Why this ride
Out of Ubud and back again: 113 km, roughly 1 h 53 in the saddle. It goes by way of Tegallalang, Kintamani, Mount Batur and Besakih. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop from Ubud
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 113 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 53
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 10 km this is Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 10 km
- Named road
- Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ubud
Ubud is the place where Bali's rice paddies meet its art. Set in the hills at the island's centre, the town grew from a royal village into a centre for painters, dancers and carvers in the 1920s and 1930s, when European artists such as Walter Spies, a German, and Rudolf Bonnet, a Dutchman, settled here and encouraged local painters to explore new styles. The old royal palace, the Puri Saren, still hosts dance performances in the evenings, with gamelan music and elaborate costumes.
Read the complete Ubud write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ubud is where the day begins. Next is Tegallalang.
2. Tegallalang
Few landscapes in Indonesia are as photographed as the rice terraces of Tegallalang, a few kilometres north of Ubud, where the green steps climb both sides of a river valley in a pattern as precise as a staircase. The terraces are not for show. They are part of a system called subak, an ancient method of irrigation and communal water management that dates back about a thousand years, and which is run by farmers' associations according to the Balinese Hindu philosophy of harmony between people, nature and the gods. UNESCO listed the subak landscape as a World Heritage Site in 2012, and the fields here are a living example.
Read the complete Tegallalang write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tegallalang comes up about 10 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kintamani.
3. Kintamani
Kintamani sits on the rim of an enormous volcanic caldera, at around fifteen hundred metres, and the air is noticeably cooler than on the coast. The caldera is about ten kilometres across, a vast bowl formed by massive eruptions in prehistoric times, and inside it stand the cone of Mount Batur, still active, and the crescent-shaped Lake Batur, dark blue under the cliffs. The view from the rim at Penelokan, which means a place to look, is one of the great sights of Bali, and on a clear morning it is spectacular.
Read the complete Kintamani write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Kintamani. Next is Mount Batur viewpoint.
4. Mount Batur viewpoint
Mount Batur is a volcano with a short temper. It rises to 1,717 metres from the floor of a vast caldera, beside the crescent of Lake Batur, and it has erupted many times in recorded history, leaving black fields of cooled lava on its flanks. Smoke and steam still seep from vents near the summit, and the ground in places is warm to the touch. The volcano is a place of deep significance to the Balinese, who believe that its spirit controls the water that feeds the island's rice terraces, and offerings are made to the lake goddess at the temple on the shore.
Read the complete Mount Batur viewpoint write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Batur viewpoint, about halfway. Next is Besakih.
5. Besakih
Besakih is the Mother Temple of Bali, the largest and holiest Hindu temple on the island, and it sits high on the southern slope of Mount Agung, the great volcano that dominates the east. It is not a single building but a complex of about twenty-three separate temples, spread across a series of terraces, linked by stairways and gateways. The split gates, called candi bentar, frame the view upward towards the mountain, and the multi-tiered thatched towers, called meru, rise in odd numbers, up to eleven roofs, each dedicated to a Hindu deity or an ancestor. The oldest parts may date back many centuries, and the complex is still in daily use for ceremonies.
Read the complete Besakih write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Besakih sits at 60 km, late in the day. Next is Ubud.
6. Ubud
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ubud write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 113 km.
Leg by leg
Ubud to Tegallalang
Ubud → Tegallalang is 10 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tegallalang to Kintamani
Tegallalang → Kintamani is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kintamani to Mount Batur viewpoint
Kintamani → Mount Batur viewpoint is 5 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Batur viewpoint to Besakih
Mount Batur viewpoint → Besakih is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Besakih to Ubud
Besakih → Ubud is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.