The Bali family holiday in the shape that works: a villa with a fenced pool and a cook rather than two hotel rooms; the reef-protected east coast for the swimming; Waterbom and the Safari Park as the big days; a gentle Ubud stretch for the monkeys, the terraces and the springs; and a driver with child seats for every outing, none of which is more than an hour from the pool.
Bali has been the Australian family holiday for fifty years and the formula has not changed because it works: a villa with a pool and a cook, six hours from the east coast and one time zone away, on an island that adores children and costs less than a week on the Gold Coast. What has changed is the choice, and the choice is where families go wrong — the villa on the wrong coast, the pool without a fence, the drive that turns out to be two hours. This route makes the choices: the reef-protected east coast for the swimming, a villa with a fenced pool and a cook at every base, Waterbom and the Safari Park as the big days with the pool between them, Ubud kept to three gentle nights for the monkeys and the terraces, a driver with child seats, and nothing more than an hour from the pool. The Asia family holidays guide ranks Bali first for families for exactly these reasons, and the things to do in Bali page has the island beyond the route.
Why this route
Because the Bali family holiday has been right for fifty years and the only thing that makes it go wrong is the choices — the coast, the pool, the drive. Six hours, one time zone, a villa with a pool and a cook for the price of two hotel rooms, an island that adores children, and a driver who becomes the family’s uncle by day three. This route makes the choices a family cannot make from Australia: the reef-protected coast for the swimming, the fence on the pool, the big days spaced with the pool between them, Ubud kept gentle and short, and every outing under an hour from the water. It is the itinerary we build most for families in the winter holidays, and the one where the children ask, on the plane home, when the next one is.
At a glance
| Duration | 11 days / 10 nights (7 or 14 both work) |
|---|---|
| Route | Sanur or Nusa Dua (4) → Ubud (3) → the coast: Seminyak or Canggu for older children, Sanur again for small ones (3) |
| Fly | Direct to Denpasar; 6 hours from the east coast; children under 12 at reduced fares |
| Best months | The June–July and September school holidays, which are dry; May and October for value; not Christmas, which is wet and full |
| Pace | Easy: three bases, no drive over an hour, the pool every afternoon, one big day in three |
| Style | Private itinerary; villas with staff at every base; a car and driver with child seats on the touring days |
| Suits | Families with children from toddlers to teenagers; multi-generational groups with grandparents |
| Accommodation | Licensed private-pool villas with a cook at each base, fenced pools where the children are small |
| Price | Quoted per departure in AUD |
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive, and the villa
The direct flight lands at Denpasar; a private car with a name board and child seats requested, the e-VOA and levy done on our instructions, and thirty minutes to a villa at Sanur or Nusa Dua — three bedrooms, a fenced pool, a cook, a garden with a wall. The children are in the pool before the bags are open. Dinner cooked in. Bali is on Brisbane time and nobody is tired tomorrow.
Day 2: The beach, and nothing else
Sanur’s beach at eight, before the heat: reef-protected, shallow for a hundred metres, a beach path with cafes and bicycles, and the boats to Nusa Penida lined up for another day. Lunch at a warung on the front. The pool through the afternoon. An early dinner at a family restaurant on the path. The first full day of a family holiday is for arriving, and this is it.
Day 3: Waterbom
A driver at nine to Waterbom in Kuta, the best water park in Asia by most reckonings: slides for every age from the lazy river to the Climax, a Funtastic zone for the small ones, shaded loungers for the parents, lockers, life vests and a first-aid post. A full day; back by four; the pool anyway; dinner in.
Day 4: The Bali Safari and the Bali Zoo
The Bali Safari and Marine Park at Gianyar, forty minutes north: the safari tram through the African and Balinese enclosures, the elephant talk (no riding), the animal show, and the water play area for the afternoon. Or the Bali Zoo, closer, smaller and with a good night zoo. Lunch at the park. Home by four for the pool.
Day 5: Up to Ubud, gently
A morning in the pool, the driver at eleven, and the hour north to a family villa in the Ubud hills with a pool and a view of the paddies. The afternoon walk behind the villa with the ducks in the stubble; an early dinner; a legong dance at the palace at 7.30 for the older children, which lasts an hour and is the hour that tells them where they are.
Day 6: Ubud: the monkeys, the terraces, the springs
The Monkey Forest at nine (nothing loose in the hands, sunglasses in the bag, the monkeys as advertised and the children delighted); the rice terraces at Tegallalang for the walk down and the swing if it must be; Tirta Empul’s springs to watch the bathing or join it in a sarong; lunch at a warung with a view; and the afternoon at the pool. A cooking class at a family compound in the late afternoon for the children who cook.
Day 7: Ubud: the loose day
The Campuhan Ridge at seven for those who walk; the Bali Bird Park for those who prefer birds to monkeys; the Ubud market for the parents; a spa hour for one parent while the other has the pool; or nothing. A last Ubud dinner.
Day 8: Ubud to the west coast, or back to Sanur
The driver south by lunch: a villa in Seminyak or Canggu for the sunsets, the beach clubs with kids’ areas and the surf lessons, for a family with older children who swim well; or back to Sanur or Nusa Dua for the calm water and the reef, for a family with small ones. The afternoon in the water; the sunset from the sand.
Day 9: The coast: the outing
A surf lesson at Canggu or Kuta for the over-eights (the instructors are good and the morning waves forgiving); Tanah Lot at low tide for the temple on its rock; Uluwatu at sunset with the kecak dance and the monkeys for a family with the stamina; or Jimbaran’s fish on the sand with the boats lit, which every child likes.
Day 10: The coast: the loose day
The pool, the beach, a beach club with a kids’ pool, a last massage for the parents, and the last dinner at the place that has been the good one all week.
Day 11: Depart
A late checkout, the last swim, the last lunch, and the private car to Denpasar for the evening flight, six hours home, landing before midnight with the children asleep and the parents planning the next one. The driver’s number stays in the phone; it is how most of our family bookings begin the second time.
Variations and extensions
A week, one villa: Sanur or Nusa Dua for seven nights with Waterbom, the Safari Park and a day trip to Ubud for the monkeys and the terraces; no packing, one pool, the most-booked family week we sell in Bali. A fortnight: Sanur five, Ubud four, the west coast five, with a Nusa Penida day for the over-eights and a second Waterbom day. Two families: a five- or six-bedroom villa at each base, two cars on the outing days, and the cost per head roughly halved. With grandparents: the multi-generational version with a ground-floor room, a level garden and the driver for everything; see the Asia family holidays guide. Teenagers: the surf lesson at Canggu, a Penida boat day, the Uluwatu kecak, a beach club with a DJ, and the west-coast villa for the whole second half. Toddlers: Sanur for the whole trip, a fenced pool, the beach path and the bicycles with child seats, and Ubud as a day trip rather than a base. Beyond Bali: the Gilis by fast boat for three nights of snorkelling from the sand, for a family with confident swimmers, on the Bali and beyond route. Combined with Thailand: the Thailand and Bali route with this shape as its Bali half, for a family with older children and a fortnight in the shoulder months.
What a day looks like. The children are in the pool at seven and the cook has breakfast on the terrace by eight. The outing leaves at nine and is back by two or three — one big thing, not two — and the afternoon is the pool, the beach or a nap. Dinner is early and mostly in, or at a place on the beach path where the children can run. Bedtime is early and the parents have the terrace and a beer from the villa fridge. Every third day has no outing at all, and those are the days the family remembers.
Eating on this route
The villa cook is the meal plan and the reason a Bali family week is easy: breakfast of fruit, eggs, pancakes and Balinese coffee on the terrace; lunch and dinner cooked in as often as the family wants, Balinese or Western, mild for the children and with sambal on the side for the parents; the shopping done at the market at seven. Out: Sanur’s beach-path cafes for lunch, the warungs a street back for nasi goreng and satay at a third of the price, Jimbaran’s fish on the sand with the boats lit (the children choose the fish from the ice), Ubud’s cafes for the pancakes and the smoothies, the beach clubs of Seminyak and Canggu for the afternoon, and the family cooking class at a compound in Ubud where the children make the satay and eat it. Balinese food is spice paste, coconut, peanut and sambal rather than chilli heat, and the mild default — satay, nasi goreng, mie goreng, gado-gado, grilled fish, fruit — is what children eat everywhere on the island. The cook is briefed on allergies and dislikes before arrival. Bottled water, ice from the villa, and the warning about counterfeit spirits in the practical notes for the parents.
What is included
- Return economy airfare from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth to Denpasar direct; premium economy and business on request
- Private airport transfers with a name board, and a car and English-speaking driver for every touring day
- Accommodation as described with breakfast; villas with a cook and daily housekeeping where named
- The fast boats, entries and experiences named in the itinerary, booked before departure
- e-VOA and Bali levy guidance and entry checks for every traveller
- A day-by-day document with the driver’s plan, timings and warung recommendations
- Australian consumer-law protection and a Cooee contact in Brisbane throughout
- Three licensed villas with a cook, a cleaner and a fenced pool where requested, as described
- A car and driver with child seats on every touring day, on call on the loose days
- Waterbom tickets with locker and life-vest hire
- The Bali Safari and Marine Park or the Bali Zoo, with the safari tram
- The Monkey Forest, Tegallalang and Tirta Empul with the driver, and a family cooking class
- A legong dance at the Ubud palace
- A Jimbaran seafood dinner on the sand
Not included
- Lunches and most dinners (breakfast is cooked in at villas)
- Travel insurance (required)
- The Indonesian e-VOA fee (about AUD 50) and the Bali tourist levy (IDR 150,000), paid on arrival or online
- Personal spending, optional experiences not named, and tips (modest and appreciated: 10 per cent at restaurants without a service charge, a daily amount for the driver at the end)
- The surf lessons, the Bird Park and the beach clubs, booked on request
- Babysitting, which every villa can arrange at a modest hourly rate and which we book if asked
Where you stay
Sanur or Nusa Dua: a three- or four-bedroom villa with a fenced pool and a cook in the lanes behind Sanur’s beach path (walking distance to the reef-protected sand, the cafes and the bicycles), or a family suite or villa at a Nusa Dua resort (the Grand Hyatt, the Westin, the Ayodya, or the St. Regis at the top) with a kids’ club, a lagoon pool and the calm bay. Ubud: a family villa with a pool in the Penestanan or Sayan hills, ten minutes from the town by driver, with a paddy view and a cook; or the family villas at the Alila or Komaneka for a hotel with the villa’s privacy. The west coast: a Seminyak or Canggu villa with a pool near the beach clubs with kids’ areas (Finns, Potato Head, Mrs Sippy) and the surf schools, for a family with confident swimmers; or back to Sanur for the small ones. Every villa is licensed, the pool fence is confirmed or installed (most Balinese villas have none, and we say so), the bed configuration is in writing, and the cook is briefed on the children’s food before arrival.
What it costs
Eleven days for a family of four in three-bedroom villas with a cook, with Waterbom, the Safari Park and the driver, in June or September, is the version most people book; a villa for a family is usually cheaper than two hotel rooms and includes breakfast cooked in; the July holidays add a third on flights and villas, and children under twelve fly at reduced fares. We do not publish a from-price because two factors move it by thousands: the season (the July and September school holidays and Christmas–New Year cost 30–50 per cent more than May, June or October on flights and villas combined) and the accommodation tier (a good three-bedroom villa against a cliff resort or a rice-field hotel at the top). We quote every departure individually in Australian dollars with everything above included. The Indonesia guide and the South-East Asia guide set out the daily numbers. A second family sharing a five-bedroom villa halves the cost per head again, which is why so many Bali family trips are two families.
Practical notes
Entry: Australians use the Indonesian e-Visa on Arrival (online before departure or at the airport, about AUD 50 for 30 days) plus the Bali tourist levy and the All Indonesia arrival card; rules have changed several times since 2022 and we confirm the current requirement on every itinerary. Passports need six months’ validity. Health: dengue is present year-round and repellent morning and dusk is the defence; tap water is not for drinking or tooth-brushing; the rule of bottled water and busy warungs covers most of the rest; hepatitis A and typhoid vaccinations are recommended; BIMC and Siloam hospitals are good and insurance is required. Swimming: the west coast (Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu) has rips and drownings every year; the east and south (Sanur, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran) are reef-protected and calm; we place the accommodation for who is in the water. Money: rupiah; divide by 10,000 for a rough AUD; cards at hotels and larger restaurants, cash at warungs, temples, markets and for the driver; ATMs everywhere on the main island. Temples: sarong and sash, lent at the gate; shoulders covered; menstruating women are asked not to enter. Motorbikes: the leading cause of Australian injuries in Bali and not hired on our itineraries. Spirits: methanol poisoning from counterfeit arak is real; drink beer, wine or spirits from a reputable bar and never a cheap cocktail from a beach shack. Nyepi: the day of silence in March or April closes the island, including the airport, for 24 hours; the itinerary checks the date. Apps: Gojek and Grab for rides, Google Maps, WhatsApp for the driver. Swimming: Sanur, Nusa Dua and Jimbaran are reef-protected and calm and are where the children swim; the west coast (Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu) has rips and drownings every year and is for the surf lesson with an instructor and for sitting on the sand at sunset. We say which beach is which and the villa is placed accordingly. Pool fences: most Balinese villas have none; the villas we book for families with small children have one, fitted for the stay, and we confirm it in writing. Health: dengue is present year-round and the children are sprayed morning and dusk; tap water is not for drinking or tooth-brushing; the cook uses bottled; the rule of hot food from busy places covers the rest; BIMC and Siloam hospitals have paediatric departments and are twenty minutes from Sanur. Rabies is present and the rule is no patting dogs, cats or monkeys, which at the Monkey Forest means hands in pockets. Heat: the outing is in the morning, the pool is in the afternoon, and the villa has shade. Car seats: not standard in Bali; we specify them for the driver and recommend bringing a booster. Nappies and formula: available at the Sanur and Seminyak supermarkets; bring the first two days’ worth. Babysitting: every villa can arrange it and the cook often is it; parents get a Jimbaran dinner alone on day nine if they want one. Grandparents: a ground-floor bedroom, a villa with a level garden, the driver for every outing, and the Ubud stretch kept to the ridge and the terraces from the top. Teenagers: the surf lesson, a Penida boat day, Uluwatu’s kecak, the beach clubs’ kids’ areas, and a villa with Wi-Fi.
How to book
Send us your preferred dates, your departure city and the names and ages of the party through the enquiry form or on 0409 661 342. We check the season against the route, confirm availability at the hotels and inns that matter, and send an itinerary and a quote in Australian dollars within two working days. A deposit holds the booking; the balance is due before departure under our booking conditions. Travel insurance is required and we can recommend a policy.
Frequently asked questions
How many days is the Bali for Families itinerary?
Eleven days and ten nights; a week or a fortnight both work. It can be shortened or extended; the day-by-day above is the shape we start from.
When is the best time for the Bali for Families itinerary?
The June–July and September school holidays, which fall in Bali’s dry season and are the natural fit; May and October for the same weather at lower cost and with fewer people; not the Christmas holidays, which are the wet season and nonetheless a peak. Book the July and September villas six months out.
Is this a group tour or a private itinerary?
A private itinerary built for your party and your dates, not a fixed-departure group. A car and driver is with you on the touring days; the rest is independent with everything pre-booked.
Are flights included?
Yes: return economy from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth to Denpasar direct, plus any fast boats or internal flights named. Premium economy and business on request.
Do Australians need a visa for Bali?
An e-Visa on Arrival (about AUD 50 for 30 days, extendable once), plus the Bali tourist levy of IDR 150,000 and the All Indonesia arrival card online. We send the links and confirm the current rules before departure.
Who is this itinerary for?
Families with children of any age, from toddlers (the fenced pool, the calm water, the cook) to teenagers (the surf lesson, the beach clubs, the Penida boat); multi-generational groups with grandparents in a five-bedroom villa; and two families sharing, which is how many Bali family trips are done.
Is Bali safe for swimming?
It depends on the coast. The west-coast surf beaches have strong rips; the reef-protected east and south (Sanur, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran) are calm. We place the accommodation for who is in the water and say which beach is which.
How much does it cost?
Quoted per departure in Australian dollars with flights, transfers, a driver, accommodation and named experiences included. Season and accommodation tier move the total; the Indonesia guide shows the underlying numbers.
Related
Tours convert; things to do informs. If you are still choosing, the things-to-do page is the step before this one.