5 days in Bali – Itinerary | Self- Drive Road Trip Tips & Tricks

Looking for an itinerary for 5 days in Bali? We’ve covered places to visit, stay and prices for all the tourist attractions.

At Cochin Airport

Bali has been love at first sight for me — Be it the people, changing landscape, affordability, food or culture. I can always keep finding excuses to visit this stunning place.

As you might already know I am back from Bali and unlike our last trip, this time we rented a self-drive car in Bali for just 300000 IDR ( 1450 INR ) per day and went crazy exploring offbeat places in Bali. We were in Bali for 5 days. Over the five days, we did everything we could — chasing waterfalls, stumbling upon lesser known temples, hopping from one beach to other and devouring local food. The trip was quite short but we tried to cover a lot of places in just 4 days and the last day was reserved for a bit of pampering. Since my parents were with me, so we tried to cover all the popular temples possible on our trip. You can skip temples and change your itinerary if you want to.

Without further ado let me share our itinerary. You can also read all about my last trip HERE

 (Read:  Bali 10 Day Itinerary )

Quick Overview 

Places To Stay – Seminyak, North Kuta, South Kuta, Legian, Sanur, Ubud, Uluwatu, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Cangu ( You can stay at one or two places and cover most of the places in Bali )

Popular Temples – Tanah Lot Temple, Uluwatu Temple, Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Pura Besakih Temple, Goa Gajah Temple

Popular Waterfalls – Git Git Waterfall, Tegenungan Waterfall, Nungnung Waterfall, Tukad Cepung Waterfall, Air Terjun Nungnung, Banyumala Waterfall, Sekumpul Waterfall

Check out more waterfall – HERE

Turtle Conservation Center – At Kuta Beach ( Baby Turtles are released every day from June to August )

Hiking – Mount Batur is an active volcano and hiking trips are quite popular.

Watersports activities – Padang Bai Beach and Nusa Dua Beach

NightLife – Seminyak & Kuta

Near By islands for Day Trips – Gilli islands, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan & Nusa Ceningan

Indian Resturant –  Queen’s Resturant at Seminyak & Ubud

DAY 1

We landed around 11 am local time and headed straight to our villa which we had booked through Airbnb after reading a lot of reviews about the place. ( Try it! We have a code which gives you discount on your first booking ) It was a cute little two bedroom villa at Bale Village at Kuta and was just 20 minutes from Seminyak/ Kuta Beach and one hour drive from Ubud and Uluwatu. Though we had planned to rent a self-drive car so the location of the villa worked for us. If you are looking to stay near beach or market area then you can also check some other villa on Airbnb or hotels/ resorts at Seminyak, Nusa Dua or Kuta. Our villa was in a residential area and away from all the hustle. Apart from the bathroom which was way too small rest everything about the villa was perfect. The pool was small and clean and most importantly the host was super helpful. He helped us to rent a self-drive car at a dirt cheap price at 200000 IDR without insurance and 300000 IDR with insurance. We opted for the latter. In fact, he also arranged a motorbike for us at a price of 50000 IDR ( 200-250 INR per day).

If you love driving, we highly recommend a rent a car/bike and explore Bali. Roads are awesome and chances of stumbling upon lesser known places would be high. If you do not fancy driving, you can book a taxi and cover a lot of places too.

After having a hearty lunch at Cafe Chakra near our villa, we headed to Tanah Lot temple in the evening on our very first day. We loved the unique offshore setting and the mesmerizing sunset. Pura Tanah lot is quite a popular hotspot for both tourists and locals.

Tanah Lot Temple

Entrance Tickets Prices per adult- 

Tanah Lot Temple – 60.000 IDR

Day 2

On our second day in Bali, we drove all the way to the North. We ticked off few places like Pura Ulun Danu Buyan Temple, Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple, and attractions of Ubud like Pura Taman Saraswati Temple, Ubud Palace, Ubud Monkey Forest (Ps: we did not like it ) and Taman Ayun Temple.

And ended our day at Seminyak Beach and wolfing down Indian food at Queen’s restaurant. If you are craving for Indian food, Queen’s is one of the most popular restaurants in Bali.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple

Kecak Dance at Pura Taman Saraswati Temple

The beautiful entrance of Ubud palace #Bali #thetalesofatraveler

A post shared by Swati ❤ Sam (@thetalesofatraveler) on Jun 20, 2017 at 7:24am PDT

Entrance Tickets Prices per adult- 

Pura Taman Ayun – 20.000 IDR

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple – 50.000 IDR

Pura Ulun Danu Buyan Temple – Free

Seminyak Beach – Free

Day 3 

On Day 3, we drove to Ubud again as we had missed out few places.

Places we visited were: Goa Gajah Temple, Tegenungan Waterfall, Kanto Lampo Waterfall, Goa Rang Reng waterfall,  Pura Tirta Empul Temple, Tegalang Rice Terrace & Kuta Beach

You can take a detour and visit Pura Baseikh temple too but unfortunately, we had no time.

Our first stop was Goa Gajah Temple followed by Tegenungan Waterfall. From Tegenungan waterfall, Kanto Lampo waterfall is just a 30 min drive. It is a beautiful waterfall and there are changing rooms at the site in case you want to take a dip.

Goa Gajah Temple

Tegenungan Waterfall

We also chanced upon another waterfall in Bali named Goa Rang Reng. While on our way from Kanto Lampo waterfall to Pura Tirta Empul Temple we saw a huge board with a direction to a waterfall named Goa Rang Reng. We went there on a whim and were awestruck by the sheer beauty of the place. Home to an ancient holy cave and the starting point of Cangkir River at the confluence of Bangunlemah and Betiting Rivers is considered to be a sacred place for locals.

Though the trail to the waterfall is muddy and slippery in some places, yet it is a peaceful and a relaxing spot that is hardly visited by tourists.

Kanto Lampo waterfall

Kanto Lampo waterfall

A post shared by Swati ❤ Sam (@thetalesofatraveler) on Jun 17, 2017 at 8:54pm PDT

A post shared by BALI ● Explore Bali and Beyond (@balicili) on Jun 25, 2017 at 3:54am PDT

Goa Rang Reng

Goa Rang Reng Waterfall

Pura Tirta Empul Temple

Pura Tirta Empul Temple

We also visited Pura Tirta Empul Temple that is famous for holy spring water and devotees come here for ritual purification. The mandatory dress code is traditional ‘kamen’ wrap around the lower body and is easily available at the entrance of the temple. On our way back from Ubud to Kuta, we visited the preened rice terrace.

We ended our day dining, shopping and lazing at Kuta Beach.

Entrance Tickets Prices per adult- 

Goa Gajah Temple – 30.000 IDR

Tegalang Waterfall – 10.000 IDR

Goa Rang Reng Waterfall – 15.000 IDR

Pura Tirta Empul Temple – 30.000 IDR

Kanto Lampo Waterfall – 10.000 IDR

 Kuta Beach – Free

Parking fee at most of the places varies from 3000 IDR, 5000 IDR &  10000 IDR

Day 4

If you’re temple out, then save this day for hopping from one beach to other or water sports activities.

We would advise exploring lesser-known beaches and pristine beaches of South Kuta and Uluwatu Area. Sulubun Beach, Dreamland Beach, Nyang Nyang Beach, Padang Padang beaches are out of touristy radar and boast of azure water laced with white sands. You need to climb down to most of the beaches in Uluwatu.

Other beaches which are easily accessible are Nusa Dua, Kuta, Sanur and Seminyak Beach.

Uluwatu Temple

Uluwatu Temple

Sulubun Beach

“Life is like the ocean.It can be calm or still, rough or rigid, but in the end it is always beautiful.” What do you prefer ocean or mountain ? #Bali @indtravel #uluwatutemple #thetalesofatraveler

A post shared by Swati ❤ Sam (@thetalesofatraveler) on Jun 19, 2017 at 1:39am PDT

Entrance Tickets Prices per adult- 

Uluwatu Temple – 30.000 IDR
Suluban Beach – 15.000 IDR

Day 5

Keep your last day to get a spa done, shop, relax at a fancy resort or just chill with a sundowner.

Well, basically, do nothing 🙂

Spa at Maya Ubud Resort & Spa , Ubud, Bali

Some of the best spa in Bali- Thermes Marins Spa at AYANA Resort and Spa Bali , Karma Spa at Karma Kandara Resort, Five Element Spa at Ubud.

Tips & Tricks for hiring a Self-drive Car/ Bike in Bali:

You need an Indian driving license or International driving license.

Take pictures of the car or bike for damage and notify any issues before closing the deal.

Test-drive quickly to check the brakes and clutch.

Fuel is usually not included in the price. Petrol is priced around 6.500 IDR – 7.500 IDR per liter.

Refuel only at major fuel stations.

Important: Download the offline map because the network is quite patchy at a lot of places.

Driving Conditions – If you are used to driving on Indian roads, you won’t have any issues. But in case you are not used to driving on narrow lanes and motorbikes coming from all directions. Be a bit cautious while driving.

HAGGLING IS THE KEY TO SCORE GREAT DEALS IN BALI 😉

We booked our self-drive car from the below rental company at a price of 300.000 IDR for 24 hours with insurance coverage.  Try to haggle more if you can. 😉

Bima Sakti Rent Car
Phone: +62 361 7906 187, +62 81 933 017 722
Email: carbooking@balimobil.com

Site: www.balimobil.com

Hope this post helps you to plan a trip to Bali.

Do check our previous posts for more tips and tricks on planning.

Shop my vacation picks!

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