Bali with a 3 year old, 6 year old and a grandparent sounds ambitious and it was!

We wanted a bit of everything — beaches, temples, waterfalls, rice terraces, mountains, Balinese culture and, of course, plenty of time doing absolutely nothing.

🗺️ BALI ITINERARY AT A GLANCE

21 nights | 4 adults + 2 kids + grandparent

📍 Tabanan — 3 nights
Tanah Lot | Amarta Beach Resort | Pantai Pasut

📍 Baturiti — 3 nights
HOMM Saranam | Jatiluwih Rice Terraces | Leke Leke Waterfall | Ulun Danu Beratan | Banyumala Waterfall

📍 Nusa Dua — 5 nights
Novotel Nusa Dua | Mengiat Beach | Nusa Dua Beach | Blowhole | Kecak & Balinese traditional dance

🚗 Getting around: Private vehicle with driver Putu, from the last day in Seminyak through to Nusa Dua.

Our travel style: A mix of sightseeing, adventure and plenty of downtime.

🚗 Getting Around Bali – Our Driver Putu

From the last day in Seminyak until we reached Nusa Dua, we travelled around Bali with a private vehicle and driver, Putu. Having our own driver meant we didn’t have to worry about navigating unfamiliar roads, finding parking or organising transport every time we wanted to make a stop.

Our route took us through:

Seminyak → Bukit Peninsula → Jimbaran → Tabanan → Baturiti → Ubud → Nusa Dua

✈️ Before We Left

Before travelling, we made sure we had our recommended travel vaccinations organised.

We also decided to leave the pram at home and rely entirely on a baby carrier for our 3 year old.

This worked surprisingly well.

With uneven paths, stairs, beaches and waterfall hikes, there were plenty of places where a pram would have been more of a hindrance than a help.

📍 Seminyak – 4 Nights

🏨 Furama Xclusive

We started our Bali adventure in Seminyak.

Our first few days were deliberately easy — exploring Seminyak Beach and the surrounding area, enjoying the food and settling into holiday mode.

One of the highlights of Furama Xclusive was the kids’ club.

On our rest days, we let the kids have a few hours of playtime there while we enjoyed some much needed downtime.

📍 Melasti Beach & GWK Cultural Park

We took a day trip to the Bukit Peninsula, stopping at Melasti Beach and GWK Cultural Park.

Melasti Beach was beautiful with turquoise water, dramatic limestone cliffs and classic Bali scenery. The temple wasn’t open during our visit, but the beach and scenery were still worth seeing.

Next stop was Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park.

The statues here are enormous — and so are the hills! We opted for a ticket with the buggy ride.

The hills can be tough in the heat, particularly with young children and older family members.

There is also an additional ticket to go to the top of the statue.

📍 Uluwatu Temple – Is It Worth the Hype?

Next up was Pura Luhur Uluwatu, one of Bali’s most famous cliff-top temples.

The views are beautiful.

The monkeys? 🐒 An absolute menace. They were aggressive and grabbed phones, glasses, jewellery and hats from visitors. If you visit, secure anything loose and don’t underestimate them.

🎭 Kecak Dance – Plan Ahead

We wanted to see the famous Kecak dance and arrived around 3pm, thinking we’d be early. We weren’t! The ticket counter opened at 4.30pm, and by the time we reached it, tickets for the evening show were completely sold out.

We were told that people start queuing around 1.30pm to secure tickets for the 7pm performance. We weren’t prepared to spend that long waiting.

Part of the temple was also inaccessible during our visit because of a function.

⭐ Our verdict: Not worth the hype for us.

The cliff-top setting is spectacular, but the combination of aggressive monkeys, crowds, restricted access and the difficulty getting Kecak tickets made it a disappointing experience.

After Uluwatu, we also decided to skip the Monkey Forest in Ubud.

📍 Jimbaran – SAKA Museum, Beach & Seafood

We also took a day trip to Jimbaran.

We started at Jimbaran Beach for some downtime and had an amazing seafood meal at Kekeluargaan Pandan Sari Cafe.

Our last stop was the SAKA Museum, a fascinating cultural museum showcasing Balinese heritage, art and traditions.

And a warning for parents: the traditional masks on display look so realistic and may be frightening for very young children. Our 6 year old refused to sleep by himself for the remainder of the trip.

📍 Tanah Lot – Definitely Worth a Visit

From Seminyak, we headed towards the Tabanan region, stopping at Tanah Lot along the way and this one absolutely lived up to the hype.

The temple sitting dramatically on a rocky outcrop surrounded by the ocean is every bit as pretty in person as it is in the photos.

Definitely worth a visit.

📍 Tabanan – 3 Nights

🏨 Amarta Beach Resort

This was easily our favourite accommodation of the trip.

The service, food and overall experience were all top-notch.

We were also attending a friend’s wedding nearby, so the location worked perfectly.

There aren’t many shops or restaurants around the resort, so you’ll be relying on the hotel for most meals.

🌅 Pantai Pasut

The nearby Pantai Pasut was perfect for chasing sunsets.

The black sand and wide open beach gave the kids plenty of room to run around while we watched another Bali sunset.

No crowds. No rushing. Just beach time and kites. On weekends this area gets busy with locals joining in on the fun.

📍 Baturiti – 3 Nights

🏨 HOMM Saranam

From Tabanan, we drove further inland towards Baturiti. The landscape changed completely to lush green hills, rice terraces and mountains replacing the beaches.

As you travel through this region, you’ll see views of: Mount Batukaru · Mount Agung · Mount Abang · Mount Batur

🌾 Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

The Jatiluwih Rice Terraces were spectacular.

The sheer scale of the terraces is incredible, with layers of green stretching across the hills.

This was one of those places where we were happy to slow down and simply take in the scenery. We also had a nice meal at CataVaca Jatiluwih.

💦 Leke Leke Waterfall

Then came Leke Leke Waterfall.

Getting there involves a hike, and I had our 3 year old strapped to me for the entire walk.

📍 Ulun Danu Beratan Temple

We also visited Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, beautifully positioned on Lake Beratan.

The mountain backdrop and cooler highland climate made this feel completely different from Bali’s coastal temples.

💦 Banyumala Waterfall – Our Favourite

Then came the waterfall that stole the show.

Banyumala Waterfall was the best waterfall we saw in Bali.

But getting there isn’t easy.

The hike is challenging for older people and families with little kids. Parts of the path are very slippery and have no railings.

The entrance to the Banyumala waterfall is a fair distance away from the car park. You can pay for a motorbike to take this distance. We definitely appreciated it after the waterfall hike.

📍 The Journey Back to Ubud

On our way back towards Ubud, we stopped at several places.

📍 Pura Tirta Empul

A beautiful temple complex famous for its holy spring water and purification rituals.

☕ Luwak Coffee Plantation

We stopped to learn about local coffee production and sample some of the coffee and teas.

🌋 Mount Batur Viewpoint – Kintamani

We stopped to admire the views of Mount Batur and the surrounding volcanic landscape.

🏘️ Penglipuran Village

Penglipuran is one of Bali’s cleanest traditional villages.

The traditional architecture and beautifully maintained streets made it an interesting place to explore.

📍 Ubud – 4 Nights

🏨 Element by Marriott

Ubud was our next base.

We explored the rice terraces, visited the palace and water palace, wandered through the art market and squeezed in another waterfall.

👑 Ubud Palace, Water Palace & Art Market

We visited Ubud Palace, Ubud Water Palace and Ubud Art Market on the same day, which worked really well because they’re all close to each other.

The palace and water palace offer a glimpse into traditional Balinese architecture and culture, while the art market is perfect for browsing souvenirs, handicrafts and colourful local goods.

Traditional attire is required to enter the palace, but don’t worry about bringing your own — the attire is included with the ticket. The kids dressed in traditional Balinese clothing made for some very cute holiday photos!

💦 Kanto Lampo Waterfall

We also visited Kanto Lampo Waterfall, which has well and truly found its Instagram fame.

There were heaps of people queuing for their turn to get the perfect waterfall photo and getting into the water is part of the experience. We decided to skip the photo queue and instead walked around to the viewpoint, where we could take in the waterfall in all its glory without getting soaked.

📍 Nusa Dua – 5 Nights

🏨 Novotel Nusa Dua

After all the moving around, we finished our Bali adventure with five nights in Nusa Dua and this was exactly what we needed.

By this stage we’d done the temples, waterfalls, mountains, rice terraces and plenty of driving.

Now it was time to slow down.

🏖️ Mengiat Beach

We spent a few relaxed days at Mengiat Beach.

It was an easy place to spend a few hours with the kids without turning every beach day into an excursion.

🌊 Nusa Dua Beach & Blowhole

We also explored Nusa Dua’s main beach and visited the Nusa Dua Blowhole.

The blowhole is a relatively quick stop, but when the waves hit just right, the water shoots spectacularly into the air. We didn’t see much of a blow on the day we visited.

💃 Kecak & Balinese Traditional Dance

After missing the Kecak performance at Uluwatu, we stumbled across a Kecak dance performance at Bali Collection and managed to catch the show. The rhythmic chanting, colourful costumes and energetic performance were a wonderful way to experience Balinese culture.

We also got to see Balinese traditional dance and Barong dances through our hotel, giving us even more opportunities to experience the local culture during our stay.

🥑 A Little Bali Pampering

Of course, we couldn’t leave Bali without trying their famous avocado cream bath and massages!

After all the sightseeing, long drives and waterfall hikes, it was exactly the kind of relaxing experience we needed.

The treatment was incredibly soothing and left us feeling refreshed, a perfect little bit of Bali pampering towards the end of the trip.

🌴 Would We Do Bali Again?

Absolutely.

Our 21 nights gave us the chance to experience so many different sides of Bali: busy Seminyak, quiet Tabanan, the mountains around Baturiti, cultural Ubud and relaxed Nusa Dua.

There were attractions we loved, places we thought were overrated, plenty of moments when we changed our plans, and so many lovely people we met along the way.

Bali gave us beautiful memories, a few funny stories and plenty of reasons to come back and we definitely will.

Suksma, Bali. 🌴❤️

Bali with Kids: Our 21-Night Family Adventure