa and I highly recommend it. It has several cottages and each one has its own privacy, they are positioned next to a rice field in perfect silence.

Also very close by is a restaurant with workspace, a communal pool and spa area, where as a Candy Villas tourist, you get a discount on certain services, which are very good. The place is called Good Day Resto & Pool Bar . We also went for both dinner and a Balinese massage and liked the service for the amount we paid. The accommodation is very nice, clean and spacious and gave us an exotic homely feel. We hardly left! To see what we visited and did in Ubud, click here.

Uluwatu - 6 days

The last few days we've traded jungle and rice terraces for paradisiacal beaches. I'd read that Bali's beaches weren't so beautiful, but they exceeded my expectations, especially Melasti Beach where we went 3 times because we liked the way it looked so much.

Our accommodation was at Uluwatu Lumbung Cottages in a traditional cottage with shared pool. We liked the hosts, extremely friendly and they gave us lots of directions to the area, the cottage had an exotic vibe, but I found it a bit cramped. It's more remotely positioned, not sure what it's like to walk there in the evening as there were quite a lot of dogs and the street is not lit. We only used the scooter and got to the nearest beach in 10 minutes. To see what we visited and did in Uluwatu, click here.

Conclusion

Need I say how much I loved Bali and as I look for other airplane tickets every month, maybe-maybe we'll come back sooner to other parts of the island? I know we'll be back, it's well and truly ingrained in our thoughts and always when we're feeling down, we think of Bali and the mood there returns. Bali was a dream of mine that we turned into a gorgeous reality for 3 weeks, during which time we saw some sights, but also connected as much as we could with Balinese culture.

I hope this article was helpful and to see what I visited in each place, please go to the links in each section or go to the large category link here. Don't forget to follow me for even more itineraries and travel ideas.