Things to do in Bali worth pre-booking
Most of what makes Bali memorable — a temple at sunset, a warung lunch, an hour in the water — needs no booking at all. What does need booking is anything with a boat, a mountain, a fixed start time or a driver: those sell out, and turning up hoping is how people lose a day. We link Viator first and GetYourGuide as a backup; compare the two on price and start time before you commit, and read the transfer fine print, because in Bali the pickup radius matters more than the tour.
Uluwatu Temple & the sunset Kecak dance
Pura Luhur Uluwatu sits on a cliff at the southwestern tip of the Bukit, and the Kecak fire dance is performed in an open amphitheatre beside it as the sun goes down. It is the one fixed-time, fixed-place evening in Bali that genuinely justifies buying a seat in advance.
A sarong and sash are required and are provided at the gate. The resident macaques take sunglasses, phones and hats — put them away before you walk in, not after.
Ubud’s temples, terraces and the Monkey Forest
The classic inland day: the Tegallalang rice terraces, the holy spring at Tirta Empul, the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud itself, and the Campuhan Ridge walk at either end of the day. A car and driver for the day is the standard way to string them together.
The Monkey Forest opens at 09:00 and closes at 18:00 with last entry at 17:00 — worth building the day around, as several tours arrive too late. Bathing at Tirta Empul has its own etiquette and dress requirements; go with a guide the first time.
Nusa Penida by fast boat
The cliffs at Kelingking, Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong are the images most people arrive wanting, and they are on a separate island reached by fast boat from Sanur harbour in roughly 45 minutes. Day trips run hard: an early boat, a long bumpy drive on the island, and a late return.
Boats are cancelled outright in rough seas, most often in the wet season — build a spare day in rather than making this your last full day. If you are prone to seasickness, this crossing will find it.
Mount Batur sunrise trek
A roughly two-hour guided climb up an active volcano starting around 03:30, for sunrise over the caldera and Lake Batur. Guides are mandatory on the standard route and the pickup from the south coast is brutally early — from Ubud it is far more manageable.
Do this on a night you are sleeping in or near Ubud. Booking it from Seminyak or Uluwatu means a pickup around 01:30 and a wrecked day after.
Surf lessons & board rental
Bali is one of the best places in the world to learn: Kuta, Legian and Batu Bolong in Canggu have forgiving beach breaks and dense school supply, while Uluwatu, Padang Padang and Bingin are experienced-only reef breaks that are not the place to try.
The dry season (roughly April–October) suits the west-coast breaks; the wet season pushes the better surf to the east coast around Sanur and Nusa Dua. That seasonal swap catches out a lot of people.
Cooking classes & market mornings
A half-day class usually starts with a market walk at dawn, then works through base gede spice paste, sate lilit and a curry or two. It is the most reliable way to understand what you have been eating and to keep ordering well for the rest of the trip.
A car and driver for the day
Not a tour, but the single most useful thing to book in Bali. A driver for eight to ten hours, with fuel, costs a fraction of stringing together individual transfers and lets you build your own route through the interior — the standard way locals expect visitors to see the island.
Agree the route, the hours, whether parking and entry fees are included, and the price in rupiah before you set off. Reconfirm the morning of.
Some booking links are affiliate links — if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which options we recommend.
Booking tips (so you don’t overpay)
- Check the Nyepi date before you book anything in March. For 24 hours the airport closes, no vehicles run, no tour operates, and you stay inside your accommodation — it is not a day you can plan around, only around.
- Book fast-boat crossings, sunrise treks and anything with a fixed start time ahead; book temples, beaches, warungs and markets not at all.
- Check the pickup zone before you buy. Most Bali tours quote a transfer radius covering the south coast or Ubud but not both, and “supplement applies” often means an extra hour in the car as well as a fee.
- Rent a scooter only if you already ride one, and understand that you need a licence valid for motorcycles — an ordinary car licence or an International Driving Permit without the motorcycle category is not enough, and it is exactly what an insurer checks after a crash. Helmets are legally required and police checks are routine.
- Prices for tours, drivers and boats are commonly quoted in rupiah and in US dollars at wildly different implied rates. Ask for the rupiah figure and pay in rupiah.
Want these slotted into a day-by-day plan? See Bali in 3 days.