The Ultimate Ubud Day Trip: Culture, Monkeys, and a Fun Swing

Found yourself in Bali and not sure what to do apart from relaxing at your hotel? How about a day trip to Ubud to see monkeys, temples, and a swing over the rice terrace?

The itinerary for this tour

As we had no car, we ended up taking a tour that I booked via Tripadvisor.

Our itinerary for this Bali day trip to Ubud is pretty simple.

Head out of Sanur Beach going to the north.
Stop by Satria Agrowisata for a tea presentation (optional) while we wait for the Sacred Monkey Forest to open.
Visit the Sacred Monkey Forest.
Check out the Abian Desa Rice Terrace and learn about the importance of rice to the Balinese people.
Go on a swing and eat at the d’Alas restaurant.
Visit a sacred temple at Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu.
On the way home, visit the Tegenungan Waterfall.

The round trip drive time is about 3.5 hours in total, not including any time spent at each activity. You can expect this to ultimately be a full day activity when you include stops. In our case, we left our hotel at 8AM and didn’t get back to the hotel until about 6PM. Our tour included all entrance fees and the cost of the swing. On top of that, we paid a slight surcharge to have lunch included too.

This itinerary is good for anyone who wants to check out what the Ubud area has to offer and wants to do it all within a day. You certainly could just book a hotel in Ubud and walk to the Monkey Forest if you prefer. That would also give you a chance to check out a different area of Bali rather than just staying by the resorts. But given we were only in town for 3 nights, we didn’t want to bounce around to other hotels.

A brief reminder to use a shopping portal

Yes, you can just directly book the tour from Tripadvisor but doing so would rob you of the opportunity for more rewards. Viator is on many shopping portals, so book via one of those. In our case, I waited until Tripadvisor was having a 35X deal on the Capital One Offers portal. Rewards are offered based on the price paid in USD, so the $208 USD price tag for our family of 4 earned over 7,200 Capital One miles. Not a bad haul for taking a tour that I would have taken anyways.

Click here for a reminder on what you can do with Capital One miles.

On top of that, you should check if your credit card offers a rebate for making a purchase via Tripadvisor. Every little discount adds up.

What to bring on this tour

Beyond just bringing yourself along for this tour, there are a few things we’d advise you bring with you:

A towel for each person
Sunscreen
Bug/Mosquito spray
Water shoes (for the waterfall)
Bottled water
A respectful outfit

A little more on that last item: don’t walk around in a swimsuit all day because many places will not let you in. You can have a cover up over your swimsuit and it will be fine. Bali is hot year-round, so don’t take this to mean you need to wear pants everywhere. You can still wear shorts, but at the temple, expect to wear a sarong. There are plenty of sarongs at the entrance, so don’t overthink it.

Tea presentation at Satria Agrowisata

Official website: (None!)
Address: Lodtunduh, Ubud, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Price: Free, at least if here on a tour

Let’s just start out this by saying that we’ve been taken to places that are clear ‘scams’ before in other countries. But this one wasn’t quite as troublesome as other places we’ve been to before. In particular,

We had the option of coming here as it’s on the way and there wasn’t as much traffic as anticipated. We otherwise would have been early to the Sacred Monkey Forest and would need to sit around, waiting.
There was no expectation of money from us or a hard sell on buying something.
You could buy tea and coffee afterwards at a markup, but you get drinks for free, so it wasn’t an unfair trade.
We could leave whenever we wanted to.

So, is it a ‘scam’? I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder, but we were fine spending a little extra time here that otherwise would have gone to waste.

One of the local women showed us around the grounds, including all the fruits and trees that grow here.

They also have a monkey on display in a cage. Is it inhumane? I didn’t get enough of a view to tell one way or another. There are a lot of monkeys in the area and they just gave it a home for a week. The cage certainly seemed to be on the small side. It’s here mostly to point out that some coffee tastes better after the monkey eats it and extrudes it from its body.

After this, we saw a demonstration of the traditional roasting process, though I doubt they use something this small for the quantities produced.

And we got to do a little grinding of the coffee too.

At least the artwork on the wall suggests someone here has a sense of humor.

Afterwards, you get the chance to sample 13 different teas and coffees, each with their own herbal benefits. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but the teas ranged from those that tasted creamy to strictly herbal to deep roasted flavors. As I mention above, we could leave whenever we wanted, which was nice. We thanked them for their time and moved on. You could stop in the gift shop if you want, or you can keep walking out. If you do decide to buy tea, pay with cash to avoid a 6% credit card surcharge.

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary

Official website: https://monkeyforestubud.com/
Address: Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Hours: 9AM – 6PM daily
Price: 130,000 IDR (~$7 USD) per adult, 100,000 IDR (~$6 USD) per child (in 2026)

Monkey Forest Ubud (otherwise known as the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary) is a popular tourist destination in Ubud. It’s so popular that it’s almost a shame if you don’t come check this out, especially if you’re staying in Ubud. Prices are cheaper if you’re a local, but the pricing is still cheap enough that it doesn’t matter too much.

You can buy tickets in advance, but there was no line when we arrived in case you needed to buy any in person. We showed up shortly after opening time at 9AM.

Before you enter, there are a few guidelines to adhere to (and a bit further down we’ll even show you what happens if you don’t):

Maintain a safe distance
Don’t feed or interact with the monkeys unless trained staff is with you
Avoid direct eye contact and avoid showing your teeth to the monkeys (a sign of aggression)
Don’t bring food or drinks, and all bottled beverages need to be hidden outside the view of the monkeys
Stay calm
Mind your belongings, as they easily get interested in what you might have
Dress respectfully–shorts are OK but don’t wear swimsuits or go shirtless
Respect sacred spaces (there is a temple on property)
Do not bring plastic into the forest
Mind the surroundings

That might sound like a lot, but it’s not too bad. The kids were a little scared about breaking one of the many rules, but if you respect the monkeys, they’ll respect you.

Map of Monkey Forest Ubud

The Monkey Forest is a rather large property and sprawls the city and into the wooded forest. If you want to generalize the area, monkeys that are in the city area are typically calmer and used to seeing humans walking around. However, if you go to the forest conservation area on the lefthand side of the map, you might encounter monkeys that aren’t as used to interacting with humans.

If you’re here with younger kids, that means you probably don’t want to venture into the true forest area.

Exploring Monkey Forest

We spent about an hour total here at the Monkey Forest as we casually walked around checking out its inhabitants. Just head down from here and through a small cave to arrive at where all the action is at. There are about 1,000 monkeys calling this forest home, so you’ll see monkeys of all sizes, from babies to the elderly. In case you’re a little concerned about safety with so many monkeys, there have been no reports up to now about rabies transmission from monkeys in Bali up through now.

Exactly how close can you get to the monkeys? Very close, actually. Just look at how close our kids were to a feeding area. The monkeys have free rein to go anywhere they want. As long as you mind your distance and don’t reach for food, you’re not going to be viewed as a threat.

Standing next to the monkeys as they eat

Monkeys and humans share the same space, as you’ll see from the short video below. Watching the babies can be cute–but don’t approach them or the mom will think you’re trying to attack the children. Even if you see other humans getting too close, you don’t want to be anywhere near it or you might be attacked too.

As the rules state, don’t carry things that curious monkeys think might be a toy or food. Here, someone else lost their umbrella as they were walking around. (The person who lost it eventually got it back when an employee intervened.) Not pictured is someone else who got attacked by a monkey who was interested in a water bottle held in a pocket outside their backpack.

The physical grounds of the Monkey Forest are beautiful and makes you feel like you’re far from civilization when in fact you’re in it. The scenery almost makes you feel like you’re in the trees along with your new monkey friends.

There are plenty of banyan trees here too, which you can tell by the many roots. Both Bali and Hawaii have banyan trees, but technically they’re native to India.

Can you walk up and take a picture with a monkey? Sure! Just be careful when you’re doing it. We had our tour guide with us, making it easier to capture the right moment. This little one decided to pose for the camera and we snuck up behind it to snap a photo.

Abian Desa Rice Terrace

Official website: (None!)
Address: Jalan Raya Banjar Jl. Pakudui, Kedisan, Kec. Tegallalang, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80561, Indonesia
Hours: 8AM – 5:30PM daily
Price: Entrance fee is 50,000 IDR (~$3 USD) per adult, 30,000 IDR (~$2 USD) per child aged 6-10 (in 2026)

Rice is important to the people of Bali. It’s the largest crop and rice is included in almost every meal. When you’re driving here, you’re going to pass by many houses that have their own rice fields. It takes about 3-4 months for the rice to grow if growing the white rice variety. You’ll likely even see rice in various stages of growth on your way over.

Once you’re here, you can see just how vast the valley is with lots of farmers growing fields of rice. I have to admit that I didn’t realize the terrain would be so hilly. I was expecting flat corn fields, but I’m glad I was wrong.

When you’re here, you can take some photographs with the many hanging Instagram-ready decorations. You can see the kids are happy to be here.

Posing for a picture at the rice terrace

We only stopped by here to get a sense of the area and only ended up here for 15 minutes. It’s a nice visit and it would have been nice to spend a little more time here but we had to get along to lunch since the kids were hungry.

If we wanted, we could additionally pay to ride the many activities here. Options include the swings, which were popular. There looked to be swings for one or two persons (minimum age is 7 for the single swing and 9 for the double).

Or, you could do the zipline, like this person is doing in the image below (minimum age is 7).

And if you truly want to feel the heights, they have a sky bike activity that you can do (minimum age is 9).

Of the activities here, this seemed the least popular. But given how slow you’d be moving across the ravine, hopefully you’re not scared of heights!

Lastly, as is becoming the case with many spots in Bali, some of the natural beauty is making way for day clubs. I suppose it’s up to you on whether this adds value or detracts from it. Personally, I think it looks like an eyesore surrounded by the natural beauty of the rice terrace. There’s more money to be had in day clubs than in growing rice.

Swing & Lunch at d’Alas Warung

Official website: https://d-alas.com/
Address: Jl. Raya Pujung Kaja, Sebatu, Kec. Tegallalang, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80561, Indonesia

When we booked our tour, we had the choice of including food or paying a la carte. I chose the option that included food just to make things easy. But before we get to the food, we started off with a swing, conveniently over a different rice terrace.

The swing

Just look at the scenery in the background. Sure, the Abian Desa Rice Terrace is pretty, but the view is a bit more expansive here. Unlike the other rice terrace, though, the swings here are all for single riders. The kids thought they were going to do it after seeing how it worked at Abian Desa, but got cold feet when here.

Some swings charge you extra money for putting on a dress while swinging but here there was no extra charge. That said, it could just be because it’s included in the price of our tour.

This is one of those things you just have to try when you’re in Bali. There’s a little bit of suspense when you’re loaded on the swing, but once you’ve launched, it feels just like being a kid again.

You’ll head out facing forward, then stop and switch positions. And you are harnessed into the swing, so it’s not like you’ll go flying off of it.

The folks running the swing took my phone from me and took the above photos and some slo-mo videos like the one below.

While the kids didn’t want to do it, I said why not and did it myself. I’m not as graceful as Jenn, so I’ll just give you one shot of me on the swing. It’s fun, but now that we did it once, I don’t think we need to go out of our way to do it again.

Lunch

After the swing, we proceeded around the corner to eat lunch. It’s nice that lunchtime comes after the swing because I think they would have a mess on their hands if they did it in the reverse order.

Since we had already purchased our meal as part of the tour, we just received the pre-fixe menu below. There is a choice of one of 8 entrees, and each entree comes with a welcome drink, an appetizer, and dessert. The entree selections are:

Nasi Campur
Nasi Goreng
Bebek Goreng or Bebek Panggang
Mujair Goreng or Mujair Bakar
Gado – Gado (VG)
Nasi Bakar Vegetarian (VG)
Nasi Campur Vegetarian (VG)
Vegetable Curry (VG)

They also have kids menus for the pre-fixe selection with a choice of 3 options (also with a juice and dessert):

Chicken spaghetti
Chicken burger
Abracadabra Scramble

We all received a welcome drink of lemongrass, ginger, lime, and simple syrup. The kids tried it but stuck to their juice. They gave us adults some water. We could order extra off the regular menu, but didn’t feel the need to.

Our server also gave us some fresh root chips. I didn’t catch which root vegetables these were from, but they tasted good!

The adults received an appetizer called Lumpia Sayur shortly afterwards. This is similar to a Vietnamese egg roll, but less meaty and full of vegetables. It’s crispy on the outside and the sauce it sits in adds in some much-needed flavor. Overall, it’s refreshing and works as an appetizer.

Let’s start with the kids meals. Both kids ordered the Abracadabra Scramble, mostly because they didn’t want chicken in the form of a burger or atop spaghetti. This dish comes with a scrambled egg, some chicken sausage, chicken nuggets, and a few potato wedges. It’s a lot of food for a child and everything tasted as it’s supposed to. Not a bad kids meal.

Jenn ordered the Nasi Campur, which comes with a cone of rice hidden in the center and lots of different sides all around. You have vegetables, chicken, tempe, egg, fish, and nuts. The chicken satay is almost itself discreetly hidden around the hidden rice in the center of the dish. And the presentation is cute with coconut leaves reminding you of where you’re at–on a tropical island. If you’re a fan of variety, this one is pretty good.

I went with the Bebek Goreng, which is a fried duck, with some chicken satay, veggies, and rice. Don’t think of this as a KFC-level of fried poultry. Instead, it’s crispy on the outside and light on the breading. The juiciness of the bird really comes through well. The rice, sambal, and sides pair nicely together making an overall tasty meal.

With all the food on the table, we had a moment to pose for the camera. You know, call me skeptical that food on a tour would end up delicious, as I know we all would have had the same “is this a trap?” feeling. But color me pleasantly surprised. If we were in the area, we would still be open to coming here without the tour. And perhaps that’s the best praise I can give this restaurant.

For dessert, us adults received some fresh fruits that were in season.

And the kids received a scoop of ice cream. They had the choice between vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

One last note before we move on. There is a small pool here. While you’re waiting to eat–or even after you’re done–you can go take a dip in the pool. Bring your swimsuits and hopefully a towel. We didn’t have a towel (whoops) but the kids dried off quickly when out of the water.

Kids swimming while waiting for the adults to finish up

Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu

Official website: https://gunungkawisebatu.com/
Address: Jl. Kusuma Yudha, Sebatu, Tegallalang, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80561, Indonesia
Hours: 8AM – 6PM daily
Price: 50,000 IDR (~$3 USD) per adult, 25,000 IDR (~$1) per child aged 5-11 (in 2026)

There are Balinese Hindu temples scattered all over the island. What sets this one apart from others is that it’s the less-traveled option. When our tour guide asked us about going to a temple, he phrased it as “do you want to go to the crowded one or the one with no crowds?” Naturally, we went with the one without the crowds, which added to the serenity of the moment.

The entrance fee covers the sarong rental. As with all Balinese Hindu temples, you’ll need to be appropriately dressed. In our case, it means no shorts are allowed inside. Rather than bringing a change of clothes with us, these sarongs work well.

Before entering, our tour guide awkwardly asked if there were any problems based on the rules posted below. Yes, as with many Asian temples, women are not allowed on site if they are menstruating. I’ll just say that no one checks if you are, but it’s up to you if you wish to anger the gods.

Once inside, you’ll find that the temple truly is peaceful, even in the middle of the day. There are hardly any people walking around, and that allows you to just soak in more of the natural beauty.

If you’d wish to get in the water, you can. This is where you can get cleansed by the holy waters of the temple, one spout after another. We saw others do it but we didn’t feel up to it ourselves. I guess this might be where someone could know if you’re on your period?

After that, we posed for the camera by the temple. I swear this one has no camera filter on it, but it certainly looks like it does from the blue of the sky.

Again, you can really get a sense of the calmness of the temple when very few others are around. I’m not exactly sure which other temple we would have gone to if we went to the crowded one, but I feel like we made the right choice for us.

At the end of our visit, the kids spent some time feeding the koi in the water. If we didn’t ask the kids to hurry up, they probably would have been here for an hour just watching the fish. I don’t mind them soaking in the atmosphere, but I’d also like to return home at some point. #dadproblems

Our tour guide happily paid the fish food on their behalf. If you’re here on your own and want to purchase some food, I believe it’s only 5,000 IDR (~$0.28 USD). That’s cheap. Just leave your money in the basket.

Tegenungan Waterfall

Official website: (None!)
Address: Kemenuh, Sukawati, Gianyar Regency, Bali, Indonesia
Hours: 6:30AM – 6:30PM daily
Price: 30,000 IDR (~$2 USD) per adult, 15,000 (~$1 USD) per child aged 5-9 (in 2026)

Our last stop along the path is the Tegenungan Waterfall, perhaps the most famous waterfall in all of Bali. Depending on traffic patterns, expect it to take about 25 minutes to get here from Ubud or about 30 minutes from Sanur Beach. There is ample parking in the nearby lot (which itself has a parking fee).

You’ll want to bring your own towels. This is pretty important because there are no towels to use if you come here unless you want to buy something from the many souvenir shops you’ll pass by. If you borrow towels from your hotel like we did, check with the hotel first if it’s OK to take them off property. Some towels are microchipped these days and that can cause problems with the hotel thinking you’re stealing them.

Once you get past the shops, you’ll see the waterfall off in the distance. Get ready for a lot of steps to get down! As far as I’m aware, there is no handicapped option to get down.

Our tour guide took one last photo of us and then let us explore on our own.

Posing for the photo with Tegenungan Waterfall in background

If that sign isn’t good enough for you, there are other photo opportunities on the way down, such as this giant bird’s nest.

Or you have the vertical egg-shaped hole version of a bird’s nest.

Once you make it down the many steps, you’ll find yourself pretty close to the Tegenungan Waterfall. It can get slippery here, so having water shoes is advised.

Naturally, the kids wanted to take a goofy photo when we made it to the bottom.

To get to the other side, closer to the waterfall, you’ll need to traverse a platform made from bamboo. It can get crowded passing through here if others on the other side are heading in your direction.

For most of the area, the water is fairly shallow. You’ll want some water shoes both for the traction and also to protect your feet from the rocks. Being here at the base of the waterfall reminded us a little bit of when we were in Iceland earlier in the year. Of course, it’s so much hotter here than it was there in early April.

If you want to hang out somewhere that’s more protected from the currents, which can get strong if you’re not paying attention, hang out in this pool instead. One more thing: those blue stairs on the righthand side of the image below? You’ll need to pay a separate fee if you want to take those. We didn’t make our way up there.

And to dispel any false beliefs, you can’t jump off the waterfall or the cliffs around it. You’re also not allowed to swim under the waterfall itself. There are buoys that define where you can go, which is deep enough to get a real swim, but don’t expect to feel the full strength of the falls.

Wading pool in front of Tegenungan Waterfall

As I said in the rice terrace section above, day clubs are taking over Bali. Here is the Omma, which has a lot of real estate that overlooks the waterfall. I guess if paying for expensive food and drinks is your thing, you can consider it. But to use the day club will cost you 300,000 IDR (~$17 USD) per person, which is returned to you as a food and beverage credit. That might not sound like much but you’ll likely end up paying more than that depending on what you eat and do.

Here’s a view of the Omma, which seems fine, but from the angles I saw, it didn’t look like it was more impressive than where we were staying. If it’s your thing, don’t let us stop you.

One last comment about the Tegenungan Waterfall is the glass bridge. Around the corner from the normal entrance is what they call the Glass Bridge Theme Park. Coming here will cost you 200,000 IDR (~$11 USD) per adult or 100,000 (~$6 USD) per child.

Would you want to? That’s up for you to decide. I’m certainly not opposed to doing something outside my comfort zone, but a glass bridge that spans the entire valley? I’d consider it if it gave stellar views of the falls, but you’re so far away that it won’t give what I want. Maybe the scenery around is what makes it awesome, but I’d also argue seeing Omma there might detract from the beautiful nature surrounding the falls.

I watched a couple of people who paused and looked terrified as they crossed. We passed on it, and unless someone says otherwise, I don’t think we missed much. But it’s there if you love this type of activity.

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