Uluwatu, Tanah Lot, Besakih, Lempuyang: What Each Temple Visit Involves

Bali's four best-known temples are in four different corners of the island, and each visit is a different kind of outing. Uluwatu is a clifftop temple in the far south, Tanah Lot a sea temple on the southwest coast, Besakih the mother temple on the slopes of Mount Agung, and Lempuyang a mountain temple in the east famous for one photograph. The same dress and access rules apply at all of them.

The rules that apply at every temple

Bali's rules for foreign tourists apply at every temple on the island. They require modest dress in sacred places, and they bar tourists from the inner and middle courtyards of a temple unless they are there to pray in Balinese traditional dress. Climbing on sacred structures and posing indecently at sacred sites are prohibited.

What to wear

Our advice is the same for all four temples: clothing that covers shoulders and knees, with a sarong and sash where the temple asks for them. Carry your own sarong if you would like to avoid renting one. The circular containing these rules also says that a person entering the inner areas to pray must not be menstruating.

Fees and hours

We list no entrance fees or opening hours, because both change and we have no official source for them. Carry small rupiah notes, and ask your driver or accommodation for the current arrangements the day before.

Uluwatu

Uluwatu Temple stands on the southwestern tip of the Bukit peninsula, and travel guides describe it as perched on a cliff about 75 meters above the sea. It is about 13 miles from the airport by road. The visit is a walk along the cliff edge through the temple grounds, with the ocean below.

What the visit involves

Uluwatu is the easiest of the four to fit into a beach holiday, since it lies in the resort south. It faces west, so sunset is the popular hour, and a kecak dance is staged for visitors at the temple in the evening. We have not sourced its times, so check locally.

Getting back

Our advice is to arrange your ride back before you arrive, since sunset is the popular hour, and to keep sunglasses, phones and food secure if there are monkeys about.

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot is a sea temple built on a rock just offshore, on the southwest coast. Travel guides describe it as one of Bali's important directional temples, attributed to the 15th-century priest Nirartha. It is about 7 miles up the coast from Canggu by road, which makes it the closest of the four to the west-coast resorts.

What the visit involves

Visitors see Tanah Lot from the shore and the surrounding paths. Travel guides describe the area as very busy, especially in the late afternoon before sunset, with an approach lined by souvenir shops. Under Bali's rules the inner temple is for worshippers, so the visit is to the setting, not the interior.

When to go

Sunset is when the crowds come. Our advice for a calmer visit is to go in the morning, when the light is on the temple instead of behind it. Ask locally about the tide if you hope to walk out toward the rock.

Besakih

Pura Besakih lies on the slopes of Mount Agung in East Bali, and Balinese Hindus regard it as their mother temple. Travel guides describe a complex of more than twenty separate temples spread over about three kilometers. It is about 27 miles from Ubud by road, and far from the southern resorts.

What the visit involves

Besakih is a large site on a mountainside, with stairways and terraces. Allow time to walk it, and expect cooler air and cloud. A ceremony may close parts of the complex to visitors, so ask at the entrance what is open.

Guides and touts

Travel guides mention souvenir sellers in the visitor area. We have no official source on the guiding arrangements at Besakih, so we describe none. Our advice is to ask at the ticket office what your ticket includes before accepting any offer of services on the way in.

Lempuyang

Pura Lempuyang is a temple high in the mountains of Karangasem, in the far east. It is known around the world for one image: a split gate framing Mount Agung, with what looks like a reflection in still water. Lempuyang is about 45 miles from Ubud by road and about 9 from Amed.

The photograph

Travel writers report two things a visitor should know before making the journey. The reflection in the famous picture is made by a photographer holding a mirror under the phone; there is no pool of water at the gate. And the photograph is taken by numbered turn, with a wait that can run to hours.

Is it worth the drive?

Our view is that Lempuyang is worth visiting for travelers already staying in East Bali, around Amed or Sidemen, and hard to justify as a day trip from the south for a single picture. Mount Agung is visible only when the cloud allows, and no one can promise that.

Choosing among them

The four temples suit different trips because of where they are. A traveler based in the south can see Uluwatu and Tanah Lot easily, though not together in one sunset. A traveler based in Ubud or the east is better placed for Besakih and Lempuyang. Few trips need all four.

By base

These are our own suggestions.

• Staying in the Bukit or Seminyak: Uluwatu.
• Staying in Canggu: Tanah Lot.
• Staying in Ubud or Sidemen: Besakih.
• Staying in Amed: Lempuyang.

Other temples worth knowing

Smaller sites near Ubud can be more rewarding than a long drive to a famous one. Travel guides describe Tirta Empul as a 10th-century spring temple used for ritual purification, Goa Gajah as an 11th-century cave with a carved demon's mouth at its entrance, and Gunung Kawi as an 11th-century site reached by climbing down 371 steps.

Ceremony days

Festival days bring worshippers to the temples. Galungan, which comes every 210 days, falls on January 13 and August 11 in 2027. A visit on such a day is a privilege to watch and calls for extra care about dress, distance and photographs.