Bali is the start. Indonesia is the trip.

A volcano before dawn, a waterfall in a slot canyon, a split gate with Agung behind it, manta rays and mud-caked quad bikes. Six kinds of day, and the best way to book each.

★★★★★★★★★★4.8· 9,660 travellers on the most-booked climb

Pickup is around two, the climb takes a couple of hours in the dark, and the payoff is Lake Batur filling with light while Agung and Rinjani stack up behind it. Three ways to do it, depending on how much walking you want.

• 1Sunrise Mount Batur Guided Hike with Breakfastfrom $27
• 2Bali/Mount Batur: Private Sunrise Jeep Tour & Hot Springfrom $55
• 3Mount Batur Sunrise Trek With Guide and Breakfastfrom $27

On foot

The summit climb, breakfast at the rim

2am pickup· from $17· 4–5h

Torch, guide, a steady hour and a half up loose volcanic scree, then eggs cooked in a steam vent while the crater fills with light.

No climbing

Jeep to the viewpoint, dry boots

3am pickup· from $17· half day

A 4x4 grinds up the black sand to a rim viewpoint instead. Same sunrise, same lake, none of the scree, and room in the day afterwards.

The slow one

Sunrise first, then two hours in the springs

Half day· from $5· lakeside pools

Come down off the mountain and get straight into water heated by the same volcano, looking back up at the thing you just climbed.

Compare every Batur sunrise option →

More people book these than anything else in the country — and what each one is really like on the day.

1

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 14,344 reviews

All-Inclusive Ubud Private Tour

Private all-inclusive Ubud day tour with monkey forest, Tegalalang rice terraces, Tirta Empul purification, waterfall views, swing, lunch, and pickup.

From · $100

Read our review →

2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 9,660 reviews Sunrise Mount Batur Guided Hike with Breakfast from $27 3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8,571 reviews Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swing from $56 4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 7,817 reviews Full-Day Instagram Highlights Tour from $36 5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,160 reviews Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Temple from $31 6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 6,424 reviews ️Nusa Penida by Private Boat – Snorkeling 4 spots, Swim with Mantas + Land Tour from $100 7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 6,263 reviews Bali/Nusa Penida: East & West Highlights Full-Day Tour from $32 8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,484 reviews Waterfalls, Water Temple & Rice Terraces Private Tour from $29

Three brackets, and what each one actually buys you. Plenty of the best days in this country cost less than lunch at home.

Under $35

559 tours

Temple entries, waterfall runs, cooking classes and dance tickets — the everyday best of the country.

• 1Sunrise Mount Batur Guided Hike with Breakfastfrom $27
• 2Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing, Rice Terrace, and Water Templefrom $31
• 3Bali/Nusa Penida: East & West Highlights Full-Day Tourfrom $32

$35–90

777 tours

The standard full day: sunrise treks, island boats, rafting with lunch, a driver for eight hours.

• 1Best of Ubud Full-Day Tour with Jungle Swingfrom $56
• 2Full-Day Instagram Highlights Tourfrom $36
• 3Best of Ubud 1-Day Private Tourfrom $54

$90 and up

342 tours

Private guides and drivers for a whole day, island boats, and the Komodo trips that need a plane to reach.

• 1All-Inclusive Ubud Private Tourfrom $100
• 2️Nusa Penida by Private Boat – Snorkeling 4 spots, Swim with Mantas + Land Tourfrom $100
• 3Tanah Lot and North Bali Tour: Scenic Journeyfrom $100

Reefs and temples turn up all over Southeast Asia. A crater that burns blue, a lizard that hunts buffalo, and a hundred men singing a fire out of nothing belong to this country alone.

Burns electric blue

The Ijen Blue Fire

Sulphuric gas escapes the crater at Kawah Ijen under such pressure and heat that it ignites, and the flames run blue down the rock. They are only visible in the dark, which is why the hike leaves around midnight and everyone is off the rim by breakfast. The same crater is worked by miners hauling 70kg baskets of yellow sulphur up the wall on their shoulders, twice a day, all year.

1. 1Mount Bromo Sunrise Tour from Surabaya or Malang – 1 Day★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,759 reviews
2. 21 Day Amazing Bromo Sunrise tour from Malang Surabaya 7 spots★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 879 reviews
3. 3Banyuwangi/Bali: Ijen Volcano Midnight Blue Fire Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 854 reviews

See all 129 →

Nowhere else on earth

The Komodo Dragons

Three metres long, venomous, and confined to a handful of islands in the eastern Lesser Sundas. Rangers walk visitors through the dry savannah on Rinca and Komodo carrying a forked stick, which looks inadequate and is. Getting there means a flight into Labuan Bajo and a boat that leaves at dawn, usually alongside Padar’s three-bay viewpoint and a beach the coral has turned pink.

1. 1Komodo Island Day Tour with Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,276 reviews
2. 2One Day Tour to Explore Komodo National Park★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 529 reviews
3. 3Komodo Island: Komodo Dragons & Islands Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 472 reviews

See all 30 →

No instruments at all

The Kecak at Uluwatu

A hundred men sit in rings and chant interlocking rhythms with nothing but their voices — no gamelan, no drums. The Uluwatu version is staged in a clifftop amphitheatre and timed so the Ramayana’s fire scene lands as the sun drops into the Indian Ocean. Arrive early for a seat on the sea side, and keep hold of your sunglasses: the temple monkeys have a business model.

1. 1Uluwatu Kecak and Fire Dance Show Entry Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 5,189 reviews
2. 2Uluwatu Sunset, Kecak Dance, and Dinner Jimbaran Beach★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,681 reviews
3. 3Kecak Fire Dance Show & Uluwatu Temple Entry Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 3,023 reviews

See all 59 →