East Bali Tour: Ultimate Day Trip from Amed or Ubud
East Bali is packed with breathtaking landscapes, hidden gems, and famous Instagram spots. From visiting the mountain temple of Lempuyang to the stunning water palace of Taman Ujung, an East Bali tour makes for an incredible day trip from places like Amed and Ubud in Bali. Join us as we embark on an East Bali Tour and explore places like the Heaven Gate Temple, known as Lempuyang, visit a coffee plantation, walk the rice fields at Maha Gangga Valley, walk across the ponds at Tirta Gangga, and visit the water palace of Taman Ujung.
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When visiting Bali, most visitors will stay in southern Bali. Many visitors plan day trips to East Bali as it’s easily accessible from places like Ubud, Denpasar, and some of the other southern areas like Kuta and Uluwatu.
According to Wikitravel, East Bali is a region of Bali that includes many beach towns, volcanos, and some of Bali’s most popular temples and palaces. More notable towns found in East Bali include Amed, Candidasa, Padang Bai, and Klungkung.
From popular destinations in southern Bali like Sanur it can take anywhere from 1 hour to several hours to reach your destination in East Bali depending on where you decide on visiting.
Booking an East Bali Tour
If staying at a hotel in Bali that does tours, an East Bali Tour will usually be one of the options. We stayed in Ubud and Amed and both our hotels had day trips to East Bali.
If like me, you like to book trips well in advance, Viator, offers several East Bali Tours.
Below are a few specific East Bali Tours.
• Best of East Bali Tour
• Heaven of East Bali Private Guided Tour
• Amed Sunset Tour – East Bali Day Trip
• Lempuyang Temple and East Bali Private Tour
I do recommend some of the private tours. In our experience, you get a personal driver and they drive you to each attraction. You can spend as little or as much time as you want at each attraction.
East Bali Tour
If you are looking for a unique and somewhat off the beaten path experience in Bali, I do recommend looking into an East Bali Tour.
Some of Bali’s most famous attractions are located in East Bali. Lempuyang, also known as the Heaven Gate Temple is one of the most famous Instagram spots in Bali. Tirta Gangga is another one of Bali’s most photographed temples. In East Bali you can even stop at a coffee plantation to try Luwak Coffee and experience so much more.
When we booked our East Bali Tour it included a stop at Lempuyang, Tirta Ganga, and the water palace of Taman Ujung. But with a private driver we were able to stop at the coffee plantation and even check out the rice fields at Maha Gangga Valley.
Our day started early as our driver picked us up at 7:30 am in Amed. Below is our East Bali itinerary, this was one of the highlights from our trip to Bali, Indonesia.
Lempuyang: Heaven Gate Temple
The first stop on our East Bali Tour from Amed was Lempuyang, also know as the Heaven Gate Temple. Perched on top of a mountain adjacent from the majestic Mt. Agung, this temple offers breathtaking views and is considered one of Bali’s most famous Instagram spots, unfortunately!
Many visitors coming from southern Bali or places like Ubud start their day early to get to Lempuyang. From Amed, it was about 45 minutes.
At the bottom of the mountain, there is a parking area and shuttle buses that take you to the temple. The shuttle bus was around IDR 50,000 roundtrip and there was an additional fee to enter the temple.
Once at Lempuyang, visitors can walk the temple grounds but there are some rules that must be met prior to entering.
These rules are found on signs throughout the temple and are as followed:
– All Visitors have to be purified by holy water
– Women are not permitted to enter when menstruating
– Sarong is mandatory
– Shoulder and Back must be covered.
– Do not climb the walls, platforms, or statues
– If intending to pray, you are allowed inside the temple
– Drones are prohibited
– Avoid Yoga poses or any position where your feet are raised
– Positive Thoughts and Language
– No kissing
– Baby before 105 days are not permitted to enter
Once all the rules are met, you can access the grounds area. Many visitors come to Lempuyang to take that iconic Bali shot of the temple gates with Mt. Agung in the background and their perfect reflection. I’ll be honest, the reflection is not water, it’s a mirror that someone holds under your camera for that perfect reflection.
Since this is such a popular spot and one of Bali’s most famous Instagram spots, the queue to get your photo taken can be anywhere from 1 to 4 hours.
This was definitely not worth waiting for, so we just walked around and took photos before making our way back down the mountain.
Tunas Bali Luwak Coffee
Luwak coffee is a controversial topic and I don’t really support coffee plantations that have Luwak Coffee.
For those that do not know, Luwak coffee is a special and rare coffee that uses coffee beans that is basically been “pooped” out of an animal known as the Asian Palm Civet. Prior to visiting Bali, I knew that these animals were abused around the world in the coffee industry. Just something I cannot get behind.
That being said, our driver insisted that we stop at one of Bali’s most well known coffee plantations, Tunas Bali Luwak Coffee.
The staff here was knowledgeable and you get to sit down and sample wonderful coffee flavors. The staff brought us a tray of 20 or so various coffee and teas to try. Honestly, it was all very good, we have everything from Mangosteen tea to Ginger Coffee.
Maha Gangga Valley
When visiting East Bali and interested in seeing rice terraces, then Maha Gangga Valley is a great option. Not far from Tirta Gangga is the touristy hot spot but very beautiful area of Maha Gangga Valley.
Maha Gangga Valley, is another Bali Instagram location as the scenery is gorgeous and there are many fun things within Maha Gangga Valley that offer great photo opportunities, like giant swings and traditional houses.
We visited Maha Gangga Valley to see the rice terraces. Although nothing compared to Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, it was still fun to see the rice fields and explore Maha Gangga Valley.
Tirta Gangga
Perhaps one of Bali’s most famous and beautiful water palaces, Tirta Gangga is one of East Bali’s most prized and popular attractions.
Tirta Gangga is a beautiful water palace known for water features, architecture, and nature. I loved the perfect blend of nature and water. Visitors are able to walk the stones across the beautiful ponds and even feed the Koi fish.
Taman Ujung
One of Bali’s most underrated attractions is the water temple of Taman Ujung. I say underrated, because after weeks of research, I never read nor heard about Taman Ujung. It just happened to be on my East Bali itinerary.
Taman Ujung is one of Bali’s hidden gems that I think will surprise any visitor due to the amazing surrounding landscape, beautiful gardens, and the stunning white palace created on an island.
Taman Ujung was built in 1909 by the Karangasem King as a retreat.
Today visitors can walk inside the palace and tour the grounds of the beautiful Taman Ujung water palace.
Conclusion
An East Bali tour from Amed, Ubud, or southern Bali offers an unforgettable experience for anyone looking to immerse themselves in Bali’s culture, history, and natural beauty. From waking up early to explore or take a photo of Bali’s Heaven Gate to sampling coffee at a coffee plantation, an East Bai tour provides visitors with a glimpse of some attractions and sites on this side of the island. Whether you are like me and love history or want to take fun Instagram photos on swings with a stunning background, this day trip to East Bali will surely leave you with a deeper appreciation to explore more of this side of Bali.
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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇮🇩
Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖
For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com
Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁
Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.
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I recommend checking with Rental Cars.
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