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Getting organised before you holiday can make your time in Bali much smoother, more enjoyable and can save you a lot of money! We’ve put together a pre-holiday checklist below to help you get the most out of your time in Bali.
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First thing on our Bali travel tips list is to make sure you check the current updates for travel requirements. Post pandemic travel means things are changing rapidly. Before you travel or begin your planning, get familiar with any entry and visa requirements (and check again before you travel in case they change again).
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Check your passport’s expiry date! Before you choose your travel dates and start to book things, check the expiry date of your passport. Your passport must have at least six months validity left from your date of departure. This is not flexible at all, even by a day. If you are not going to have enough time left on your passport, you will need to arrange to get a new passport before you travel.
3
Find your flights. There is only one airport in Bali and the airport codes is DPS. When you know which airlines fly from your departure point, it’s a good idea to sign up to their newsletters so that you get alerted of any potential salles they have.
TOP TIP: try using a VPN when searching for flights. Change the location of the VPN to the destination of where you are traveling. Sometimes flights are priced differently depending on where you are searching from.
4
Take out travel insurance for your holiday. By taking out travel insurance early, any flights or accommodation you have paid for will be covered should anything happen, and you can no longer travel. There are several reasons why travel insurance is important, especially when travelling to Bali.
TOP TIP: If you plan on riding a motorcycle in Bali you first need to have a motorcycle license from your home country AND you’ll also need an International Driver’s/Rider’s licence. Not having either of these will result in your travel insurance being voided if you try to make a claim because of a motorcycle accident.
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Choose which areas of Bali you want to visit or base yourself in. Bali is often a lot bigger than a lot of people imagine it to be. Although in kilometres things can often be close, in traffic it can take a lot longer than expected. Knowing which areas and things you want to see and do before you arrive can help you to plan your itinerary to be able to make the most out of your time, without wasting time in traffic.
TOP TIP: Our Bali Itinerary Planner covers all the areas of Bali and what there is to see and do in each area. Use this to help you narrow down what you are going to see during your stay, and to plan an itinerary that makes your travel time efficient.
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Start to look for accommodation. A good starting point is our Bali’s Best Hotel Deals page, where we have listed some of Bali’s best accommodation offers available.
Another option is to visit booking.com. Search your area and dates of travel and use the filter to find your preferred type of accommodation (star rating, budget etc).
Another great source for accommodation bookings is Luxury Escapes. Here you find limited time offers that often include a lot of freebies and other stuff that’s not available on other websites.
TOP TIP: It can be overwhelming with the number of properties available to stay in Bali. In our Area Guides we help to narrow down our favourites for you, for all budgets.
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Decide how you will access money during your time in Bali. Options include bringing cash and exchanging it as you go (you’ll always get a better rate once you are in Bali, if you are going to exchange money before your trip, just get a little!). The other option is use either your home bank card, a travel card, or a WISE card for both withdrawing cash from ATMs and paying for goods by cards. You will always need some cash in Bali as there are still many places you can’t use card. If you are using your home bank card, be sure to check on how much they charge for an ATM withdrawal AND for currency conversion fees, these can really add up! The most you can withdraw from a Bali ATM at one time is 3,000,000 Rp per transaction.
TOP TIP: A Wise card gets you the best exchange rate and they have very low fees.
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Decide how you are going to get around when you are in Bali. Your choices are to hire a driver, drive or ride yourself, or make your trip easier by using online transport such as Grab (we recommend downloading the app, creating your account and even linking your card before you arrive). You may also end up doing a mixture of these things. If riding or driving yourself, you will need an international licence.
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Familiarise yourself with common scams or things that you’ll want to avoid that can cost you unnecessary money. Tourist traps and scams are not unique to only Bali, they happen everywhere there are tourists. By learning about some of the commons scams before you travel can help you to avoid a bad experience.
TOP TIP: When drivers or market workers ask if it is your first time in Bali, don’t tell them if it is. Say you’ve visited before. That way they will assume you know the average prices of things already and bargaining will be easier.
10
Learn a little bit of the language. Being able to say good morning, thank you, excuse me in that local language not only helps with your communication, but the locals just love it!
TOP TIP: The word “sudah” (pronounced soo-da) means “already”. It is the handiest word to know! When you are getting offered transport, more shopping, massages that you don’t require, use “sudah” to tell the locals you’ve already had it/bought it/arranged it.
Itinerary Planner
Podcast
Travel Deals
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