Towards the North of Bali, you’ll find a rather mystical area called Kintamani. It’s quite different from the South… it actually even gets a little cold here!
Kintamani is home to the famous Mount Batur, a volcano that’s still active. Mount Batur trekking to the peak at sunrise has become a hugely popular activity in Bali, and we can assure you, it’s a memorable one too! Including the Mount Batur sunrise trekking tour in your Bali itinerary is an absolute must for three reasons.
First, where else can you hike up an active volcano? That experience alone is already worth the visit.
Second, experiencing one of the most spectacular sunrises from the highest point of the volcano will be an absolutely breathtaking and humbling experience and one that shouldn’t be missed.
And third, to top it all off, you can enjoy a small breakfast that is prepared in the volcano steam while watching the sunrise. Honestly, that was one of our favourite parts of the trip – it was just so unique to be served food that had been cooked in the steam and heat of an active volcano!
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Following an early wake-up call (the meeting time at the bottom of Mount Batur is 4 am), we were greeted by the crisp pre-dawn air.
Fitted out in our walking shoes and given a small torch to guide our way, we were ready to begin our trek to the top of Bali’s second highest mountain; Mount Batur.
The mountain is dark, only lit by the torch lights of the trekkers, it’s hard to guess how many people are around.
We get started on our journey, led by our guide who makes this trip every morning (respect!). We stopped on a close to vertical slant, to catch our breath. We peered out through the darkness at the crescent moon, and a spattering of lights, marking the villages surrounding Lake Batur.
We are told by our guide that we are midway through our trek up the active Mount Batur Volcano. We were feeling exhausted already, but have come this far, and have no intention of stopping or turning back. We are chasing the sunrise.
You don’t need to stay in the area to enjoy the trek, you can take an early morning drive to Mt Batur and back to make it a half day activity during your time in Bali.
We decided to make it a 2 day/1-night trip. We booked a driver to drive us up to Kintamini the day before the trekking and then stayed at a cute little glamping spot, called Alam Caldera – we didn’t regret it at all! It was absolutely cozy, and the staff were extremely friendly.
They even have a fire pit which makes the whole experience 10x more magical and relaxing!
You are completely surrounded by nature and you can choose a tent with either a lake view or view of Mount Batur.
If you want, you can even book a package with included BBQ at night – breakfast will always be included. We decided to eat dinner at one of the nearby cafes called Akasa Kintamani that overlooks the valley and has a view of Mount Batur.
Hopefully you’ll have more luck than us – our view was limited as the clouds and fog covered almost everything. Or why not enjoy the BBQ on offer at the campsite.
There are multiple tours that you can choose from for you Mount Batur Sunrise Hike. We had a closer look at three of them.
Option number 1 includes the Mount Batur sunrise hike with breakfast and a visit to the coffee plantation. You’ll get picked up from your accommodation and will hike up the volcano with your private guide. You’ll arrive just in time to enjoy the sunrise from the top while enjoying your well-deserved breakfast.
Afterwards, you get to stop at a coffee plantation and enjoy the famous Luwak coffee among other coffee and tea flavors. Once you’ve worked your way through all the options, your driver will bring you back to your accommodation.
Option number 2 includes the Mount Batur sunrise hike with breakfast, a visit to a natural hot spring, and a visit to the coffee plantation. This option is very similar to the first option with the added extra of visiting the natural hot spring after your hike to soothe away your aches and pains from your hike!
Option number 3 is a private day tour ride on a Volkswagen Jeep. It’s a stylish and probably the most comfortable way to visit Mount Batur. And because you’re on wheels, you get to reach other destinations faster. The tour also includes visiting rice paddies, temples, villages, and hot spring.
We don’t want to sugar coat it – waking up at 3am to go trekking up a volcano will leave you doubting your decision at first! However, don’t let your sleepy self get the best of you – we promise you; it will be worth it. Once the driver picks you up from your accommodation, he’ll drive you to the bottom of the volcano where you can start to hike Mount Batur.
Insider tip: Apparently, there are 3 different paths. We took the hardest one but didn’t know until later. The easy path is the one that motorcycles take up as well. If you take that path, they will probably ask you if you want a ride up for a fee…tempting when you are panting up the hill.
Hiking Mount Batur volcano takes about 1h30 – 2h depending on your speed. We recommend dressing in layers – a top and a sweater as it can be quite cold in the morning but the hike up will also leave you sweaty. Once you’ve made it to the top, it can get cool again.
While you’re waiting for the last few minutes to see the sunrise, you can enjoy your breakfast made in the volcano steam. Please watch out for the monkeys, they like to steal your food or belongings.
Afterwards, you can actually hike along the volcano crater. It might sound scary but it’s actually not scary at all and really cool because you get to walk through some volcano steam. We loved it because it was actually pretty cold up there and the steam warmed us up for a bit.
We explored the crater and the surrounding areas of the volcano until about 7/7:30am which was more than enough time. Once we hiked back down, you make your way to a coffee plantation.
Insider tip: If you have knee problems we actually recommend taking one of the scooters down with a local. But maybe let your guide know beforehand so it can be arranged.
Once you’ve made it to the coffee plantation, a guide will give you some background information about the different plants they have before you’ll get to try all their teas and coffees.
Get ready to try the famous poop coffee – actually called Luwak coffee. It is made from the poop of civets and even though it might sound a bit disgusting, it’s actually pretty good coffee. The favorite coffee that we got to try was the avocado coffee – there are lots of varieties to taste and try though.
Once you’ve tried everything, you can buy some souvenirs or the coffees and teas you just tried at the small shop.
We planned our stay in a way that we would get a second breakfast once we’ve made it back to our accommodation – trekking volcanoes is tiring work. We relaxed a bit, had our food and then made our way back to the South.
If we had more time we would definitely recommend a stop at the hot springs. You can plunge your aching body into the naturally warm springs, a great way to recover from your climb!
What a getaway!
We hope this gave you some good insights on what a Mount Batur sunrise trekking tour will look like. It’s truly one of the more unique experiences you can have here in Bali and it will leave you speechless and with memories that will last a life time!
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