Off the pathPrivate car
Tanah Lot, Pupuan & Balian Beach
- Tanah Lot
- Pupuan rice roads
- Balian black-sand beach
$90 / personDetails
Pupuan, Bali
The back road through west Bali's hills: rice terraces stacked up both sides, villages drying cloves on the tarmac, and no ticket gate anywhere.
What is Pupuan like, and how do you get there?
Pupuan is a hill district in Tabanan on the road that climbs from the west coast to the north, and the road is the point: it winds for an hour through terraces as good as Jatiluwih's, clove and coffee gardens, and villages where the harvest dries on mats in the sun. There's nothing to buy a ticket for. You drive slowly, stop where the view is, and walk into a paddy when a farmer waves you in. It's two hours from Seminyak and on our west-Bali route.
- RegionWest Bali · Tabanan hills
- Best forTerraces without crowds, slow driving
- From SeminyakAbout 2 hours
- How long1–2 hours of stops
- Best timeJuly–September for the clove harvest
- CrowdsNone
On the ground
A road, not a sight: the drive from Antosari up through Pupuan and on towards Munduk is one long view. The terraces here are steep and irregular, tumbling down to a river, and there's no viewing platform — you stop on the verge.
In clove season (July to September) the villages smell of it and the roadside is red with drying buds; the rest of the year it's coffee, cocoa and durian in season. Warungs are simple and cheap, and the menu is in Indonesian.
It's the Bali most visitors never see because it isn't between two things they want. Combined with Tanah Lot and Balian beach it makes a full day with a completely different rhythm.
What to see around Pupuan
The terraces
Steepest and best between Pupuan and Belimbing; stop on the bends.
Clove and coffee villages
Walk into a village at harvest and you'll be shown the drying mats and offered a coffee.
Belimbing and the river
Rice terraces down to a river valley south of Pupuan, with a small waterfall reached on foot.
Balian beach
Black sand and surf, 40 minutes back down to the coast — where our west-Bali day ends.
Entrance fees are in the price of our set routes; on a car + driver day they are paid at the gate, and your driver tells you the amounts the evening before.
What to do
Set routes that stop at Pupuan
1 of our routes passes through.
Or make it a driver day
Pupuan plus wherever else you like, at your pace — up to ten hours, priced per car, your route.
Before you go
How long should you stay? An hour or two of stops along the road, as part of a west-Bali day. A night at a homestay in Belimbing if you like walking and quiet.
Best time to visit. Clove harvest, July to September; and early morning any month, when the mist is still in the valleys.
| Tickets | None |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | Any |
| Dress | Anything; trainers if you'll walk into the paddies |
| Walking | Short walks from the road |
| Food | Village warungs; simple and local |
| Toilets | At the warungs |
| Cash | Small notes; no ATMs |
Photos
Pupuan in photos
Questions
Asked in the car
How does it compare with Jatiluwih?
Wilder and more scattered, seen from the road rather than walked in loops, and free. Jatiluwih is the one big landscape; Pupuan is an hour of small ones.
Is there anything to do besides look?
Short walks into the paddies, a village visit at harvest, the small waterfall at Belimbing. It's a driving day; the doing is at Balian beach afterwards.
Can we get there by ourselves?
By scooter, with a good map and a strong back. Most people are happier with a driver who knows where the road is closed this week.
Nearby, with our photos
The quiet west
Take the Tanah Lot, Pupuan and Balian route, or ask for a driver day that goes further into the hills.