Bali Day Trip, A Northern Excursion Into The Wild

The northern part of Bali is a lush jungle non-touristy part gorgeous island! The waterfalls in the north are the real deal, including gorgeous hikes into the jungle bring you to huge pools under flowing water. The north holds waterfalls, marigold fields, temples, lakes, and Mt. Agung. All of this makes it a fantastic Bali day trip from Ubud!

Bali Day Trip: Bratan Floating Temple

Bratan is a gorgeous temple in northern Bali about 1.5 hours North of Ubud. During the wet season, the temple floats in the gorgeous lake at the base of Mount Agung. While most Ubud pretty hot, the North was cooler. There is a small fee of 50,000 Indonesian rupees per person, but it includes access to the bathrooms. Inside the grounds, you will find two temples surrounded by gorgeous flower and against the backdrop of the misty mountain. When it is rainy season and the lake is full, you can rent boats to go out near the temple for the most epic pictures. Just remember that the temple will not be floating unless you visit in rainy season.

We visited in October and it was pretty dry, which meant the temple wasn’t “floating.” It was still beautiful, but not quite as epic as the floating pictures, we had always seen. If you want to see it when it is floating you need to come in between October-April (the beginning of October will likely still be dry) and avoid May-September, the dry season.

Bali Day Trip: Handara Gate

The famous Handara gate is one hour North of Ubud. Since it’s on the way further North, this is a great quick stop to break up the journey. It’s actually the gate to a resort with gorgeous grounds in the northern mountainous region. Due to it’s popularity, the resort now charges a small fee for people to stop and take pictures with the gate into the hills. The fee for pictures is 30,000 indonesian rupees per person.

Bali Day Trip: Sekumpul Waterfall

Sekumpul in Balinese means three in one. And these falls are aptly named because there are three different waterfalls within walking distance. The hike down to the falls is brief but straight down a bunch of concrete stairs. The required village guide will lead you down to see them all. Since this is the primary attraction of the village, they assigned you a guide and driver to take you down to the falls. You will be dropped off in the village and then you are in their care. From there, one of the locals will take you down on a motorbike and lead you to the waterfalls and pools. They have different packages, but the basic waterfall package was 250,000 IDR. This place is so gorgeous, and you could spend hours here. The local restaurants overlook the valley of rice fields. The local food is delicious. We particularly like the fried noodles. The northern rice fields are an underrated beauty.

Northern Rice Terraces

On the way up from waterfall, they let you stop for lunch at a little Warot overlooking the terrace. The food was cheap and good. Definitely worth stopping for a bit to relax and enjoy the view.

Bali Swing

All over Bali you can now find Bali swings. Many of them overlook the rice fields, terraces, and jungle, providing an epic backdrop. The official “Bali Swings” is an entertainment park in Ubud city. The entry fee starts at $35. They definitely have some cool swings and nests you can see online, but it’s a tourist park. If you are looking for a less toursity experience, then just take advantage of one of the many swings in the Norht. We stopped by one on the way back from the falls when we were having lunch. Since we ate there, we could use the swing for free.

Bali Day Trip: Heading Home

After the long day, we headed back to Ubud. All in all, we left at about 7 in the morning and were back in Ubud by about 3-4 having seen Bratan temple, the Handara gate, and Sekempul waterfall.