Travel

Bali – FAQs: budget, airlines, best time, hotels, car rental, tips

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After posting the itinerary for Bali and our experience, I have received a lot of emails with questions – primarily – around the budget, airlines, hotels, car rentals and general tips. I’ve put them as a FAQ below; hope this helps fellow travelers.

What was your budget?

Honestly, we were traveling on budget. We had planned about Rs.70,000 per head and wanted to make the most out of it. We did.

Is there a split?

Approximate split across categories

This is naturally going to differ, but here is an idea.

  • Airfare – 40%
  • Visa & entrance fees – 10%
  • Stay – 15%
  • Local transport – 15%
  • Shopping – 10%
  • Meals – 10%

Good idea for my first overseas vacation?

Absolutely! There is always a first time for everything. Just plan well. Here are 10 great tips for international travel.

Is February a good time?

Most of the forums said Feb wasn’t a great time to be in Bali, but I think that’s more applicable to surfers.

Transit Bangkok or Singapore?

While Bangkok was an option with visa on arrival for Indians, low-cost carriers had been moved to the old Don Muang Airport. Getting there would require passing through immigration and it would be difficult to plan a connecting flight given Bangkok traffic. Singapore seemed a better option and we planned a short stay there on the return.

Which airlines did you fly?

We were on budget and flew Indigo to/fro Singapore, and Air Asia Indonesia onward to Bali. As of this writing, Indigo has discontinued direct flights to SIN. I hope Air Asia, Tiger Airways or Silk Air start operations from Mumbai. These 3 airlines are the best options for Bangalore, Chennai & Hyderabad folks.

Which hotels did you book?

Again, the idea was to live lavish on budget. We booked Guest Villas in Kuta and Mumbul Guest House in Lovina. Both were furnished private villas, decently priced & quite in the center of where we wanted to be.

Can you share your itinerary?

Of course, here it is the complete 4 night / 5 day itinerary for Bali.

How did you travel within Bali?

For the first 3 days we Krishna take us around Bali in his Suzuki APV van. For the next 2 days we rented a motor bike, the most inexpensive way to get around Bali with fuel at Rs.27 per liter.

How was the overall experience?

Wonderful. Here are my vacation notes on the overall experience.


This is post #3 of the Bali vacation series: Itinerary | Experience | FAQs