Bali is an island between Java and Lombok. It is a well-developed island with beautiful nature, many active volcanoes, graceful rice fields, many monuments, impressive temples, interesting culture, traditional Balinese cuisine and of course the tropical climate! Bali is very easy to reach via the Ngurah Rai international airport in Depasar. Here you can read all practical tips for your stay in Bali!
How to get around in Bali
There are many ways to get around Bali, you can read everything about it here.
Bali Weather
In Bali you can expect a tropical climate, resulting in tropical rain forests and beautiful green nature. We stayed in the months of September-October, which is still in the ‘good and dry period’. Dry season is between June and September. We noticed that there was just a little more rain in October compared to September, but nothing to worry about. In the central town of Ubud is a different climate, due to the location between different mountains and rainforests. This makes it feel slightly cooler (which is certainly not bad). Furthermore, it is often cloudy in comparison with Canggu and Semynjak. You can also make this distinction between the north and the south. The north of Bali is less hot than the south, which is slightly less subject to the rainy season.
A second, not unimportant, aspect are the sunshine hours. The months april until October have 10 hours of sunshine. In September and October the sunrise was around 5.30 am – 6.00 am and sunset around 6.00 pm. It’s best to start your day as early as possible! In the months of January until March and from November until December are the days slightly shorter, but there are usually still 8 sunshine hours a day!
| Average rainfall | Daily sunshine hours | |
| January | rainy season | 7 |
| February | rainy season | 7 |
| March | rainy season | 8 |
| April | rainy season | 9 |
| May |  |
9 |
| June | |
9 |
| July | |
10 |
| August | |
10 |
| September | |
10 |
| Oktober | |
10 |
| November | rainy season | 9 |
| December | rainy season | 8 |
Where can I eat affordable and tasty?
Bali is THE hotspot for nice, trendy bars and restaurants. You can find these in the most touristic places like Semynjak, Canggu and Ubud. We did not eat anywhere as good as on Bali. Vegans and vegetarians will not have a problem here with finding good and healthy food. The food bloggers will think they’re in paradise!
Shelter Cafe & Nalu Bowls, Semynjak
If they can do one thing in Bali, it’s making amazing smoothie Bowls. In Semynjak we have visited the trendy bar Shelter Cafe, located in the heart of Semynjak. It is a super cozy place with a lots of green! They have an extensive range of vegan and vegetarian dishes AND they really have the best bowls of Bali. These famous bowls come from Nalu Bowls and are made under the Shelter Café. The prices are slightly more expensive than in a typical warung, but compared to the Belgian prices it’s very cheap!
Adres: Jalan Drupadi 1 No. 2B, Seminyak, Kuta, Seminyak, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesië
Openingsuren: Every day from 8am-6pm
KYND, Semynjak
You will find the famous instagram ‘bali bowls’ in KYND. This cozy place is perfect to start your day in a healthy way! With the friendly staff and the nice decor makes it worth a visit! The only disadvantage is that these little pieces of art can take some time 
.
Adres: Jalan Raya Petitenget No12x, Petitenget, Bali, Indonesië
Openingsuren: Every day from 6am- 4pm
Bali Bowls KNYD
Sea Breeze, Nusa Ceningan
Sea Breeze in Nusa Ceningan is the cutest warung we encountered during our trip through Indonesia. It is located on the beach with a views over the seaweed farm (these are officially closed). You can chill a whole day here, just enjoy good food and drinks with a beautiful view under the Indonesian sun!
Adres: Jalan Nusa Ceningan, Ceningan Kawan, Lembongan, Nusa Penida, Lembongan, Klungkung, Kabupaten Klungkung, Bali 80771, Indonesië
Openingsuren: Every dag from 7.30am – 10pm
“Warung” means local restaurant. These are restaurants with mostly cheap dishes. Beware, because sometimes they use the word ‘warung’ to deceive tourists with their prizes. Do not forget to look at the bottom of the card, because often 10% or 15% extra fees are charged. Dare to go into a side street, often the prices here are much lower than the restaurants in the main street!
How much money do I need for Bali?
An important, but very difficult question. This obviously depends on your lifestyle. But I can say that Indonesia is a very cheap country to live. The biggest part of your budget goes to airplane tickets and transportation. You can certainly find a decent and luxurious private accommodation for an average of 35-40 euros a night. There are many accommodations that are cheaper than this, but we like to have a good hotel 
.
Our daily budget was around 15 euros, excluding stay and flights. Every night, we had diner in a restaurant which costs on average 10-15 euros for 2 people with drinks (cocktails not included).
Almost nowhere in Indonesia are the prices fixed, so always try to get the price lower!
| Budget for a month (30 nights) | |
| Daily costs | 400 euro |
| Trips | 144 euro per persoon |
| Accomodation | 1000 euro (this price is for a hotelroom, so if you’re traveling with someone the price will be 500 pp) |
| Taxi | 126 euro (if you’re with more people, the price will drop) |
| Boats | 75 euro |
Supermarkets in Bali
Besides the various local shops, is the most famous supermarket Alfa Mart. These shops are all over Indonesia and even in Southeast Asia. The large supermarkets are usually open until 10 pm. The Mini Mart is open for 24 hours. In these supermarkets you can find anything, from laundry product to noodles, cookies, drinks to toothpaste and soap. A good thing is that everything is already priced, so they can’t charge you more because you’re a tourist.
Passport, vaccinations, visum and other practical things?
If you want to travel to Indonesia you need:
- a passport that is valid for at least another 6 months
- a visum if you stay longer than 30 days. This can be obtained at the airport itself at the Indonesian embassy. A list of the airports that offer a visa can be found here.
Vaccinations and medical information (for Belgian travellers):
- Hepatitis A (if you repeat this 1 year after your 1st vaccination, you will be protected for life)
- Hepatitis B (mandatory in Belgium, standard vaccination)
- Typhoid
- Poliomyelitis (mandatory in Belgium, standard vaccination)
- Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (mandatory in Belgium, standard vaccination)
- Malaria
Malaria occurs throughout Indonesia, except for Bali. You don’t have to take malaria medication or anti-mosquito repellents if you only stay in Bali. For more information about the other islands you can check here.
Indonesia is a safe country, also for women. We travel as a couple and have never been bothered. Of course we are still seen as rich Westerners people, so for pickpockets you always have to pay attention. In busy places, it’s best to carry your money and valuable items on your body.
How the situation is currently in terms of safety can always be found on the government site of your country.
How do I get to other islands in Bali?
How to get to the Nusa Islands, read more about this at the next blog post!
How to get to the Gili Islands, read more about this at the next blog post!
What is the most advantageous way to pay?
The local currency in Indonesia is the Indonesian rupee (IDR). Depending on the price, 1 million IDR is approximately equal to 65 euros. As you read yourself, you are soon a millionaire in Indonesia!
- Converting euros into Indonesian rupees via your belgian Bank is not the most advantageous way. The bank’s rate is not that good, on average you lose 10% on your entire amount.
- Paying with Mastercard or Visa gives you the best rate.
- Withdrawing money with Mastercard or Visa gives an extra cost. This depends on the amount you collect. At 1 million Indonesian rupees, this was around 5.50 euros. This amount increases, the higher the amount you collect. The increase is so light that it is best to collect as large an amount as possible. This is again dependent on the machine. For example, most of them only go up to 1 million, but keep looking until you find one that can withdraw 2.5 million. We found this option still quite expensive.
- Our preference is to exchange euros to Indonesian roepies in a local office, that offers good ratings. This course is always slightly less than the course of mastercard, but taking this into account, it turned out to be the best option.
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