Best Things To Do in Bali | International Traveller

Be you a thrill-seeker, waterfall-chaser or festival fan, Bali‘s best activities go beyond the usual.

There are plenty of fun things to do in Bali, but some activities have more traveller cred than others, especially when they divert from the well-trodden tourist path. While catching a wave or enjoying poolside villa action are both good reasons to visit the Island of the Gods, tearing yourself away from the usual itinerary can be the difference between a great holiday, and an excellent one.

From cliff-jumping over a waterfall and hiking to the top of an active volcano, to touring a regenerative rice farm and art crawling around Ubud’s creative studios, it’s an action-packed itinerary. Here are some of our favourites.

In short

If you only do one thing in Bali make it: Nyepi. Bali’s ancient New Year celebration includes a Day of Silence whereby the whole island, including the airport, shuts down for 24 hours. The evening before, ogoh-ogoh  – demonic statues hand-crafted in each village months before the festivities – are paraded through the streets, ridding the island of bad spirits. It’s a Balinese cultural event not to be missed.

Waterbom, Kuta

When it comes to water parks, there’s no topping the fun-factor at Bali’s Waterbom. It’s 26 world-class (and award-winning) slides twirl and curl around a 3.8ha tropical landscaped garden, complemented by eateries, activities and poolside recliners.

Families are particularly well catered to with fully serviced cabanas and a spa for grown-ups and, for the kiddos, Coco Garden – a new fandangle waterpark complete with massive overhead bucket water spills.

The best bit? Waterbom is one of Bali’s sustainability success stories. It runs on 100% renewable electricity, composts 97% of its waste on-site, and reduces groundwater consumption year-on-year.

Festivals, Ubud

opening gala at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival — A traditional Balinese dance performance at the opening gala of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

Visiting Ubud when there’s a major festival on ensures easy access to the dynamic cultures and customs of this enigmatic town. Here are three to stick in your calendar:

Ubud Food Festival, at the end of May, is a chance to taste-test some of the Indonesian archipelago’s exceptional cuisine, and get face-to-face with some real live cooking action. Big name chefs host cook-ups and dining events at restaurants around town, and get in early for tickets to farm tours, foodie trails and foraging experiences. Short on time? The festival’s artisan foodie market is a one-stop shop for local eats and treats.

Ceramicists, wood carvers, painters, you name it, in early June, artists across Ubud share their creativity in-person through Ubud Open Studios, a three-day festival with a self-guided ‘art crawl’ format across 60 studios. Consult the catalogue, choose your favourites and start walking and talking art.

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, held in October each year, attracts an excitable bookish crowd to its main hub on Jalan Raya Sanggingan. Scholars, authors and thinkers from Indonesia, Australia and beyond join talks, panels and workshops on five main stages, and at satellite venues around town.

Hike Mt Batur – Kintamani

Mount Batur in Bali — Mount Batur is an active volcano in north-eastern Bali. (Credit: Getty/saiko3p)

Few hikes in Bali are as rewarding as the sunset ascent of Mt Batur near Bali’s highland town of Kintamani. This active volcano, tipping 1717 metres, last erupted in 2000, spilling black lava down the side of the mountain. Steam, hot enough to cook an egg (I’ve seen it!) still pours out of rock fissures at its peak.

From the top, views stretch over a 13-kilometre-wide caldera ‘bowl’ in which lies Lake Batur, a sacred 7-kilometre-long headwater. Mount Penulisan (1745 metres) Mount Abang (2153 metres) and, on a clear day Mount Rinjani (3726 metres), on the neighbouring Indonesian island of Lombok, can be seen.

Sunrise walks are the most popular, with head-torched tour groups departing at 3am (climbing without a guide is not allowed). The northern summit trail, starting from Toyabungkah is a slow, steady (if gravelly) climb with a moderate incline. For walkers with some level of fitness, it takes about 90 minutes.

White water rafting, Ubud

a jungle river in Bali — Drift along a tropical jungle river. (Credit: Getty/tobiasjo)

I know at least one luxury resort in Ubud that treats guests to an arrival and check-in via a white water rafting adventure. For the rest of us, Ubud is the hot spot for the activity with plenty of qualified tour companies guiding water-lovers on a 10-kilometre journey down the Ayung, Bali’s longest river.

The Ayung is shallow and rocky creating excellent grade II and III rapids that twist and turn through steep gorges and a tangle of tropical jungle. It’s as much a thrills and spills adventure as it is a way to see an enchanting slice of the island with enigmatic temples, camouflaged resorts and ancient carved walls emerging on the river banks as you pass.

Avoid the wet season and heavy rain because the river level rises and tours are more likely to be cancelled.

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Waterfall chasing – Lovina

Gitgit Waterfall in North Bali — The striking 35-metre-tall Gitgit Falls is just a 40-minute drive southeast of Lovina Beach. (Credit: Getty/Jakub Mazur)

Lovina’s oversubscribed dolphin tours might have fallen out of favour with eco-minded tourists, but the sublime waterfalls inland of this northern beach town remain itinerary highlights. At 40 metres, Gitgit waterfall is one of Bali’s highest, a streak of white water surrounded by thick tropical jungle with a handy wooden viewing platform below it. It’s an accessible short trek from Cempaga Village on a concrete path.

Walking distance from Lovina Beach, Singsing waterfall has two rock-hopping jungle-shrouded drops with refreshing swimming holes underneath. Be warned, the second prettier falls is harder to access than the first. A guide is recommended.

Aling-Aling is the most adventurous. Easily accessible from Sambangan village, it has daredevil 5-metre, 10-metre and 15-metre cliff-jumping platforms. If that doesn’t scare the boardshorts off you, try the natural 35-metre slide down the main waterfall into the picture-perfect turquoise swimming hole below.

Begawan Biji, Ubud

It’s easy to throw the term farm-to-table around but this is one place in Bali that is genuinely true to the cause. On a four-hectare working farm in Bayad village north of Ubud, Begawan Biji’s enchanting Indonesian restaurant, set in a traditional two-storey wantilan, sources its ingredients direct from the surrounding permaculture garden and regenerative rice farm.

Guests can dine on exceptional dishes – including nasi goreng made with wagyu beef, slipper lobster and mansur, a homegrown heritage rice grain native to Bali. To dig a little deeper, guests can sign up for a ‘return to roots’ tour exploring the farm’s photogenic mandela vegetable gardens, 9th-century subak irrigation system and zero-waste philosophy.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.

Best things to do in Bali: festivals, waterfalls and hiking