The Best Bali 7-day itinerary

Taking a 7-day trip to Bali might seem stressful, but I assure you that with good planning, a week is enough to visit Bali and its main attractions.

On my first 20-day trip to Southeast Asia, I decided to plan a 7-day Bali itinerary. However, even though it’s enough time, I wasn’t able to get the most out of those 7 days due to poor planning.

To help you avoid the same mistakes we made, we’ve compiled the best Bali 7-day itinerary, alternative itineraries if you also want to visit the Gili Islands or the Nusa Islands, and tips for planning the perfect Bali vacations.

Do not miss anything to do in Bali in 7 days.

The best Bali 7-day itinerary

If you have 7 full days to tour the island, this is the best one-week Bali itinerary:

• Day 1: Arrive in Ubud. Beginning of your 7-day Bali trip.
• Day 2:Tegalalang rice terraces and Ubud surroundings.
• Day 3: Sunset hike at Mt. Batur. The highlight of my one-week Bali tour.
• Day 4:Eastern Temples of Bali – Besakih, Lempuyang and Tirta Gangga.
• Day 5:Ulun Danu Beratan. Essential temple to visit in Bali in 7 days.
• Day 6: Taman Ayun Temple, Tanah Lot and Canggu.
• Day 7:Jimbaran and Uluwatu. End of your one-week trip to Bali.

Following this itinerary, you’ll be able to do most of the important things to do in Baliin the shortest time. Also, if you’re going to rent a scooter in Bali, we’ll tell you which other attractions you can visit every day.

If you don’t have your own means of transport and prefer to book top-rated Bali tours to visit each of the points of interest with a driver, you’ll also find the best options for you. Additionally, we’ll give you tips on where to stay in Bali to optimize your route to the fullest.

Before telling you about our route through Bali in 7 days, I’ll remind you of the importance of buying travel insurance to Bali. I had to use it due to an incident during my first day on the islandtransfer to Ubud. This means that as soon as you arrive in Bali, a driver will pick you up and take you to the center of the island.

During the first day of your one-week Bali trip, visit the principal attractions in Ubud. Start at Jl. Raya Ubud, the main street, and go from east to west. Visit the Puri Saren Agung, better known as the Royal Palace of Ubud. The royal family still lives in this palace, so you can only visit part of it.

Right in front of it, you’ll find the Ubud Traditional Art Market, a place where you can lose yourself among handicrafts such as handbags, sculptures, paintings, and earrings, and where you can buy the best souvenirs of your Bali 7-day trip.

Following Raya Ubud Street, you’ll find the Pura Taman Saraswati, a must-see in Ubud. This temple dedicated to the goddess of knowledge and wisdom stands out for its two ponds full of lotus flowers.

If you keep going, you’ll see the Pura Dalem Ubud temple, where some nights there are traditional dance performances.

Returning to Raya Ubud Street, at the corner of the Art Market, the Jl. Monkey Forest street leads to one of the essential places to visit in Bali, the Sacred Monkey Forest.

This forest is popular for being home to macaques who are very used to interacting with tourists. The monkeys will not hesitate to approach, play, ask for food, steal things, or even bite you.

They can become very aggressive, as I experienced myself; I let some monkeys climb on me and one of them bit me. Luckily, everything was fine because I had purchased the best travel insurance for Indonesia.

If you’re traveling on a budget, check the best cheapest travel insurance companies.

RECOMMENDED TOURS

You only need to book transfer to Ubud from the airport, which takes approximately 45 minutes. The rest of the attractions we recommend for the first day are accessible by foot.

However, if you prefer to take a guided tour, this one will visit the same places as the ones we recommended in this 7-day Bali itinerary.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

There are many accommodations in Ubud, including some of the best private villas in Bali. These are the accommodations we recommend for the first days of your trip, sorted according to budget:

the best time to visit Bali, the rice terraces will have an intense green color. In addition to strolling through the rice paddies, you can enjoy their swings with spectacular views and photograph some of the main sites of the island.

You can also stop at Tirta Empul, one of the most important temples in Bali, since the Balinese go there to purify their souls using the sacred water that flows from 12 pipes. Nearby, you can also visit the Pura Gunung Kawi, a temple in which the souls of royalty are symbolically buried and where you can visit a small waterfall.

In the afternoon, we recommend you go to the Elephant Cave, Goa Gajah, a must-do in Bali in 7 days. There, you can enter a grotto through the jaws of an evil monster, and inside, you’ll find a statue of Ganesh (son of Shiva with an elephant’s head). Outside the cave, you can see some ponds that are supplied with purified water through stone statues.

RECOMMENDED TOURS

If you have no transport, book this private tour, and tell the driver to skip the Monkey Forest and replace it with Pura Gunung Kawi.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

I recommend that you stay at the same hotel as the night before, because if you follow our 7-day Bali itinerary, the third day, you’ll have to get up very earlywide variety of tours. We took this one, but if you have more time, I would recommend one of the following:

If you’re planning a Bali 10-day itinerary, you may also be interested in a camping tour in Mt. Batur.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

You can return to the same hotel as the previous two nights or you can treat yourself to Hanging Garden of Bali, one of the best hotels in the middle of the jungle. If it’s out of your budget, I recommend the affordable option of Pertiwi Bisma 1, which is next to the Monkey Forest and is one of the most popular hotels on Instagram for its infinity pool in the middle of the jungle this tour to visit the three main temples we recommend for this day.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

For the fourth day of your trip to Bali in a week, I recommend you stay in Ubud, in any of the accommodations mentionedUNESCO for their uniqueness: the rice fields of Jatiluwih.

Many visitors don’t visit this part of Bali, as it is somewhat remote. However, if there’s only one thing that I don’t recommend missing during your 7-day Bali itinerary, it’s a visit to the temple of Ulun Danu Beratan. This was, without a doubt, the most amazing temple we visited during our trip.

RECOMMENDED EXCURSIONS

Driving a motorcycle through these mountain roads can be somewhat uncomfortable, so I recommend you take this tour to visit the Bedugul area.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

This is the last night I recommend spending in Ubud, so I advise you to try some of the incredible villas you’ll find here tourist map of Bali.

At the end of the day, I recommend you go to Tanah Lot. This temple, located on an island that’s only accessible when the tide is low, is undoubtedly the best place to see the sunset in Bali. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to buy a roasted cob with hot sauce in one of the many stalls you’ll find and enjoy it while watching the sun set over the sea.

RECOMMENDED EXCURSIONS

You don’t need to book any tours for this day. If you don’t have transportation, you can request the necessary transfers here. A car with a driver will take you from one place to another for 10 hours, enough time to do the whole itinerary.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

If you decide that Canggu is the best option for you, I recommend one of these four options.

 

In case you prefer to stay in Kuta or Legian , these are the best alternatives for you.

 

If you want to stay in Seminyak , these are the four hotels that I recommend.

this tour takes practically the same route that we’re recommending for this trip to Bali in 7 days.

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

There are many accommodations in Jimbaran with beautiful sea views. Depending on your budget, I recommend any of the following:

 

Another option is to stay in Nusa Dua, east of the Bukit Badung peninsula, where you can find luxury resorts.

 

Other Week-long Bali itineraries

A few weeks before my first trip to Southeast Asia I was told about the Nusa Islands and the Gili Islands, some amazing islands very close to Bali. They stand out for their dreamy sunsets, seabeds full of life, and white sand beaches.

I knew I had to go to one of these two archipelagos of tiny islands, but I had already bought all my flights. I’d arrive in Bali from Yogyakarta and after 7 days, I’d head for Kuala Lumpur.

After reviewing our 7-day Bali itinerary many times, we decided to use two days to visit the Gili Islands, since it was the cheapest option. Here you can see how much was our trip to Southeast Asia.

If, in your case, you only have 7 days to visit Bali and the Gili Islands or you want to take a week-long trip to Bali and the Nusa Islands, here are other two itineraries that might be useful for you.

ONE WEEK TRIP TO BALI AND GILI ISLANDS

From the previous 7-day Bali itinerary, take out the two days you like the least to visit the Gili Islands. In my case, I changed the 4^rd day (Eastern temples) and 7^th day (Jimabaran and Uluwatu).

If I could make that decision again, I would definitely do it differently. I think the least interesting day is the 6^th (Seminyak – although I would try to visit Tanah Lot, as it’s one of the essential places to visit in Bali). I would compress Mt. Batur and Tegalalang into a day and give up visiting other places around Ubud. Visiting the eastern temples seems like something important to do in Bali in a week.

The island that I decided to visit was Gili Trawangan, and the truth is that I liked it a lot. However, depending on the type of trip you’re doing, I would recommend Gili Air instead. In our travel guide to the Gili Islands, I tell you all about the differences.

To get to the Gili Islands, I recommend this ferry, which includes transfer from your hotel. If you follow my itinerary recommendation, after visiting the eastern temples, instead of going back to Ubud, head to Sanur to take the ferry the next day.

These are the accommodations that I recommend in Sanur:

 

In my case, I organized my excursion to the Gili Islands on my own, booking only the ferry, but if you prefer to buy a package that includes not only the ferry, but also the accommodation and the visit to the different islands for two and a half days (two nights), I recommend this tour.

7-DAY TRIP TO BALI AND NUSA ISLANDS

The Nusa Islands have some of the best places to visit in Bali. To see Bali and the Nusa Islands in a week, as with the Gili Islands, replace two days of the previous itinerary for a trip to the Nusa Islands.

You can do it on your own, staying in Sanur to catch the ferry to Nusa Lembongan or Nusa Penida the next morning, or you can take this snorkeling tour.

IS IT A 7 DAY BALI ITINERARY ENOUGH OR DO I NEED MORE TIME?

If you just want to visit the main island, a week in Bali is perfect for seeing the most important things. However, if you also want to visit the Gili or the Nusa Islands, I would recommend you spend 8 days in Bali.

Anyway, don’t worry; if you have even fewer days, in this article about the best excursions in Bali, I have listed four tours that will allow you to see the most important things if you can only be in Bali for 4 or 5 days.

If you have even more time, here is a list of the best Bali itineraries.

Whatever itinerary you choose, remember that monkeys can be dangerous, so buy the best insurance to travel abroad.

Before you go, here are the essentials for your trip to Bali: