Bali

Best months by our weather score: July, August, September. Daytime highs, rain and sunshine are 2016–2025 averages at Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (Open-Meteo historical weather archive); sea temperatures are 2022–2025 averages for the nearest sea area (Open-Meteo marine archive).

Gateway airport

Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS)

US nonstops

None. No US nonstops to Denpasar (DPS); no Honolulu or Guam service either. Connect via Singapore (SIN), Doha (DOH), Dubai (DXB), Tokyo-Narita (NRT), Seoul (ICN), Hong Kong (HKG), Taipei (TPE), Manila (MNL) or Kuala Lumpur (KUL).

Distance

8,628 mi from Los Angeles, 10,166 mi from New York

Passport

Needed for US citizens

Hotel, one night

$22 on Jan 13, 2027 · $30 on Jul 14, 2027 (Seminyak)

Visitors a year

6,948,754 overnight visitors (2025)

Bringing a dog

Not realistic: Effectively no: Bali is a rabies area, and Bali Provincial Regulation 15/2009 (Article 10) bars bringing dogs and other rabies-carrying animals into Bali from outside, except non-commercial cases with a Governor's recommendation; Bali is not a pet port of entry and pet shippers report it is not accepting dogs.

Hotel prices: Cheapest hotel rated 4 stars or better with a Kayak guest score of 8.0+ from 100+ reviews (Nims Hotel Seminyak on both dates), 1 night, 2 adults, Kayak 'Nightly total - Including all taxes + fees', checked 2026-10-20. January is the cheapest named double-occupancy room (Superior King, $22); the hotel's unspecified non-refundable 'Room' rate was $17, and July's $30 is the list price, room type not checked. The brief's plain rule (cheapest 3-star-or-better) gave $10 in January and $14 in July, below the checker's $20 floor.. Visitor figures: BPS-Statistics Indonesia Bali Province, via Bali Government Tourism Office, Statistik Pariwisata Bali 2025, Table 4 (direct foreign tourist arrivals by month).

Bali suits couples who want a villa with a pool, solo travelers who want an easy, social trip, teens who want to surf or climb a volcano, and anyone whose budget is tight. Few islands give you this much to do for this little.

Skip it if your picture of an island holiday is calm, clear water steps from your room. Bali's best swimming beaches are in a few resort areas, and it has become, in Wikipedia's summary, Indonesia's main case of overtourism. Traffic is a chronic problem, and in 2023 the governor proposed banning tourists from riding motorbikes after a series of accidents. For beaches, Palawan or the Maldives is the better pick. Our Asia ranking compares them.

• Seminyak and Legian. The west-coast strip north of Kuta, with restaurants, beach clubs and surf. We priced rooms here. On Kayak on October 20, 2026, the cheapest 4-star-or-better hotel with a guest score of 8.0 or higher was Nims Hotel Seminyak: $22 for a Superior King on January 13, 2027 and $30 on July 14, 2027, taxes and fees included. The cheapest 3-star listings were $10 and $14.
• Ubud. The hill town north of Denpasar, regarded as Bali's cultural center, with temples, the monkey forest, craft villages and rice terraces nearby. No beach.
• Nusa Dua. A newer resort development south of the airport, with large beachfront hotels.
• Sanur. An older east-coast resort town with a slower pace than the west coast.

Pick one or two bases. Driving between them can take much longer than the distance suggests.

Nusa Dua and Sanur are the usual picks for swimming and for young children. Jimbaran sits on a bay south of the airport. Kuta, Legian and Seminyak face open surf: good for lessons and sunsets, not for weak swimmers. Amed in the east is a diving and snorkeling village rather than a lounging beach.

Plastic is a real issue. In 2017 officials declared a garbage emergency after tides covered a stretch of coast in plastic, and large cleanups at Kuta and Kedonganan were still under way in February 2026. Expect more of it when the west monsoon winds blow onshore. We score Bali's beaches 6.5 out of 10.

• Temples. Tanah Lot on its sea rock, Lempuyang on the slopes of Gunung Lempuyang, Goa Lawah (the bat cave temple) and the monkey forest temples in Ubud.
• Rice terraces. The subak irrigation system that shapes them is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2012.
• Volcanoes. Mount Batur, an active volcano above the Kintamani coffee country, is the usual sunrise hike. Mount Agung, the highest peak at 9,944 feet (3,031 m), last erupted in 2017 to 2019; check the alert level before you plan around it.
• Diving and snorkeling at Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan and Nusa Penida.
• The Nusa islands. Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, southeast of Bali, by boat.

Add surfing, cooking classes, dance performances and food, and you have well over a week. We score things to do 9.5; only traffic keeps it off a 10.

Bali's drier season runs from about April to October, and July to September are the driest months. The wet west monsoon runs from about October to April, with the heaviest rain from December to March, which is also when beach plastic tends to wash up. Note that prices on our test dates were lower in January ($22) than in July ($30), the reverse of Thailand. The climate table on this page shows each month from our dataset.

No US airport flies nonstop to Denpasar, and there is no service from Honolulu or Guam. The airport's route list includes Singapore, Doha, Dubai, Tokyo-Narita, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila and Kuala Lumpur, so one connection is usually enough.

For US citizens the State Department lists three things. Your passport needs 6 months of validity beyond arrival and 2 blank pages. You need a visa: buy the e-VOA online at evisa.imigrasi.go.id before you fly, or a visa on arrival at the airport, for $28 (IDR 500,000), good for 30 days and extendable once for 30 more. Indonesia's immigration office was discussing an increase in August 2026, but the fee was unchanged. You also pay Bali's tourist levy of $8 (IDR 150,000) per person, once per visit, online through the Love Bali system or at counters at the airport. Finally, file the free All Indonesia arrival and customs card within 72 hours before you land. Our passport rules guide collects the rules for every island.

Do not plan to bring a dog. Bali is a rabies area, and a provincial regulation from 2009 bars bringing dogs in from outside Bali except in narrow cases approved by the governor. See our dog-friendly islands instead.

A night in a well-reviewed Seminyak 4-star cost $22 to $30 on our test dates, among the lowest on the site. Per person, add $28 for the visa on arrival and $8 for the levy, and transport for each day of sightseeing, whether a driver, a taxi or a tour. Rupiah conversions use the European Central Bank reference rate of October 19, 2026, about 18,040 rupiah to the dollar. See how it compares in our cheap islands ranking.

Nusa Penida Premium Day from Bali: Manta Rays, Yacht & Land Tour

Boat, snorkel guide, lunch, GoPro photos and entry fees are included; free shuttles only from Canggu, Seminyak and Kuta. Bluuu Tours runs its own boats.

8 to 9 hours

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(10,789 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Ubud: Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace and Water Temple

The from-price covers car, driver-guide and sarong only; entrance fees, the swing and lunch need the all-inclusive option or cash on the day.

10 hours

5.0★★★★★★★★★★(8,101 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Bali: Sunrise Mount Batur Guided Hike with Breakfast

Guide, breakfast, headlamp and the Kintamani ticket (with transfer options) are included. Pickup is around 2 am from the south, and the climb is steep on loose gravel.

5-10 hours

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(11,524 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.