10-Day Solo Bali Adventure: An Honest Review
This is a genuine review of our self-guided Bali trip, completely unplanned by any tour operators. Bali is truly a gem gifted by nature. While major roads are fine, smaller paths often resemble Vietnamese rural roads. Be prepared for spicy and salty food, and know that dining and transport can be pricier than in Vietnam or Thailand.
Accommodation
Bali offers a fantastic range of places to stay. We booked through Airbnb, Agoda, and Booking.com. Looking back, our mistake was not checking the map thoroughly before booking. This led to quite a bit of travel time between our chosen spots and the homestay. Our top tip? Scout out your desired areas first, note the attractions, then search for homestays or hotels nearby using Google Maps. This will make getting around so much easier.
For two people, our average nightly rate was around 500,000 IDR. However, you can easily find decent mid-range hotels for 250,000 to 300,000 IDR. We booked our accommodation several months in advance, and the total cost for our stay came to just under 5 million IDR.
Flights
We booked our flights four months ahead of our trip with Scoot Airline. Booking early meant we snagged a great deal, paying only 4.6 million IDR for a round trip. The seats were spacious, and the flight was right on time. Just two months later, we checked again, and the price had jumped to 7 million IDR. It truly pays to book as far in advance as possible.
Food & Drink
Generally, Balinese food leans towards being quite salty and spicy. The usual suspects are chicken and beef. Duck here has a distinct taste, and after four days, we were craving greens! This led us to explore international cuisine. We tried Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican, and Indian restaurants. Honestly, these were often more enjoyable than Indonesian dishes. We particularly loved a Vietnamese spot called Bun & Bo, which felt more authentic than some noodle places back in Hanoi and is quite famous in Bali.
For local flavors, you can find delicious meals at small warungs for around 50,000 to 70,000 IDR per serving. We often found ourselves in tourist-focused restaurants, which were considerably more expensive, averaging around 800,000 IDR per meal. Interestingly, after exploring other cuisines, we found meals for two at international restaurants were much more affordable, costing only 250,000 to 400,000 IDR for a satisfying and even luxurious dining experience.
We estimate we spent roughly 17 million IDR on food and drinks over our 10 days. This is an approximation, as most meals exceeded 450,000 IDR. Some meals, like sushi, cost 350,000 IDR, while Korean and Mexican meals for two came in around 250,000 IDR, which felt like excellent value.
Getting Around
Bali's traffic, especially in Ubud, can be busy, but people are generally respectful of traffic laws and stick to their lanes, making it relatively easy to navigate. Just remember that driving is on the left side of the road here, so you'll need to constantly remind yourself to stay left to avoid accidents, as drivers move quite quickly.
To save money, we rented a motorbike for about 150,000 to 200,000 IDR per day. Even if you're not a confident rider, you can probably manage. My boyfriend, who couldn't ride a motorbike before, was zooming around with ease by the end of our trip!
Our transportation costs totaled about 1.5 million IDR for the motorbike. We also spent around 1.5 million IDR on taxis, including the trip to Ubud and occasional rides around town, bringing our total transport budget to 3 million IDR.
Must-See Destinations
Kuta
We spent two days in Kuta, but honestly, we didn't buy much as we felt the prices were inflated. Our key takeaway for shopping at markets is to bargain down to a third or even a quarter of the asking price. At one point, we saw a pair of flip-flops priced at 700,000 IDR (about 1.2 million VND). We offered 180,000 IDR, and they still sold them! So, we realized we likely overpaid for many items and should have pushed for lower prices. In Kuta, we mostly focused on eating, so we don't have much else to report on.
Ubud
Getting from Kuta to Ubud, a full-day taxi package can cost around 600,000 IDR, allowing you to go wherever you please. We opted for Grab, which cost 300,000 IDR, and then rented a motorbike for local exploration, making it more cost-effective.
Ubud is famous for its swings, waterfalls, and ATV rides. We found that the online prices for the swings were different from the actual ticket prices, which were about three times higher (400,000 IDR per ticket!). Given it was just for a few photos, we decided against it and saved our money for ziplining and visiting rice paddies.
There are numerous waterfalls in Ubud. We visited Kanto Lampo, which looked grand in photos but was quite small in reality. Feeling a bit underwhelmed and finding it too crowded, we sought out a much more beautiful local waterfall just 3 km away. The entrance fee was a mere 30,000 IDR, and with only about ten local visitors, we had a wonderfully relaxed time taking photos. Unfortunately, we can't recall the name!
A trip to Ubud wouldn't be complete without visiting the art market. We managed to snag a lot of clothing and souvenirs at good prices, but remember, always bargain down to about one-third of the original price!
Uluwatu
This area is renowned for its stunning blue beaches, and they truly live up to the hype. We initially planned to relax here for two days but ended up driving 20 km to Kutuh to see the road nestled between two cliffs. By chance, we discovered Pandawa Beach, which had very few tourists. We spent the afternoon kayaking for just 70,000 IDR.
Nusa Penida: The Trip's Highlight
Our time in Nusa Penida was a definite highlight. We booked a round-trip ferry for 500,000 IDR. While many reviews rave about Nusa Penida, few mention the sea sickness. Even though I'm generally healthy, the one-hour ferry ride had me feeling close to throwing up multiple times, and it was very unpleasant. My partner mentioned there are local boats that take 2-3 hours but are a much smoother ride.
Another tip: be wary of taxi driver tour offers. Before arriving, we received quotes ranging from 3.5 million, 2 million, to 1.5 million IDR for a tour covering just transportation. However, once we settled into our homestay, we found a full-day tour, including transport, for only 700,000 IDR – significantly cheaper than what we were initially quoted! This tour covered four spots and was an entire day of travel, concluding with snorkeling for an additional 200,000 IDR.
Our three-day trip to Nusa Penida cost approximately 1 million IDR for accommodation, 1.2 million IDR for transport, laundry services at the homestay, and 3 million IDR for food and drinks, totaling around 5 million IDR.
10-Day Trip Cost Breakdown (for 2 people):
- Accommodation: ~5 million IDR
- Food & Drink: ~17 million IDR
- Transportation: ~3 million IDR
- Attractions & Activities: ~5 million IDR
- Flights: 4.6 million IDR
- Unnecessary Expenses (lessons learned): 3 million IDR
Total: Approximately 20 million IDR per person for 10 days
Wishing you a trip with fewer costly lessons than ours!
Credit: Thùy Linh
