Solo Trip to Bali
Sometime in 2022 I had a crazy idea. I decided that I wanted to wake up on a different continent on my 44th birthday.
And I wanted to do this solo.
I’m not sure exactly where this idea came from. It may have been from too much scrolling on TikTok. But nonetheless, once the idea was planted, I was determined to make it happen. So on Sunday, September 17, 2023 I boarded a plane from Dulles International Airport in Virginia and flew 19 hours to the island of Indonesia, to spend my birthday week in Bali.
This trip was life-changing! And as promised, I am breaking down all the details of where I stayed, what I did, and how much it costs to travel to Bali solo.
Bali Swing at d’Alas Warung
I began planning the trip around November/December of 2022. This phase of planning was basically all research to figure out what parts of Bali I should visit and places to stay. I’m not ashamed to admit that my first search happened on TikTok, lol! The clock app is truly filled with so many people sharing their traveling journeys and it is much easier to search short form video content on TikTok than it is Instagram. Anyway, after a month of two of viewing videos and searching Pinterest and Google almost every search performed shared that it was highly suggested to hop around Bali and not stay in place for the duration of the trip. The theme of my trip was Culture, Rest, and Fun and I planned my accommodations around this theme and decided on these three locations: Ubud, Pemeturan, and Seminyak.
UBUD (Culture)
Ubud was a no-brainer. Located in the central part of Bali its basically known as the “cultural heart” of Bali and is the location of some of Indonesia’s most widely known Temples and is probably where the most viewed images of Bali are taken. In Ubud, I truly got a taste for the Balinese culture and its very rich history of artisans.
PEMUTERAN (Rest)
Pemuteran is a less-known town located on the northwest coast of Bali and offers incredibly stunning views of the mountains and ocean. It is also a quiet and serene escape from the more lively Ubud. If you are super into yoga, this is is the spot to be as its incredibly peaceful. In Pemuteran, you have access to water activities like snorkeling among the coral reefs and swimming with the turtles. Surfing is also huge here as well as hiking. This spot is definitely the place to go to if you are wanting a slower and more relaxed vacation with access to outdoor activities.
SEMINYAK (Fun)
Seminyak is where the cool kids go! Tons of shopping, nightlife, beach clubs, restaurants, and Balinese culture to take in. I can definitely attest to the nightlife as I experienced it firsthand when I realized there was a club next to my hotel and I heard music until 2am! Seminyak is also right on the beach if you want to be near water.
Once I settled on these three locations, I determined that my total trip length would be 9 days. This allowed me to stay in each location for 2/3 nights each.
Now to the good part, my itinerary and costs!
FLIGHT
I decided to take a pretty straight forward flight and limited my layover time. I flew with Qatar Airlines and purchased an economy ticket three months prior to the trip. Mind you, I had my Google Flight search set up so I could buy at the best time. I ended up paying $2000.09 (the exact breakdown was $1,432.00 for the ticket + taxes & carrier-imposed fees $568.05). I had a short layover in Doha, Qatar and then continued to Denpasar, the capital city of Bali, Indonesia.
Let me tell ya, flying economy for a total of 19 hours was no fun. But after the first leg of the trip I got smart and figured out how to purchase seats where no one was sitting next me so I could stretch out on all three seats. Total costs for adding that bit of comfort was $230.70.
ACCOMODATIONS
I agonized over where to stay and read reviews and watched countless videos to pick where I wanted to stay. I will share that out of the three hotels/resorts I stayed at, I highly recommend two. While the third accommodation was “fine” I wasn’t crazy about the location and the room was outdated. Also, there is another hotel that has the same exact name (I guess its part of a chain) but located in a different town and I thought I had booked with that one.
Tejeprana Bisma
The first hotel I stayed at was the Tejeprana Bisma in Ubud and let me tell you that this resort was absolutely stunning. It was located in a great part of Ubud right near the famous Monkey Forest and close to tons of shopping. The Bisma was the most expensive hotel out of three locations but I was okay with spending some coin as this is where I would spend my actual birthday! I booked a room with a private pool and view of the jungle valley. Breakfast is included with your stay and they also offer a few activities such as cooking classes which I decided to do on my first day there. I also had dinner at the restaurant and to my delight they had entertainment for the resort guests showcasing traditional Balinese dance.
the view from my villa
The total cost for my 3-night stay at Tejeprana Bisma was $1,153.27.
Sumberkima Hill
My next stay was at the MOST BEAUTIFUL location! Set way up in the mountains I stayed at Sumberkima Hill in Pemuretan for the second leg of my trip. This location was perfect for my “rest” portion where I planned to basically be a vegetable and eat, drink, sleep, swim my days away. I stayed in the Asmara Villa 2. While these villas are for the honeymooners, that didn’t stop me from booking this gorgeous room. The Asmara has the most incredible panoramic views of the sea and the island’s volcanoes (which I kept calling mountains). I spent a lot of time on the pool deck reading a book, sipping a glass of wine, and listening to the sounds of the villages below.
I also had the best massage I have ever had in my ENTIRE LIFE at Sumberkima. I booked a two and half hour massage that included a flower bath and let me tell you, I will fly 19 hours back to Bali just for the massage alone!
This resort has two onsite restaurants where I enjoyed truly delicious meals. I can’t speak enough about my time in Pemuretan and how restorative it was to spend quiet time in the mountains alone. I will for sure visit this spot again in the future! One note about staying in Pemuretan is that it is about a 4-hour drive from Ubud.
The total cost for my 3-night stay at Sumberkima Hill was $543.54.
Nyuh Bali Luxury Villas
My final hotel stay was at Nyuh Bali Luxury Villas in Seminyak. While the hotel wasn’t necessarily terrible, it fell way short of the accommodations from earlier in my trip. I wanted this trip to have total bougie vibes and this wasn’t it. The hotel had really good reviews, was very clean, but the room was outdated. I did have a private pool so I spent a lot of time lounging outside and they offered free breakfast which was really good. I can also share that the staff were very friendly and attentive!
The other thing I didn’t like about this hotel was the location. Other than a really nice home decor store, the area didn’t have any restaurants or shops that I could get to by walking. Also, there were no sidewalks. Let me repeat that. No sidewalks! So I was walking in the street where scooters and cars were driving on the opposite side of the road than I was used to.
The total cost for my 3-night stay at Nyuh Bali Luxury Villas was $461.26.
All of the hotels were booked through Expedia.
ACTIVITIES
I of course wanted to see as much of Bali as possible but also not schedule myself so much that I ended up not being able to have time to relax. I decided to pre-arrange activities while I was in Ubud and then decide what else I would do once in Bali especially since the hotels offer different excursions and you are usually able to book them one day in advance.
In Ubud, I took a Balinese cooking class at the resort and made a 3-course meal! I was the only student so I got the full attention from the chef helping me to prepare the meals. The cooking class took about two hours and cost a total of $34.95.
I also booked a 10-hour tour of Bali on my birthday! Y’all, take it from me and don’t do this, lol. I met my dedicated guide at 7:30am when he picked me up at my hotel and he did not drop me off until 5pm. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the tour and canceled my birthday dinner reservations at Donna because I was so tired. I would recommend doing a half-day tour instead. I had an amazing time, but 10-hours is a bit too much.
Here is the list of places we visited:
Traditional Bali house
Visited a Bali Jewelry and Art House (two separate locations)
Bali Swing at d’Alas Warung (included lunch)
Coffee Plantation
Rice fields
I booked the tour through Expedia. Total cost was $130.
While in Pemuteran, I booked a 150-minute massage appointment at Sumberkima’s Spa for $24.12. I still can’t believe I paid $25 dollars for that amazing service. In the states, this would’ve easily cost $350 & up!
so refreshed
I also became low-key obsessed with the beauty and history of the temples, and booked a temple tour while in Pemuteran for a total cost of $28.49. The tour took about an hour! I originally wanted to do a boat trip through the mangrove forest but unfortunately the tide was too low.
While, in Seminyak, I had to get to a beach club! I ended up at one of the most well-known beach clubs on the island, Potato Head Beach Club. This place is huge and has great cocktails. I planned my visit to get there to catch the sunrise while drinking a cocktail at the bar. I ended up staying well past 11pm.
TRANSPORTATION
A question you may be wondering is how did I manage to get around Bali? I used a mix of having transportation arranged for me through the hotels/resorts and using an app called Gojek, which is basically the equivalent of Uber. After using both, I can confidently say that using Gojek is the most cost-effective way to get around Bali. One of the times I used the Gojek app to take me to a restaurant that was 20 minutes away from my hotel cost me less than $3. For all the trips I took in Seminyak, the grand total was $10.17.
I did use the hotel to manage my transportation for when I was transferring locations. It was more expensive to do this but I just felt a bit safer having the hotel responsible for getting me to the next locations, especially since the hotels were very spread out from each other. As I mentioned before, from Ubud to Pemuteran took about 4-hours and was pretty much the same time and distance from Pemuteran to Seminyak.
TRIP COST
We’ve gone over details for the flight, accommodations, activities, and transportation. I’m leaving out the cost of food and beverage since that will vary greatly from person to person. However, there is one restaurant I want to shout out and recommend going to if you ever travel to Seminyak and that is Barbacoa, while it isn’t traditional Balinese fare, I had an amazing meal there and the best Rasberry Mule I’ve ever tasted, and the design of the restaurant was divine.
Okay, enough with the side rant. Let’s tally up the total cost of this trip, shall we? Please note that total trip days = 11
Flight $2000.09
Seat Purchase $230.70
Trans to hotel $38.52
Tejeprana Bisma $1,153.27
Cooking class $34.95
Bali Day Tour $130.00
Trans to Sumberkima $64.20
Sumberkima Hill $543.54
Spa $24.12
Temple Tour $28.49
Trans to Nyuh Bali $51.36
Nyuh Bali Luxury Villas $461.26
Trans to airport $12.80
Total $4,773.30
I paid for this trip in cash (no credit debt) by automating savings to a high-yield savings account for a year as well as using money from additional revenue sources (hello brand partnerships). I do want to note that you can go to Bali for way cheaper! I’m a bougie girl at heart and wanted a 5-star experience so my lodging choices reflected that. I am so blessed to be able to have done this and still can’t believe I traveled halfway across the world for a trip of a lifetime by myself.
I hope you enjoyed learning about my time in Bali! Let me know if you have any additional questions.
