Bali Tours and Itineraries

Bali is six hours from the east coast and the first Asian country most Australians ever saw, and a well-built Bali trip is still better than a self-booked one: the right coast for the swimmers, a driver who knows the island, and the villa confirmed before the July holidays fill. These are the six shapes we build most.

The itineraries

How a Bali itinerary is built

Three things decide a Bali trip. The coast, chosen for who is in the water: the west (Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu) has the beach clubs, the sunsets and the rips; the east and south (Sanur, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran) have the reef-protected swimming; the Bukit has the cliffs and the surf. The base, which for a family or a group is a villa with a pool and a cook rather than two hotel rooms, and for a couple is a boutique hotel in the Ubud hills or a cliff resort on the Bukit. And the driver, who is how Bali is done: a car and a local driver for every day of the trip, chosen by us, who knows which temple is having a ceremony and which warung is worth the detour. Every itinerary above runs Ubud first and the coast second so the trip winds down, includes the airport transfers and the Bali levy, books Waterbom and the Nusa Penida boat in the holidays, and confirms the villa licence and the pool fence before we take a deposit. The things to do in Bali page is the step before choosing, and the Indonesia guide covers Java, Lombok and Komodo for the “beyond” version.

What every itinerary includes

• Return airfare from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, open-jaw where the route allows; premium economy and business on request; other cities via those three
• Every transfer, train, ferry and internal flight in the itinerary, reserved and ticketed
• Accommodation as described, chosen by district and by what the night is for, with the bed configuration confirmed in writing
• Guides on the days where a guide changes the day, and a driver where the country runs on drivers
• The entries and experiences that sell out, booked before departure
• Entry-requirement and medication checks for every traveller, a pre-departure pack six weeks out, and a day-by-day document with maps and timings
• A quote in Australian dollars, Australian consumer-law protection, and a Cooee contact in Brisbane throughout

When to go

The dry season runs from May to September and is the reliable window for beaches, volcano sunrises and the island boats; it is also the Australian winter and September school holidays, when flights and the better villas book out months ahead. April and October are the shoulder months with fewer people and short afternoon storms. November to March is the wet season — heavy afternoon and overnight rain, higher humidity, rougher seas for the Penida and Gili crossings — and Christmas–January is nonetheless a peak because it is the Australian summer holidays. Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence in March or April, closes the island entirely for 24 hours including the airport; Galungan is the festival to time for. The Indonesia guide has the calendar and the best time to visit Asia page places Bali against the rest of the region.

Pricing

We quote each itinerary per departure in Australian dollars, with everything above included, so the figure you see is the figure you pay. We do not publish from-prices for international itineraries because the season and the accommodation tier move the total by thousands, and a from-price built on the cheapest week and the smallest room would be a number nobody actually pays. Each itinerary page explains what moves its price and links to the country’s costs guide, which sets out the underlying numbers line by line.

How to book

Choose an itinerary above, or tell us what you want and we will suggest one. Send your dates, your departure city and the party through the enquiry form or on 0409 661 342. We check the season against the route, confirm the hotels and inns that matter, and send an itinerary and a quote within two working days. A deposit holds it; the balance falls due before departure under our booking conditions; travel insurance is required.