Getting around the East Coast
Australia
Asia & Pacific
Beaches, temples, jungle, volcanoes
Bali is the backpacker all-rounder: sunrise volcano hikes, waterfall-hopping in the jungle interior, surf from beginner-friendly Kuta to barrelling Uluwatu, and rice-terrace views that made green famous. Temples and ceremony run through all of it, this is a living culture, not a backdrop.
Budget stretches absurdly far here, which is exactly why every East Coast veteran ends up on a flight to Denpasar. Canggu for the scene, Ubud for the soul, the Gilis for the snorkelling. Repeat as needed.
2 ways to do Bali, compare length, route and price, then pick your trip.
Bali
9 days · 8 nights · Canggu → Gili Trawangan
4.9 (575 · Trustpilot)
Canggu surf and beach clubs, wild dolphins at sunrise in Lovina, waterfall swims, then boat to Gili T for turtle snorkelling and an island party, Bali's best week and a bit, fully organised.
Bali
12 days · 11 nights · Canggu → Ubud
4.9 (575 · Trustpilot)
Canggu surf and beach clubs, sunrise dolphins in Lovina, turtle snorkelling off Gili T, then up to Ubud for the Monkey Forest, local markets and a sunrise volcano summit. The full island, zero logistics.
Bali is where Aussie backpackers learn to surf, and Canggu's Batu Bolong is the classroom, a soft, forgiving longboard wave where you'll stand up on day one and get politely run over by day three. Board hire is cheap, the water's warm year-round, and the beach faces dead west so every session ends in a sunset. When you've found your feet, head south to the Bukit Peninsula: Uluwatu's famous left peels below a clifftop temple, and watching it from the warungs above the cave is a rite of passage even if you never paddle out. Our Bali 7-Day Yoga & Surf trip is built around exactly this.
You'll hate the alarm. You'll love everything after it. Mt Batur is an active volcano, 1,717 metres of dark trail climbed by headtorch, and the two-hour hike puts you on the crater rim just as the sky cracks open over Lake Batur. On a clear morning you'll see Mt Agung, Lombok's Mt Rinjani floating on the horizon, and a sea of cloud below your feet. Guides boil eggs in volcanic steam at the top, which is exactly as ridiculous and great as it sounds. Bring a jumper, it's genuinely cold up there before dawn.
Inland Bali runs at half speed and it's the best half. Ubud is temples, jungle gorges and the Tegallalang rice terraces, layered green steps carved into the hillside that look engineered by someone showing off. Walk the Campuhan Ridge at golden hour, dodge the light-fingered residents of the Sacred Monkey Forest, then spend the afternoon under a waterfall, Tegenungan and Tukad Cepung are both an easy scooter ride out. This is where you go when Canggu's pace catches up with you, and it's the closing act of our 12-day Canggu to Ubud adventure.
You will not be lonely in Bali. Canggu is the backpacker capital, hostel rooftops, beach bars strung along the sand at Batu Bolong, and a sunset crowd that turns into a night out without anyone deciding it should. Ubud does quieter nights and better conversations. Then there's Gili Trawangan, a two-hour fast boat east: no cars, no scooters, just bicycles, snorkel-with-turtles mornings and a beachfront strip that's been the region's party island for decades. Our 9-day Canggu to Gili T route stitches the whole social circuit together with a ready-made crew.
April to October is the dry season, sunny days, lower humidity and the most reliable surf. It's also peak season, so July, August and school holidays get busy. The wet season (November to March) means afternoon downpours rather than washed-out weeks, plus cheaper rooms and thinner crowds. If you're flexible, May, June and September hit the sweet spot.
A week covers the essentials: a few days surfing in Canggu, the Mt Batur sunrise hike and a couple of nights in Ubud. Ten to twelve days lets you add Uluwatu and the Gili Islands without rushing. Plenty of backpackers plan two weeks and stay two months, Bali is cheap enough that stretching your trip rarely hurts the budget much.
It's one of the cheapest places an Australian passport can take you. Dorm beds, warung meals like nasi goreng for a couple of dollars, and scooter hire by the day all cost a fraction of home. The traps are Canggu's western brunch spots and beach clubs, eat local, split Grab rides, and your daily budget can sit well under what a night out costs in Sydney.
Learn to surf at Batu Bolong in Canggu. The wave is slow, soft and built for beginners, lessons and board hire are everywhere, and the water is warm all year. Pair it with the Mt Batur sunrise hike, the classic one-two that features in nearly every Bali backpacker's camera roll. Both are on our 7-Day Yoga & Surf itinerary.
Fly into Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), just south of Denpasar near Kuta. Direct flights run from most Australian capitals, roughly six hours from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane and much shorter from Perth or Darwin, which is why Bali is basically Australia's backyard. From the airport it's about 45 minutes to an hour by taxi or Grab to Canggu, traffic depending.
It's arguably the easiest solo destination on Earth. The backpacker trail is well-worn, hostels in Canggu and Ubud are social by design, and English is widely spoken in the tourist areas. Join a group trip like our 9-day Canggu to Gili T route and you land with an instant crew, the freedom of solo, none of the eating-dinner-alone part.
Snorkel with wild sea turtles off the Gili Islands year-round, and day-trip to Nusa Penida where manta rays cruise the cleaning stations in most conditions. On land, the macaques of Ubud's Sacred Monkey Forest will happily steal your sunglasses. Time your trip around Nyepi in March and you'll witness Bali's Day of Silence, the whole island, airport included, shuts down for 24 hours.
From Canggu or Ubud: the Mt Batur sunrise hike, the Tegallalang rice terraces and the waterfalls around Ubud are all doable in a day. Nusa Penida's cliffs, including the famous Kelingking lookout, are a fast-boat day trip, though it deserves a night. The Gili Islands, about two hours by fast boat, are better as a two-to-three-night side trip.
Two weeks instead of one? Add a side-trip? We'll build it for free.
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