These are the ten reasons to visit Bali that still hold up once you look past the photos. They range from a Hindu culture practised daily and UNESCO-listed rice terraces to a volcano you can climb before breakfast. The guide is written for UK travellers weighing Bali against other long-haul options for 2026 and 2027, and it ends with the honest case against going.
Quick answer
Bali is worth visiting for its living Hindu culture, UNESCO-listed rice terraces, volcano treks, manta-ray reefs and villas where a private plunge pool is standard. The main trade-off is the journey. No airline flies nonstop from the UK to Bali, so you change planes on the way, and our shortest Bali package runs to 8 nights.
10 reasons to visit Bali in 2026
Each reason below rests on one fact you can check. Where a reason turns into logistics, such as where to stay or how to split your nights, our guide to planning a Bali holiday takes over.
1. Private pool villas as standard
In Bali a private plunge pool is a normal feature of a good villa, not the top rung of a resort’s room list. Villa compounds in Ubud, Sanur, Seminyak and the Bukit peninsula build them as standard, often with an open-air bathroom and a shaded daybed pavilion.
A villa stay also changes the rhythm of the day. You swim before breakfast without sharing the pool, eat on your own terrace, and come back from a temple or a trek to a garden rather than a corridor.
Our Bali Jungle Retreat pairs 5 nights in a one-bedroom pool villa at Cross Bali Breakers with 4 nights at Nandini Jungle in the Ayung River valley. It starts at £1,499pp for 9 nights with return economy flights from London, based on two sharing, for November 2026 departures. Couples planning a honeymoon can compare resorts in our Bali honeymoon guide.
2. A Hindu culture you see every day, not in a museum
Bali is a Hindu island inside Muslim-majority Indonesia, and the religion shapes the working day. Each morning families set out canang sari, small palm-leaf trays of flowers, rice and incense, on doorsteps, shrines, shop counters and even car dashboards.
The big temples are active places of worship rather than ruins. Tanah Lot stands on a rock in the sea off the south-west coast and is cut off at high tide. Besakih, the island’s mother temple, climbs the slopes of Mount Agung. At Tirta Empul in Tampaksiring, Balinese queue at stone spouts to purify themselves in spring water, and visitors can take part with a local guide.
Every temple asks visitors to cover their legs with a sarong and wear a sash at the waist. Most lend or rent them at the entrance, but carrying your own saves the queue.
3. Rice terraces with UNESCO World Heritage status
Bali’s terraces are watered by subak, a co-operative irrigation system that shares water between farmers through canals and water temples. UNESCO inscribed it in 2012 as the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province, covering five sites and about 19,500 hectares.
The listing is built on the Tri Hita Karana philosophy, which links harmony between people, nature and the spirit world. That is why a temple sits at the head of many irrigation channels.
Two of the listed sites are easy to visit. Jatiluwih, on the slopes of Mount Batukaru, has wide stepped terraces and marked walking trails through the fields. Pura Taman Ayun at Mengwi is a royal water temple ringed by a moat, with tiered meru shrines behind its walls. Tegallalang near Ubud is the terrace most people photograph, but it is not part of the UNESCO listing.
4. Sunrise from an active volcano
Mount Batur rises to 1,717 metres in north-east Bali, and its summit is a climb most reasonably fit adults can manage. Guided treks leave the trailhead at around 1,300 metres before dawn and take about two hours to climb roughly 400 metres.
At the top you watch the sun come up over Lake Batur, which fills part of the caldera with the cone of Mount Agung to the east. Hot springs on the lake shore are the usual stop on the way back.
The path is loose volcanic gravel, so trainers with grip matter more than fitness. The FCDO advises checking local exclusion zones before visiting any volcanic area, as these change with activity.
5. Wellness done properly in Ubud
Ubud is where Bali’s spa and yoga culture is strongest. A traditional Balinese massage combines long strokes, acupressure and warm aromatic oils. Many spas also offer a boreh scrub, a paste of ground spices such as ginger and clove once used by rice farmers to ease aching muscles.
Yoga shalas around Ubud run drop-in classes from early morning, often in open pavilions facing jungle or rice fields. Most resort spas sit on valley edges, so the view is part of the treatment.
Our Romantic Bali Escape spends 5 of its 12 nights at Suara Alam Ubud in a room facing the paddies. It includes a 60-minute Balinese massage for two.
6. Manta rays and a Second World War wreck
Manta Point, off the south coast of Nusa Penida, is a cleaning station. Reef manta rays gather there so small fish can pick parasites from their skin. Sightings happen all year, and the mantas often cruise at about four metres, so snorkellers see them as well as divers. The boat crossing from Sanur can be rough, and sea conditions decide whether the trip runs.
On the north-east coast at Tulamben lies the USAT Liberty, a US Army cargo ship about 120 metres long. A Japanese submarine torpedoed it on 11 January 1942, and it was beached at Tulamben. The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung then pushed it into the sea.
The wreck now lies about 30 metres off the beach, starting in water a few metres deep. You walk in from the shore rather than taking a boat, so beginners and snorkellers can see the upper hull.
7. Wildlife in the quiet north-west
West Bali National Park covers the island’s far north-western tip and was set up to protect the Bali starling. This white bird with a blue mask around each eye is Bali’s only endemic vertebrate and is critically endangered.
The park also includes Menjangan Island, reached by boat from the mainland. Its reefs have steep walls and clear water, and they see far fewer boats than the south-coast sites. Deer wander down to the island’s shoreline, which is how it got its name.
The north-west has few large hotels and no nightlife to speak of. Days here are for snorkelling, birdwatching on guided walks in the park, and early nights. It suits a stop of two or three nights between an inland base and the coast.
8. Food that is part of the trip, not a resort buffet
Balinese cooking starts with base genep, a spice paste of shallots, garlic, galangal, turmeric, chilli and candlenut. You taste it in babi guling, spit-roast suckling pig served with crackling and lawar, a mix of minced meat, vegetables and grated coconut.
Bebek betutu is duck rubbed with the paste, wrapped in banana leaf and slow-cooked for hours. Sate lilit wraps minced fish around lemongrass stalks before grilling. Nasi campur, rice with small portions of several dishes, is the everyday lunch in any warung.
Cooking classes in Ubud usually begin with a morning walk around the local market and end with lunch. The Bali packages we sell are bed and breakfast, so eating out is part of each day rather than an extra.
9. Kecak at Uluwatu and the Bukit cliffs
Uluwatu Temple sits on the edge of a limestone cliff at the south-western tip of the Bukit peninsula. Each evening, on an amphitheatre next to the temple, a chorus of bare-chested men sits in circles chanting “cak” to tell an episode of the Ramayana.
The Kecak dance is timed for sunset over the Indian Ocean and ends with a fire scene. It is busy, so arrive early for a seat facing the sea.
The Bukit is also Bali’s surf coast. Padang Padang and Bingin are small coves reached by steps down the cliff, with reef breaks offshore. The reef is exposed at low tide, so check the tide times before planning a swim. Cliff-top villas here face west, so the sun sets over the sea in front of them.
10. Quieter islands a boat ride away
Bali works as a hub for smaller islands. The three Gili Islands, off Lombok’s north-west coast, ban cars and motorbikes, so people get around by bicycle, on foot or by horse-drawn cart. Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan, south-east of Sanur, have cliff viewpoints and clear snorkelling water.
Lombok itself has longer, emptier beaches and far fewer villas than south Bali. Our Bali and Lombok Escape spends 2 nights at The Oberoi Beach Resort, Bali and 7 at The Oberoi Beach Resort, Lombok, linked by a return ferry. Snorkelling gear, sea kayaks and paddleboards are included at the Lombok resort.
Why visit Bali in 2026 and 2027? The festival calendar
Bali’s biggest ceremonies are the best reason to pick a travel date. They follow Balinese calendars rather than ours, so the dates move each year.
| Event | Date | What you will see | Travel impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galungan | 13 January 2027 and 11 August 2027 | Penjor, tall curved bamboo poles hung with offerings, line every village street. Families in white and gold visit their temples. | Families spend the day at village and household temples. Visitors watch the processions from the roadside. |
| Kuningan | 23 January 2027 and 21 August 2027 | Yellow rice offerings and temple ceremonies that close the ten-day Galungan period. | Temples are crowded with worshippers from early morning. |
| Nyepi (Day of Silence) | 8 March 2027 (national holiday decree; confirm when booking) | Ogoh-ogoh parades of giant papier-mâché demons on the evening before, then 24 hours of silence and darkness. | Guests stay inside their hotel for the day. Airport details are in our Bali planning guide. |
Galungan and Kuningan follow the pawukon calendar, which runs in 210-day cycles. That is why Galungan can fall twice in one year, as it does in 2027. To see the festival at its best, ask for an Ubud base over those dates, where penjor are at their tallest and village processions pass hotel gates.
Is Bali worth it? The honest downsides
Bali’s weak points are real, but each one can be planned around. These are the ones that matter most for a luxury trip.
| Downside | What it means | How to plan around it |
|---|---|---|
| Crowds | Bali recorded 6,948,754 foreign arrivals in 2025, up 9.72% on 2024. Famous photo spots have queues by mid-morning. | Visit headline sights early and split your stay between Ubud, Sanur, Nusa Dua or the north-west. |
| Traffic in the south | Roads through Canggu, Seminyak and Kuta are narrow and jammed, so short distances can take a long time. | Stay outside the south-west strip and keep day trips to one region per day. |
| Drinks | FCDO advice says methanol cases have involved drinks from licensed bars, shops and hotels, not just street stalls. It also warns of drink spiking in Bali, Lombok and the Gilis. | Order beer or wine you see opened, and never leave a glass unattended. |
| Rubbish on some beaches | In the wet season, currents wash plastic onto some west-facing beaches. | Choose east-coast or Bukit beaches, and hotels that clean their own stretch of sand each morning. |
| Extra entry costs | You pay a visa fee and a separate tourist levy on top of the holiday price. | Amounts and how to pay are in the entry section of the same guide. |
Who Bali doesn’t suit
- Travellers who want one resort with everything included. All-inclusive holidays in Bali are the exception rather than the rule, and the island rewards moving between two or three bases.
- Short breaks of a few days. For winter sun on a long weekend or a single week, Dubai is the easier choice.
- Pure white-sand beach holidays. Many of Bali’s beaches have darker volcanic sand, and several south-coast coves sit behind reef. A sandbank or lagoon trip suits better elsewhere.
