If you’re young, you definitely must come to Bali once in your life. It must be said that Bali is very beautiful, excellent, it’s hard to be describes in words. The beauty of the harmony between the sea and mountains and forests, between modern life and ancient culture, between pristine nature and bustling of old towns. In the south are clear blue beaches, white sand (Kuta, Seminyak, Nusa Dua …), the north are hills and majestic mountains, with the cool air (Gitgit), in the central are immense rice terrace fields, busy and bustling old town and countless large and small waterfalls spread throughout Bali. So, how to spend 8 days in Bali (8 days 7 nights in Bali) and what to do in Bali for 8 days pefectly? Let’s check out our Bali travel itinerary blog (Bali itinerary blog) with the details of Bali itinerary 8 days to find out the answer! The following is a journey to fully explore the beauty of Bali within 8 days.
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- Bali center guide — The guide to Center Bali & explore top central Bali attractions
- Ubud bali travel guide — 5 activities you should not miss while visiting Ubud, Bali
When is the best time to visit?
The best time to go to Bali is from April to September because this is the dry season, less rain. In addition, the months of 7,8,9 are peak tourist season and very crowded with tourists. From September to March next year is the rainy season in Bali, the rain usually lasts many days and it is cloudy with lots of fog. We recommends that you should monitor the weather regularly before going to avoid rainy days.
Sim Card
Sim 4G you can buy at the airport, or buy when you getting to the center. But according to our experience you should buy 4G Sim card in advance to get a better price and it also be delivered to your home before you go. Another information is that most people in Bali using Whatsapp, so you can talk directly with them via Whatsapp. Link to book 4G Sim here. Or you can rent 4G Portable WiFi.
Language
In Bali, popular languages are Indo and English, they speak English quite well in most tourist destinations so if you know English do not need to worry too much when traveling here.
Hotel
Depending on demand, cost and location, hotel prices will vary. But if you having come to Bali, you should try a night at a luxury hotel to experience the infinity pool, floating breakfast with flower bath. There are quite a lot of beautiful luxury hotels in Ubud that offer these services such as Calma Ubud, Kamandalu Ubud, Hideout Bali.. quite high price but worth it. The best booking sites that you should refer to book hotels are Booking, Agoda. There are lots of great hotel deals if you spend time to find.
Read more: Top places to stay in Bali — Top 10 best areas to stay in Bali Indonesia for the first-timers.
Food
Bali’s food is a bit salty and spicy, the specialty here is Nasi Goreng (fried rice with eggs) and Babi Guling (Suckling Roasted Pig), especially in Nusa Penida they also eat with the fingers as the Indians, if possible you can try this literary unique experience once. On Nusa penida island, there are not many choices, but in Ubud and Kuta, there are many eateries, restaurants and are also very delicious so you can assured. Except for restaurants, with small eateries, you should ask the price first, otherwise you will be overcharged (a meal price from IDR 25.000 ($1.77) – IDR 30.000 ($2.12) for small shops along the road, maybe even cheaper). The restaurants in Bali in Ubud you should try: Who’s Who’s, The Fair Warung Bale, Warung Pondok Madu,…
Transport
There are two main means of transport in Bali that are motorbikes (in Bali called scooters) with the rent price is from IDR 40.000 ($2.83) – IDR 70.000 ($4.95)/day, not including gasoline, the gasoline price is quite cheap of about IDR 20.000 ($1.42) is full of tank. Or you can hire private car (private drivers) with the rent price is IDR 600.000 ($42.46) – 700.000 ($49.54)/day (actually only 8-10 hours). Private driver in Bali is plentiful, the cost varies by location and your hotel position. Usually, the drivers will offer day tours to tourist attractions throughout Bali. You can book in advance these services through travel agents like Klook or KKday. Alternatively, you also can rent a bicycle to get around some of the nearby locations in Bali.
Google Map in Bali works quite well, so you should download it to use offline version, to saving 3g data. Riding by motorbike will have to use a lot.
Bali itinerary 8 days — Day 1: Saigon – Bali
From Vietnam to Bali, depending on the departure time and flight time and transit, each person will go to Bali at a different time. To getting from the airport to your hotel, you can catch a taxi with the price from IDR 350.000 ($24.77) depending on the location in Ubud (35km from airport) or Kuta. However my advice is that you should not take a taxi but catch Grab/Uber. However, Grab/Uber is not allowed park at the airport hall to pick up passengers, so you need to walk about 800 meters to Grab/Uber’s parking spot, the price is quite good from IDR 150.000 ($10.62) to IDR 180.000 ($12.74). Alternatively, you can book the shuttle bus at Klook. If you come to Bali at noon, in the evening you can explore the bustling nightlife in Kuta or Sanur.
8 days in Bali — Day 2: Journey to discover Nusa Penida Island
Because we have to catch the boat early to the island at 7:30am, so I recommend you staying in the Sanur area for convenient to getting to the pier. The boat tickets to the island can be bought at the pier, there are many selling points, with the price of IDR 400.000 ($28.31)/roundtrip, the travel time about 45 minutes and the boat runs very smoothly. The boat schedule is quite flexible because there are many different agencies offer, so you do not need to worry if you do not go early.
After arriving at the island, you can rent a motorbike (IDR 70.000/day) and book a snorkelling tour (IDR 200.000/person) for the next morning. At the pier there are many tour agencies so you can be assured that the tour quality is the same everywhere, importantly prices are not too high is OK. Then take the motorbike straight to the hotel – La Roja Budget – sending luggage and lunch, the hotel is located in the middle of the island and close to the coast (about 30 minutes from the port). A top rated hostel with room rates from $13/night (You can check rates, reviews and book on Agoda.com or Booking.com).
After lunch, we move to the extremely famous locations of Nusa Penida Island: Kelingking Beach (Legendary Dinosaur Spine, T-Rex cliffs), Angel’s Billabong (Wonderland Lake) and Broken Beach. These locations are quite close to each other and there is a parking and sightseeing fee. The road is quite beautiful, but when it’s near the end there are many potholes, so if you ride a motorbike, be careful. After visiting, watching sunset and swimming, diving at Crystal Bay is wonderful.
Alternatively, you can book the day tour to explore 2 islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan Island from Klook for just $50 but includings the pick-up and drop off, buffet lunch and snorkelling service. Link book the tour here.
Bali itinerary blog — Day 3: Snorkeling tour and journey to the East
The tour departs from 8:30 am to 2 pm, the touring time lasts 4 hours, visiting 4 diving spots which are Manta Bay (watching stingrays), Gamat Bay, Crystal Bay (watching beautiful sea creatures), Toya Pakeh spot (coral wonder). You should prepare underwater camera such as GoPro because there are many beautiful corals and special fishes like in nemo movie. The most beautiful is at Toya Pakeh, if lucky we can swim with sea turtles. In Manta Bay, the waves are quite large, so it will be a bit tired for you who cannot swim.
*Another option for you is the dive tour to watching the legendary Tulamben wreck, watching the precious sea creatures and supported with photography. Link book the tour here.
After finishing the tour, we went back to the hotel to change, have lunch, then started driving to the East Coast at 2pm to admire the outstanding beauty of Diamond Beach – the beach with fine white sand and extremely blue water. If you have time, you should spend a day trekking down the beach and swimming here.
After visiting Diamond Beach, we return to the port at 4:45pm, just in time to catch the last boat at 5pm to Sanur, if you go to the East Coast of Nusa Penida, you should watch the time, because the last trip can be 4:30pm or 5pm depending on the day.