The local culture in Bali is one of the most famous and unique cultures in the world. Bali culture is all around you on the island and Balinese history is long and rich.
Our Bali Culture Guide will help you find 23 places where you can see Balinese life in all of its glory, learn about Balinese society and enjoy being around the vibrant culture created by Balinese Hindus and their neighbours 🙏
Our Top 23 Cultural Experiences In Bali
Explore A Temple Complex
From Uluwatu Temple high above the Indian Ocean to the Mother Temple - Besakih Temple (Pura Besakih) to Tanah Lot on its island haven, the island of the gods has an incredible number of temples for visitors to enjoy.
Each of them is unique and yet, they are all an integral part of the daily lives of the Balinese people. If you want to get to know Bali at a deeper level it has to begin with a visit to the temples of the island.
The rituals, offerings, traditions, and even the architecture of the island all stem from the temples and the Hindu faith.
Visit A Local Market And Shop Balinese Style
Ubud Art Market, Denpasar Market, Sukawati Art Market, etc. there are so many awesome markets in Bali and you can enjoy browsing for souvenirs and other items and learn a little about haggling.
Bargaining is considered mandatory on the island and if you pay the first price you hear, you'll soon be marked out as a sucker by the stall holders. So, make an offer and bargain down, it's fun!
Enjoy Learning To Cook Balinese Cuisine At A Balinese Cooking Class
If there's a Balinese dish that you love , there's an amazing cooking class on the island where you can learn to make it.
From babi guling to nasi goreng, you can find out how to make mouthwatering dishes and learn a little bit about the food culture here as you do 🍴
Climb A Sacred Mountain
All mountains in Bali are sacred and you don't have to scale Mount Agung, Bali's tallest peak, to experience a sacred mountain.
Many visitors will opt for the famous Mount Batur sunrise hike, but we think the temples of Mount Batukaru are awesome too and they see far fewer visitors, so you can get a more authentic experience 🏔
See A Balinese Dance Performance
The most famous dance performance in Bali is the Kecak Fire Dance or just Kecak Dance. There are several places where you can enjoy this dance but we'd recommend heading to Uluwatu Temple for a Kecak Fire Dance show.
That's because the Kecak Dance there takes advantage of the cliffside positioning to make the Bali sunset a spectacular part of the performance.
Experience A Purification Ritual
The water palaces such as Tirta Empul are amazing places of traditional purification in Bali and visitors are often welcome to join the locals taking part in purification ceremonies 💧
You will need to wear a shawl and sarong to drop into the sacred waters, but that's all part of the fun. These rituals can help you feel truly connected to the island.
Enjoy The Healing Properties Of Balinese Massage
If you're looking for very relaxing cultural experiences in Bali, then what could be better than experience a traditional Balinese massage?
The combination of aromatherapy, reflexology and gentle physical strolling will help to refresh your mind and body.
Try Spiritual Healing
Bali is home to many famous spiritual healers and they have a role in the vibrant culture of the island which aims to see people living in harmony with the spirits and the natural world.
If you have an ailment that isn't responding to traditional medicinal treatment, why not see if you can enhance it by spending some time with a Balinese spiritual healer?
Meet Balinese People In A Local Village
We don't think that you can beat the simple experience of visiting a rural village in Bali and just walking around and letting life unfurl around you.
Balinese villagers are among the best friendly, kind and welcoming folk on the planet and you're sure to be greeted with some enthusiasm and curiousity. It's a two-way learning experience that shows we have much more in common with our fellow man than we have in differences.
See A Wayang Kulit Hindu Epic
Wayang Kulit is a traditional Balinese shadow puppet show and it's recognized as a bastion of culture by UNESCO.
If you get a chance to see a wayang kulit performance, you should take it as it's very different here in Bali from the style of performance you can see in Java and other parts of the archipelago.
The stories they tell at these shows are always drawn from the Hindu epics and they're the fundamental basis of the Balinese culture.
Learn To Make Canang Sari
You can't miss the canang sari in Bali, these little offerings are outside every building in the land each morning and they are made by hand, by Balinese women to ward off evil spirts and to bring prosperity to the land.
Why not join a workshop where you can learn how to fashion canang sari of your own? You might even take the skill home with you to protect your home or business from evil spirits too.
Take Part In A Jewelry Workshop
There's an epic tradition of jewlery making in Bali and in places like Sidemen and Celuk Village, you can learn to make your own jewelry under the guidance of a master smith.
Silver smithing is very easy to get into and you should be able to make a beautiful piece in a couple of hours that will be absolutely unique to you 💍
Take A Boat To Skull Island
Skull Island or Trunyan Village is a famous place here in Bali because it's home to the "Bali Aga" 💀
These are the people on the island who follow the traditional ways that were established long before the arrival of Hinduism on these shores.
They also have a unique funereal rite that is only practiced in Trunyan which you can witness for yourself.
Try An Organized Cultural Activities Evening
You will find that most travel services and many of the hotels on the island are willing to set you up, for a small donation, with a full night of Balinese cultural performances and the like 🐲
This will usually be delivered over a tasty Balinese meal which means you can get even further into the food culture here too.
Learn To Write Balinese
Head to the Lontar Museum, a fascinating place where many ancient Balinese texts are kept, and they will teach you some basics of Balinese writing 📝
This is very different to Bahasa Indonesia, the most common language used in Bali, which uses the same letters as the English alphabet.
See The Devdan Show
This stunning performance of acting, dance, lighting and sound is one of the real highlights of a holiday in Bali.
If you're in the area around Nusa Dua the Devdan Show is absolutely essential and if you're able to travel to Nusa Dua, we'd say that this show makes it worth the trip.
Hit Up Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (GWK)
GWK is home to the tallest statue in Indonesia a mighty garuda (the bird that Vishnu rode in Hindu myth) which you can see when you land at Denpasar Airport.
It's also a great place to enjoy Balinese dance and street food.
Tour The Island's Art Galleries
Bali has a lot of art galleries and art museums and if you explore carefully, you will find a range of distinct local schools of art and some very accomplished artists 🖼
It's a great way to see through the eyes of the local people and find out how they view the world.
Stop Off At The Bajra Sandhi Monument
This monument to the struggles of the Balinese people is in the heart of Denpasar and it's absolutely amazing.
It incorporates a museum that is very popular with Indonesian visitors but doesn't seem to have gained the attention that it deserves from foreign tourists, just yet.
All of the displays and important information are available in English.
Saunter Through Bali's Valley Of The Kings
Pura Guning Kawi is Bali's answer to the Valley of the Kings. These impressive figures of royalty hewn of rock from the valley wall are simply awe inspiring.
They give you a feel of what Bali was like before colonialism and how majestic it must have been.
Visit A Royal Palace
Now that Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia, it seems very unlikely that the kingdoms of old will ever return.
However, there are still royal palaces all over the island and most of them are open to the public. If you're lucky you may even meet a member of the royal family!
Ubud is the most popular royal palace, but you may prefer visiting one of the others if you prefer to escape the crowds.
Experience The Ogoh-Ogoh Parade
The night before Nyepi, the streets of Bali come alive with parades of large and frightening figures of evil spirits. These are the ogoh-ogoh and everyone should see them once.
Go To The Rice Terraces And Witness The Subak System
The ancient Subak system is Bali's only UNESCO world heritage site and visiting the rice terraces to see how man, the environment and the spiritual side of the island have been kept in balance for centuries is a must 🌾
Every rice terrace on the island is part of this system but Jatuliwih Rice Terraces are often considered to be the most authentic place to experience this system
FAQs
How Do You Experience Culture In Bali?
Balinese culture is all around you all the time when you're in Bali.
However, if you're looking to get an insight into a more traditional Balinese life, you will want to go and explore places such as the local market, temples such as the Uluwatu Temple or Pura Besakih, and enjoy everything from a Balinese cooking class to a traditional dance performance.
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Where Is The Best Place For Culture In Bali?
Many people will say that if you want to enjoy the unique culture of the island, you need to get away from the beach towns and beach clubs and head into the heart of the country and visit Ubud.
While Ubud was undoubtedly the "cultural heart" of the nation, in recent years it has become much more developed and commercialized.
Today, we'd recommend that you head out to the villages of Bali, particularly those in more rural areas, to experience traditional Balinese culture.
Feast on a mouth-watering meal in a place where most tourists will never visit and rub shoulders with the friendly and kind locals and you will soon see why so many tourists keep coming back to the island year after year.
What Are The Natural Cultural Encounters In Bali?
The culture of this beautiful island is always present when you're here in Bali. You can see the daily offerings laid outside all of the businesses, homes and temples here.
You will see the vibrant costumes of the locals at ceremonies and festival days. You can find it in the food and in dishes such as babi guling and nasi campur. It's in the art and the depictions of gods which are not confined to the local temple complex but are all around you.
It's in the view of the mountains which are so sacred to the people here and so much more.
One unique natural cultural encounter here in Bali though is not a facet of Balinese culture but one of monkey culture. The island's macaques, particularly those living around Uluwatu Temple, have not only mastered stealing from tourists, they've learned how to sell items back to their owners and their value too!
These are the only monkeys in the world to have learned this trick, so far.
What Is The Most Famous Cultural Tradition In Bali?
This has to be a toss-up between the canang sari offerings which you can find everywhere on a daily basis or Nyepi, the Day of Silence, which is the Balinese New Year custom 🌞🌚
Nyepi sees the island of the gods shut up shop for the day and everyone on the island, whether they are fully immersed in Balinese culture or not, is expected to spend a day at home in quiet contemplation.
Even the airport closes for the day and you can be arrested and even deported if you are caught wandering the streets outside of your hotel complex!
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Final Thoughts On Balinese Culture
Bali culture is a fascinating thing and there's so much to experience and learn from on this island of the gods.
We hope that our Bali culture guide has helped to introduce you to some of the more fascinating aspects of local culture and that when you come to Bali, you'll be ready to get involved with this amazing place and its people.
Bali is an amazing cultural destination and it's so easy to get in touch with traditional Balinese culture. Our guide will give you 23 amazing activities to take part in to enjoy the culture to the fullest.