How Much Does a Trip to Bali Cost?
Two weeks in Bali costs most travelers $1,600 to $2,900 per person from the United States, flights included. Backpackers manage $1,100. Stay in private-pool villas in Seminyak and eat in Canggu’s café scene and you’ll spend $5,000.
Bali’s daily costs are genuinely low, but the island now runs two parallel economies. A meal at a local warung costs $2. The same meal, plated at a beach club in Canggu, costs $14. Both are Bali. Which one you spend your fortnight in decides your budget almost entirely.
Prices are in Indonesian rupiah, roughly IDR 16,000 to the US dollar.
Daily cost at three budget levels
| Backpacker | Mid-range | Comfortable | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | IDR 180,000 ($11) | IDR 700,000 ($44) | IDR 2,000,000 ($125) |
| Food | IDR 150,000 ($9) | IDR 400,000 ($25) | IDR 900,000 ($56) |
| Transport | IDR 80,000 ($5) | IDR 150,000 ($9) | IDR 700,000 ($44) |
| Activities | IDR 100,000 ($6) | IDR 250,000 ($16) | IDR 500,000 ($31) |
| Daily total | IDR 510,000 ($32) | IDR 1,500,000 ($94) | IDR 4,100,000 ($256) |
Flights and arrival costs
Round trip from the US west coast to Denpasar runs $800 to $1,300; from the east coast, $1,000 to $1,600. From Australia, AU$400 to AU$900. From Europe, €650 to €1,100. It’s a long way from almost everywhere, and the flight is typically half a budget traveler’s total.
Two charges on arrival:
- Visa on arrival — IDR 500,000 ($31), valid 30 days, extendable once
- Bali tourist levy — IDR 150,000 ($10) per person, introduced in 2024, payable online before arrival or at the airport
Accommodation
- Hostel dorm — IDR 100,000–220,000 ($6–14)
- Guesthouse or homestay — IDR 250,000–500,000 ($16–31)
- Mid-range hotel — IDR 600,000–1,200,000 ($38–75)
- Villa with private pool — IDR 900,000–2,500,000 ($56–156)
- Luxury resort — IDR 4,000,000+ ($250+)
The private-pool villa is Bali’s signature value proposition and it’s real — for $80 a night you get something that would cost $400 in most of the world.
Prices vary sharply by area. Ubud and the east coast are cheapest. Canggu and Seminyak carry a 40–70% premium. The Bukit peninsula and Nusa Dua are resort territory and priced accordingly.
Food, and the two-economy problem
- Warung meal — IDR 25,000–50,000 ($1.60–3). Nasi campur, mie goreng, gado-gado.
- Local restaurant — IDR 60,000–120,000 ($4–8)
- Western café in Canggu or Ubud — IDR 100,000–220,000 ($6–14)
- Beach club main course — IDR 150,000–300,000 ($9–19)
- Large Bintang — IDR 30,000–60,000 ($2–4)
- Specialty coffee — IDR 35,000–55,000 ($2–3.50)
- Cocktail at a beach club — IDR 120,000–200,000 ($8–13)
Many restaurants add service and tax of 15–21%, often written as “++” on the menu and not included in listed prices. A IDR 150,000 main is really IDR 180,000.
Eating at warungs costs about $9 a day. Eating in the café scene costs about $35. Over two weeks that single habit is a $360 difference.
Getting around
- Scooter rental — IDR 70,000–120,000 a day ($4.50–7.50), cheaper by the month
- Petrol — IDR 15,000 ($1) fills a scooter tank
- Grab or Gojek ride — IDR 20,000–70,000 ($1.25–4.50)
- Private driver for a day — IDR 600,000–900,000 ($38–56), including fuel and waiting
- Fast boat to the Gili Islands or Nusa Penida — IDR 250,000–600,000 ($16–38) each way
The scooter is how Bali works, and it’s also the island’s main danger. Foreign licences are generally not valid without an international permit endorsed for motorcycles, and most travel insurance will decline a claim if you were riding without one or without a helmet. Traffic in Canggu and Kuta is heavy and accidents are frequent.
A private driver for the day is remarkably good value for temple runs and the north of the island, and splits well between three or four people.
Activities
- Temple entry — IDR 30,000–75,000 ($2–5), sarong usually included
- Mount Batur sunrise trek — IDR 400,000–800,000 ($25–50)
- Balinese massage, one hour — IDR 100,000–250,000 ($6–16)
- Surf lesson — IDR 300,000–500,000 ($19–31)
- Yoga class in Ubud — IDR 130,000–200,000 ($8–13)
- Nusa Penida day tour — IDR 700,000–1,200,000 ($44–75)
- Beach club day bed minimum spend — IDR 500,000–1,500,000 ($31–94)
- Diving day, two dives — IDR 1,300,000–1,900,000 ($81–119)
Waterfalls and rice terraces charge small entry fees, usually IDR 20,000–50,000, and often a parking fee on top.
A real two-week budget
Ubud, Canggu, and Nusa Penida. Guesthouses and one villa, mix of warungs and cafés, scooter, flying from the US west coast:
| Cost | |
|---|---|
| Flights | $1,050 |
| Visa and tourist levy | $41 |
| Accommodation, 14 nights | IDR 8,400,000 ($525) |
| Food | IDR 4,900,000 ($306) |
| Scooter and fuel | IDR 1,400,000 ($88) |
| Boats and a driver day | IDR 1,600,000 ($100) |
| Activities | IDR 2,800,000 ($175) |
| Total | ≈ $2,285 |
Stay in hostels, eat only at warungs, skip the boat trips, and the same fortnight is around $1,500. Do it in villas with a driver every day and it’s $4,500.
What quietly inflates a Bali budget
The “++” on menus. Fifteen to twenty-one percent added at the till, on every café and restaurant bill, all fortnight.
ATM fees and low limits. Indonesian ATMs cap withdrawals around IDR 1,250,000–2,500,000 ($78–156) and charge IDR 25,000–50,000 per transaction. Use bank-branch machines rather than street-corner ones, which have skimming problems.
Scooter damage deposits. Minor scratches routinely cost IDR 500,000–2,000,000 on return.
Canggu drift. The café-and-beach-club economy is priced at Australian levels. It’s easy to spend a fortnight there and never notice you left Indonesian prices behind.
If you’re staying longer and working from Bali, the broader picture for location-independent workers covers the monthly rather than the daily version of this.
Tracking spending across two price worlds
Bali’s numbers are hard to hold in your head. Rupiah amounts run to six and seven figures, the mental conversion is awkward, and the gap between a IDR 35,000 lunch and a IDR 350,000 lunch is easy to lose track of when both are “about a hundred thousand-something”.
Spentrip converts each expense to your home currency as you log it, so the running total means something without arithmetic. Photograph a warung receipt or a café bill — including the service-and-tax lines — and it extracts the total and files it. Manual entry, the rupiah conversion, and the category charts are free; receipt scanning and voice entry are premium.
The breakdown at the end of a Bali trip is usually the instructive part. Accommodation is rarely the problem. Food and drink in the Western café scene almost always is.
Common questions
How much money do I need per day in Bali?
IDR 510,000 ($32) backpacking, IDR 1,500,000 ($94) mid-range, IDR 4,100,000 ($256) comfortable. Bali’s floor is low, but its ceiling is as high as anywhere.
Is Bali cheaper than Thailand?
Close, with a split. Bali accommodation is better value — the private-pool villa has no real Thai equivalent at the price. Thai food, transport, and domestic travel are cheaper and better organised. Overall the two land within about 10% of each other for a similar trip.
How much does two weeks in Bali cost?
$1,100–1,500 backpacking, $2,200–2,900 mid-range, $4,500 and up in villas and resorts, including flights from the US. From Australia, subtract roughly $500–700 because the flight is much cheaper.
Do I need to pay the Bali tourist levy?
Yes. It’s IDR 150,000 ($10) per person, one payment per visit, introduced in 2024. Pay it online through the official portal before you fly, which is faster than queuing at the airport. Keep the QR code — spot checks happen at some attractions.
Is it cheaper to stay in Ubud or Canggu?
Ubud, by a clear margin — typically 30–50% less for equivalent accommodation and food. Canggu’s prices reflect its expat and digital-nomad economy. Ubud is also closer to the temples, rice terraces, and waterfalls that most day trips target.
How much cash should I carry in Bali?
Cards work at hotels, larger restaurants, and supermarkets, but warungs, scooter rentals, temple entries, parking, and markets are cash-only. Keep IDR 500,000–1,000,000 ($31–63) on hand. Withdraw from ATMs attached to actual bank branches, and decline the machine’s currency conversion offer.
The cheapest and the most expensive versions of a Bali trip happen in the same places, eat the same dishes, and see the same temples. The difference is almost entirely which chair you sit in to do it — and that’s a choice worth making deliberately rather than by drift.
