chloedickensonLast Updated on 12th March 2023
This post about the best day trip from Ubud contains affiliate links.
My previous post about our time in Bali was slightly negative as I was depicting all the things I didn’t enjoy about the island so I thought I’d inject some positivity into my content today and share my ultimate itinerary for an epic day trip from Ubud!
We spent four days in Ubud and on one of those days we planned an 8-hour day trip from Ubud to numerous nearby temples, waterfalls and rice terraces. Ubud is a perfect place to be based in Bali if you’re looking to see as many incredible things as you can.
Here’s my ultimate 8-hour day trip from Ubud, covering the best things to see and do on a day trip in Bali!
Epic 8-hour day trip from Ubud itinerary
We booked our day trip from Ubud through Airbnb; we found a driver who allowed us to create a custom itinerary for our tour so we could choose the places we really wanted to visit and avoid the places we weren’t as bothered about.
Our driver for the day cost 800,000IDR (£44) for 8 hours of driving for both of us. You can definitely get a driver for the day for cheaper but we were happy with our itinerary and with the driver we chose.
We also visited six different places on our trip so it was a very action-packed day but well worth it in order to see everything we wanted to.
Check out my itinerary below for all the best places you need to see on your day trip from Ubud!
1. Tegallalang Rice Terrace
The Tegallalang Rice Terraces are without a doubt one of the most famous rice terraces in Bali, if not in the world. The scenic hillside attraction is not only a place to take incredible pictures, it’s also an in-use rice paddy where locals work and tend to the rice every single day.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a famous Balinese tourist attraction without the famous swings that Instagrammers seem to love; just be prepared to pay around £6-£12 for the pleasure of 6 swings!
It’s incredibly hard to capture just how mesmerising they really are on camera; I think my pictures look pretty good but they’re nothing compared to the real thing!
Travel tip: try and arrive at the Rice Fields as early as you can to avoid the crowds (this tip actually applies to pretty much everywhere on this list!).
Entry price: 20,000IDR (£1) per person
Location: Jalan Raya Tegallalang, Tegallalang, Gianyar, Bali 80561, Indonesia
2. Pura Gunung Kawi Temple
The next place we headed to was the Pura Gunung Kawi Temple in Tampaksiring which is one of the oldest monuments in the whole of Bali.
Dating all the way back to the 11th century, it’s also one of the most special and sacred Hindu sites on the island and features 10 mightily impressive 7-metre high rock-cut shrines dedicated to King Anak Wungsu and his favourite queens (how cool is that?!).
The walk down to the temple is certainly not for the faint-hearted; there are over 250 steps and in 30°+ heat, it’s a tiresome trek up and down the stairs!
One thing in particular that I really did enjoy about the Pura Gunung Temple however was that it was much quieter than any other temples we visited in Bali. I’m not sure if it’s because it was pretty tiring to get there or just because it’s not as well known but I was glad that it wasn’t too overcrowded! It’s an absolutely beautiful place, with waterfalls and a river running through as well.
Travel tip: you will be required to wear a sarong when entering the temple; you can borrow one upon entry if you don’t have your own!
Entry price: 40,000IDR (£2.20) per person
Location: Banjar Penaka, Tampaksiring, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80552
3. Tirta Empul Temple – day trip from Ubud
Next up was the Tirta Empul Temple which was much more crowded than the previous temple we visited.
It’s a Hindu Balinese water temple that’s home to two purification pools where believers can enter and “wash” themselves with the supposedly magical healing powers of the water. I’m not a believer of any religion but I am totally and wholeheartedly respectful of anyone who is; something that cannot be said for everyone visiting Tirta Empul unfortunately…
When we were there (and I imagine it’s like this pretty much every single day throughout the year as well), there were numerous women who were essentially blocking other people from entering the pools while they stood and perfected their poses for pictures for Instagram.
I’m all for getting THAT shot for Instagram, but certainly not at the expense of others and especially not when it gets in the way of other people’s religious practices. The girls were there for a good 5 minutes trying to get pictures from every angle and complaining whenever someone accidentally got in the background of their shots.
I just found it so disrespectful and I would really encourage you to be as mindful and respectful as possible when visiting temples.
Other than that, the temples and surrounding areas are absolutely stunning and so peaceful.
One thing I found fascinating, albeit quite archaic, about the temple was that there were quite a few strict rules that you had to abide by in order to enter. One of those was that women aren’t allowed inside the temple if they’re on their period which I found pretty crazy; I’m not one to judge other people’s religious beliefs but I did find that quite shocking!
Travel tip: You’ll also need a sarong to enter this temple too!
Entry fee: 50,000IDR (£2.76) per person
Location: Jl. Tirta, Manukaya, Tampaksiring, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80552
4. Mount Agung and Mount Batur
Mount Batur is one of the most famous sights in Bali and is renowned for being a hiking destination that many people endure at 2 AM in order to catch a glimpse of the highly coveted Balinese sunrise.
While you won’t see me standing on top of a mountain at 2 AM anytime soon, it was awesome to see both Mount Batur and Mount Agung from a distance during the day.
In order to take in the impressive views of both mountains from such an epic height, we drove to the village of Kintamani where there was a fee to get inside the village.
The views of the mountains are so captivating, especially on a clear day and it was an awesome stop on our day trip!
Travel tip: Either eat before you go to the village or bring some snacks with you as our driver tried taking us to a restaurant that cost £9 each (which is insanely expensive for Indonesian prices!).
Entry fee: 30,000IDR (£1.65) per person
5. Agro Santi Coffee Plantation
To my surprise, our penultimate stop at the Agro Santi Coffee Plantation actually turned out to be my favourite place on our entire tour; this is saying a lot considering I don’t even like coffee!
A lovely young woman who worked there took us around the plantation, showing us different coffee beans, plants and flowers that they make tea with.
We were also given 15 (!!!) different tea and coffee varieties to try and best of all; they were all free! I was blown away by the care and dedication that went into the coffee plantation and even more so that the staff show guests around for free and allow you to sample some of the homegrown goods!
My favourites were the ginseng coffee, vanilla coffee and the rosella tea; I honestly couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed this experience as even though I used to work at Starbucks, I’ve never been a big coffee drinker and my usual cup of tea is a simple Yorkshire brew!
We were also told about the infamous Luwak; an animal who helps to produce some of the most expensive coffee in the world (sometimes costing as much as $200 per kilo!) 😱
This kind of coffee is made by extracting the coffee beans from the Luwak’s poo. The Luwak eats the coffee cherries but during their digestion process, the coffee beans can’t be digested properly so they’re defecated by the animal and then farmers go and collect the beans from the poo, where they’re then washed, dried, pounded, sorted and eventually roasted to produce the coffee.
It sounds absolutely gross but it supposedly makes the coffee taste much nicer and less bitter.
It’s also not the most ethical coffee in the world as many of the Luwaks are kept on the farm to purposefully use them for this process. They’re not damaged or harmed in any way, but they’re also not free to roam around on their own, so I’m just not entirely convinced by the entire process and would much prefer to stick to more ethically grown coffee while in Bali.
Entry price: totally free! We did offer a tip to our “tour guide” however as she was the most lovely woman who was so knowledgeable and so friendly!
Location: Jl. Raya Kintamani, Manukaya, Tampaksiring, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80552
6. Tibumana Waterfall
The sixth and final stop we made on our day trip from Ubud was the beautiful Tibumana Waterfall.
It was incredibly quiet when we visited and it must have been around 3 PM with it being the last stop on our tour! I can imagine it does get very crowded, however, so try and plan your visit as strategically as possible.
The waterfall pools into a natural swimming area at the bottom which is idyllic for cooling off after an incredibly busy day in Bali. The water is freezing cold, however, so it certainly takes “cooling off” to a whole new level!
It’s very beautiful and is actually the only waterfall we saw properly in Bali, despite there being dozens across the island! I’d highly recommend adding it to your itinerary for your day trip if you want something beautiful, refreshing and magical on your agenda!
Travel tip: Remember to bring your swimming costume for a refreshing dip in the water!
Entry price: 15,000IDR (82p) per person
Location: Jl. Desa Apuan, Apuan, Susut, Kabupaten Bangli, Bali 80661
Writing this blog post has reminded me just how much fun we had travelling around with a driver for the day from Ubud. We saw so many awesome things, both manmade and natural and I’d highly recommend every single one of these places for your day trip itinerary (apart from maybe the Tirta Empul Temple as it was just a little too crowded for my liking!).
Pin for later – day trip from Ubud itinerary
Have you ever been to Bali? Do you like the sound of this day trip from Ubud? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @imjustagirl_16.
*Prices in the post are accurate as of October 2019.
