Best temples Most Visit in Bali

Taman Ayun Temple

Taman Ayun, in the village of Mengwi, is as dramatic as it is sacred, surrounded by a wide moat and terraced gardens. It was once the main temple and ancestral shrine of the Raja of Mengwi and the royal family in the historic Mengwi Kingdom in Bali. The name simply means “beautiful garden”, which really undersells it. Incredible pagodas rise from the inner courtyard, the tallest with 11 tiers and all with classic Balinese stone and thatch construction.

Taman Ayun is much less visited than the coastal temples, which means fewer crowds and a feeling that you’re discovering something few get to see.

Tip for visiting Taman Ayun Temple

Visitors can’t enter the main temple area, even for worship, which is perhaps one of the reasons it’s so under-visited. You can explore the outer courtyards and see the pagodas through gates and across the moat. This UNESCO World Heritage site doesn’t disappoint, even from a far.

Taman Saraswati Temple

Right on Ubud’s main strip, Taman Saraswati Temple (also known as Ubud Water Palace) is smaller and easier to visit than most temples on this list, but no less beautiful. As soon as you step off the busy Jalan Raya Ubud Shopping Street and through the gates, it’s pure peace. The front courtyard is filled with lotus ponds, and stone pathways lead through the water to the main temple dedicated to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, arts, and learning.

It’s relatively modern, designed in the 1950s by I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, a Balinese artist and architect whose work helped define Ubud’s cultural scene.

Best time to go

In Ubud at night? Catch a traditional Legong or Barong dance performance in the courtyard, with the temple lit up behind the dancers. Tickets are sold at the temple entrance.

Ulun Danu Bratan Temple

This temple actually appears to float, without any camera trickery. In Bali’s central highlands, Ulun Danu Bratan Temple sits on little islands on the edge of Lake Bratan. When mist rolls in from the surrounding mountains, the pagodas look like they’re hovering above the lake.

Built in 1633 to honour Dewi Danu, the goddess of water and fertility, Ulun Danu Bratan Temple is most highly regarded by Bali’s farmers. They come here to pray for rain and abundant harvests. The area around the lake is cool and lush, a refreshing green change from the heat on Bali’s beaches and coast. You can rent a boat to get out on the water or explore the gardens along the lake shore.

Best time to visit Ulun Danu Bratan Temple

Visit in the early morning, before most of the tour groups arrive, and the mist above the lake is densest. The whole scene feels otherworldly.

Lempuyang Temple

Lempuyang is one of the oldest temples in Bali, but it’s most famous for one thing: the Gates of Heaven. You’ve probably seen the photo of split gates, floating on still mirror-like water, framing Mount Agung in the distance. It’s a case of Instagram versus reality, though — the water doesn’t exist; it’s usually a mirror held up to create an illusion. The view is still amazing, and if you book an Instagram tour, you’ll have a guide who knows the tricks to help you make your own.

On the slopes of Mount Lempuyang in East Bali, 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above sea level, there are more than 1,700 steps through forest and past smaller temples to reach it. It’s among Bali’s most rewarding hikes and takes about two hours. Most visitors stop at the first gate for the iconic photo, so you’ll find far fewer people and views that stretch across the island if you make it past there.

Best time to visit Lempuyang Temple

Go really early (some tours set off at 4:00 AM). The gates open at 7:00 AM for tourists, and if you arrive then, you’ll beat the majority of tour buses and have a better chance at clear skies around Mount Agung. There’s a long queue for photos by mid-morning.

Besakih  Temple

Besakih is Bali’s “Mother Temple” and the island’s largest and holiest temple complex. Twenty-three temples sprawl across the south-western slopes of Mount Agung, Bali’s tallest and most sacred volcano.

The main temple, Penataran Agung, features an impressive seven-tiered pagoda and huge courtyards. Stone stairways lead you to various shrines up the hillside. On clear days, you can see all the way to the ocean from the upper terraces, but it’s coolest on misty mornings when it feels like you’re in the clouds.

Highlights of Besakih Great Temple

The colourful Odalan festival is one of the most important religious events on the island, occurring every 210 days in line with the Balinese calendar. If it coincides with your trip, it’s a must-see. There are regular ceremonies at this very active temple, so you may see processions in white and gold carrying offerings up the steps.

Tirta Empul Temple

Tirta Empul isn’t about architecture or views. It’s about water. This temple, built around a sacred spring more than 1,000 years ago, is one of Bali’s most important purification sites. The spring feeds a series of stone pools where Hindus bathe in a ritual cleansing ceremony called melukat.

Join locals in doing what they’ve done for centuries, moving through the pools of crisp, clear holy water and ducking under each of the 30-plus fountains. Each has a different purpose, like spiritual cleansing, health, or prosperity.

The temple complex also includes smaller shrines, koi ponds, and a courtyard where offerings are laid out daily. It’s active, lived-in, and feels much more like a functioning spiritual location than a tourist attraction.

Tips for visiting Tirta Empul Temple

Just follow the lead of those around you. Sarongs and lockers are available. If you can, visit early in the morning (around 8:00 AM) before tour groups arrive, and you’ll have a much calmer setting with mostly local people. Oh, and skip the two fountains reserved for the dead.

Tanah Lot Temple

The 16th-century Tanah Lot Temple sits on a rock island just off the coast, and is isolated completely at high tide. At low tide, you can walk to the temple, but only Hindu worshippers can go inside. Don’t let that put you off visiting, though, as it’s really stunning to see.

It’s one of seven sea temples forming a chain along Bali’s south-west coast. The venomous sea snakes that guard it at the base of the rock are probably fictional. Probably.

Best time to visit Tanah Lot Temple

Arrive an hour before sundown to secure a good viewing spot on the clifftop. The area around has capitalised on tourism, so it gets a little crowded, but you won’t notice it looking out at the temple and one of Bali’s most gorgeous sunsets.

Uluwatu Temple

On Bali’s southwestern tip, Uluwatu Temple is a stunner and one of Bali’s must-see places. Built in the 11th century by a Javanese sage, this sea temple is one of the six shrines most believed to protect Bali from evil spirits. It also seems protected by the long-tailed macaque monkeys who patrol the temple grounds as if they own the place.

Uluwatu Temple juts out on a piece of sheer cliff, the Indian Ocean waves crashing 70 metres below, so endless ocean views surround it on three sides. Walk the clifftop paths to see smaller shrines in rock crevices, all facing the sea. Sunset is absolutely unreal.

Tip for visiting Uluwatu Temple

Stay for the Kecak fire dance performance at Uluwatu’s clifftop amphitheater. Up to 100 bare-chested men chant in rhythm while dancers in elaborate costumes reenact scenes from the Ramayana, a classic tale of good’s triumph over evil. It starts around 6:00 PM (just before sundown) every evening and has been performed for almost 100 years, although it feels ancient.