What a Week in Bali Actually Costs

Bali takes more Australian visitors than any other overseas destination, and the trips those visitors take cost anywhere from $800 to over $3,000 per person for the same seven days.

The gap does not come from spending habits on the ground. Food and local transport in Bali cost so little that doubling your daily spending moves the total by a few hundred dollars. Flights and where you sleep decide the rest.

Food is the line that surprises people. A meal at a warung costs $3 to $8, and a good restaurant in Seminyak or Ubud runs $15 to $30. Eating well every day for a week costs less than two dinners out in Sydney.

Accommodation is where the tiers separate. A private pool villa runs $100 to $300 a night, which over seven nights is $700 to $2,100 before anything else. Guesthouses at a fraction of that put the same traveller in the budget tier.

Every visitor also pays a one-off Bali tourist levy of 150,000 rupiah on arrival, about $9.30. Pay it online before you land rather than queueing for it at the airport.

Perth to Denpasar is the shortest route from Australia and the cheapest by a wide margin. Sydney and Melbourne cost considerably more and add a longer flight to the trip.

Season does the rest. February, May and October sit outside both the Australian school holidays and the peak dry season, and fares in those months land well below July and December.

If you hold frequent flyer points, this is a route where they work. Our guide to what a Qantas point is worth explains how to judge whether a redemption beats paying cash on any given date.

Between $50 and $80 covers a comfortable budget day: a guesthouse, three meals out, scooter fuel and an entry fee or two. Mid-range sits at $150 to $250 once a nicer room, drivers instead of scooters, and paid activities enter the picture.

Drivers are the underrated line. A private driver for a full day costs around $50 to $70 and removes the main risk in a Bali trip, which is riding a scooter without a licence valid in Indonesia.

Yes, and read the motorbike clause before you go. Scooter accidents are the most common serious claim Australians make in Bali, and most policies exclude a claim when the rider held no licence valid in Indonesia. An Australian car licence does not cover you on a scooter. What travel insurance actually covers goes through that exclusion and the alcohol clause that sits beside it.

February, May and October combine lower fares with fewer crowds. February falls in the wet season, which in practice means heavy afternoon showers rather than washed-out days, and prices reflect the reputation more than the reality.

Avoid the Australian school holidays and the fortnight either side of Christmas. Fares on the Perth and east coast routes rise sharply and villa rates follow them.

Price the airfare and the accommodation, then add $60 a day for a budget trip or $200 for a mid-range one. That gets you within a couple of hundred dollars of the real total, because the daily spend has so little room to run away from you.

Book the room and the flights in a low month and the same holiday costs half what it does in July.

Before you fly, sort the card you will spend on. Our travel money card comparison covers the 3 per cent most Australian banks charge on every purchase overseas.