🇮🇩Ubud
Bali's green heart: rice terraces stepping down the valleys, a temple every hundred meters, monkeys with a crime syndicate, and more yoga mats per capita than anywhere on earth.
Mid-range figures, per person · DPS is the nearest major airport
Per person, no flights — those are just below. The mid-range figure is researched; budget and luxury scale it, so treat the two as rough. The trip calculator and hotels below break the day down properly.
Fares are into Bali (Denpasar), usually with one stop — Singapore, Doha or Taipei. Ubud is a 1-hour drive from that airport; Yogyakarta adds a $40–80 domestic hop or connects via Jakarta. Ranges are typical fares booked 1–3 months out, checked mid-2026 — school-holiday peaks run higher, and patient shoppers beat the bottom end.
Prices checked · how we work these out
Entry & visa
Same as all of Indonesia: Visa on Arrival for most nationalities, Rp 500,000 (~$32) for 30 days, extendable once — pay online as the e-VOA before flying to skip a queue. Bali's one-time Rp 150,000 tourist levy applies too (Love Bali site or app).
Visa rules turn on your nationality and change often — always confirm the current requirement for your own passport with an official government source before you book.
Quick facts
Money & what things cost
Cash for warungs, drivers, offerings-market stalls and temple donations; cards and QRIS for the café economy. The nearest reliable ATMs cluster on Jalan Raya Ubud — use bank-attached machines and refuse the ATM's own 'conversion' offer, which pads the rate.
What locals earn
| Average monthly salary (Gianyar regency, net) | ≈ Rp 3–4M ($190–250) | craft, agriculture and tourism |
| Minimum wage (Gianyar regency) | ≈ Rp 3M ($190) | slightly under the tourist-belt regencies |
Food & drink
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Nasi campur at a warung | Rp 25,000–45,000 | $1.50–2.80 |
| Smoothie bowl / café brunch | Rp 70,000–120,000 | $4.40–7.50 |
| Casual restaurant, per person | Rp 80,000–150,000 | $5–9.50 |
| Tasting menu at a destination restaurant | Rp 1,500,000+ | $94+ |
| Fresh juice | Rp 25,000–40,000 | $1.50–2.50 |
| Bintang beer | Rp 30,000–45,000 | $1.90–2.80 |
Transport & activities
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Gojek/Grab scooter hop in town | Rp 15,000–25,000 | $0.90–1.60 |
| Scooter rental, per day | Rp 70,000–100,000 | $4.40–6.30 |
| Private driver, full day of temples | Rp 550,000–800,000 | $34–50 |
| Drop-in yoga class | Rp 130,000–180,000 | $8.10–11 |
| Mount Batur sunrise trek (with pickup) | Rp 400,000–600,000 | $25–38 |
| Balinese massage, 1 hour | Rp 120,000–250,000 | $7.50–16 |
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Where to sleep & what it costs
| Tier | Per night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | Rp 120,000–250,000 ($7.50–16) | Often with pool and rice-field views — Ubud dorms punch high |
| Family homestay | Rp 250,000–500,000 ($16–31) | The classic Ubud stay: a compound room, banana pancakes included |
| Mid-range hotel / villa | Rp 550,000–1,300,000 ($34–81) | Jungle-edge infinity pools start in this bracket |
| Luxury resort | Rp 2,500,000+ ($155+) | The Ayung river gorge resorts are world-list regulars |
Trip cost calculator
$108 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range hotel / villa)
A rough estimate from this page’s daily budget and hotel prices — not a quote. Lodging assumes one room for the group; flights use the midpoint of the Getting there ranges above.
Getting around
- Getting there
- No airport — Ubud is 1–1.5 hours from Ngurah Rai (DPS) by car (Rp 350,000–450,000 fixed-rate taxi, less on Grab/Gojek). Coming from the southern beaches, it's 45–90 minutes depending on traffic.
- On foot
- The center — Palace, market, Monkey Forest, Jalan Raya's cafés — is walkable, though sidewalks are an obstacle course of offerings, mopeds and gaps. The Campuhan Ridge Walk starts ten minutes from the Palace.
- Scooter, Gojek & drivers
- Same rules as the rest of Bali: ride only if licensed and experienced (jungle roads are narrow and wet), Gojek/Grab for hops — note some village zones ban app pickups; hotels arrange local drivers instead — and a full-day driver for the temple-and-terrace circuit.
- The classic day loop
- Tegallalang terraces at dawn, Tirta Empul mid-morning, lunch, Gunung Kawi or Goa Gajah after — one driver-day covers what tour buses do by noon, in reverse order and without the buses.
Map
Drag to look around, or open Google Maps ↗ · Apple Maps ↗
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Neighborhoods to stay in
- Central Ubud
- Walk to the Palace, market and Monkey Forest; hear the gamelan practice at night — and the traffic by day.
- Penestanan
- Painters'-village lanes and rice-path walks, ten minutes from the center on foot.
- Nyuh Kuning
- The quiet village on the Monkey Forest's south edge — arguably the best of both.
- Tegallalang road
- Jungle and terrace resorts north of town; you'll need wheels or a driver for everything.
- Sayan / Ayung ridge
- The luxury gorge — resorts hanging over the river, sunsets included.
Things to do
Sights & walks
Restaurants & cafés
Wellness & culture
Tipping & etiquette
- Don't step on the offerings — canang sari line every doorway and pavement each morning; walk around them.
- Temple dress is a sarong and sash, lent at every major gate; menstruating women are asked by custom not to enter temple grounds.
- Bathing at Tirta Empul is welcome but follow the sequence locals use and skip the final spouts reserved for the dead's rites — ask the attendant.
- Ceremony processions own the road. Engine off, wait, enjoy the gamelan.
- Bargain gently at the art market — it's expected — but not at warungs or for offerings.
Safety & common scams
Ubud's dangers are gentle but real: wet scooter roads, monkey bites (any bite means a rabies shot series — go to a clinic, no exceptions), and tumbles on terrace paths in flip-flops. Petty theft is rare; the monkeys commit most of it.
Scams to know
- Monkey 'rescues' — handlers near the forest sell fruit to ransom back what a macaque took. Prevention is the whole game: nothing loose.
- Fake 'closed temple' helpers — a friendly stranger says the temple is closed and steers you to his cousin's shop or a 'better' one for a fee. The temple is open.
- ATM conversion traps — always choose to be charged in rupiah, never the machine's 'guaranteed' home-currency rate.
- Taxi cartels — some streets ban Gojek/Grab pickups and the local stand quotes triple. Walk 200 m out of the zone or have your hotel call their regular driver.
Emergency numbers: 112 (general) · 118 (ambulance) · Ubud has clinics for stitches and monkey bites; anything serious means Denpasar, about an hour
Phone & internet
Telkomsel has the strongest signal in the valleys; grab a tourist SIM or eSIM as for the coast. Every café doubles as a coworking space — Ubud practically invented the laptop-with-smoothie-bowl economy — and fiber Wi-Fi is standard in guesthouses.
First-timer FAQs
How is Ubud different from the Bali beach areas?
No beach, no surf, cooler nights, greener everything. Ubud is temples, terraces, yoga and long dinners; Kuta-to-Uluwatu is waves and beach clubs. They're an hour apart and most first trips do both — the southern belt has its own guide here.
How many days do I need?
Two full days covers the ridge walk, Monkey Forest, a temple loop and the terraces; three adds a cooking class or the Mount Batur sunrise trek. Long-stayers settle in for weeks — Ubud is the kind of place that quietly extends bookings.
Is the Mount Batur sunrise trek worth the 2am start?
On a clear dry-season morning, absolutely — two hours up an active volcano to watch dawn over Agung and the caldera lake. In the wet season you may summit into fog; check the forecast and skip it rather than gamble.
Do I need cash for temples and terraces?
Yes — small notes. Entrance fees are Rp 30,000–75,000, terrace farmers ask small donations at path gates, and sarong rentals and parking attendants all run on cash. Keep a stash of 10,000s and 20,000s.
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Ubud or…?
Side-by-side cost comparisons with the other Indonesia guides — and its rivals abroad.