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Tegallalang

Ubud's famous rice terraces (Central Bali)

About Tegallalang

Tegallalang, north of Ubud, is home to the rice terraces on countless Bali postcards. Beyond the viewpoints and jungle swings, the area has quiet villages, woodcarving workshops and valley-side villas where mornings start over terraced fields.

Best for: Photographers, nature lovers & couples

  • Tegallalang rice terraces
  • Jungle swings
  • Gunung Kawi Sebatu
  • Woodcarving villages

Tegallalang at a glance

  • Beach: None (0/5). No beach.
  • Nightlife: None (0/5). None; Ubud is 20–30 minutes away.
  • Prices: $$ · Moderate. Moderate: terrace cafés charge tourist prices, village warungs don't.
  • To the airport: 45 km · 75–105 min. By road to Bali airport (DPS), in usual traffic.
  • Climate: A little fresher · 420 m

Ratings

  • Calm-water swimming: None (0/5)
  • Surfing: None (0/5)
  • Diving & snorkeling: None (0/5)
  • Sunsets: Poor (1/5)
  • Restaurants & cafés: Fair (2/5)
  • Culture & temples: Good (3/5)
  • Nature & landscapes: Excellent (5/5)
  • Yoga & wellness: Good (3/5)
  • Family-friendly: Good (3/5)
  • Peace & quiet: Good (3/5)
  • Remote work: Poor (1/5)
  • Walkability: Poor (1/5)

Rated from 0 (none) to 5 (excellent), compared with Bali's other areas.

Resorts in Tegallalang

Sights in Tegallalang

  • Tegallalang Rice Terraces (rice terraces). Steep rice terraces curve down both sides of a palm-filled valley beside the main road north of Ubud, watered by the centuries-old subak irrigation system. Footpaths drop into the paddies and climb the far side, where some farmers ask walkers for a small donation to cross their land. Early morning, before the tour buses arrive, is the quietest and coolest time.
  • Tirta Empul (temple). Founded in the 10th century around the spring that feeds the Pakerisan River, Tirta Empul is one of Bali's most important water temples. Worshippers and visitors stand in its stone pools to be purified under a long row of carved spouts, and the spring itself wells up in a clear pond in an inner courtyard. Sarongs are required, and the pools are calmest early in the morning.
  • Gunung Kawi (temple). Ten shrines carved into niches about seven meters high line both banks of the Pakerisan River near Tampaksiring, an 11th-century royal memorial thought to honor King Anak Wungsu and his family. The site is reached by a long stairway down through rice terraces, so the climb back up takes some effort. Tirta Empul is a few minutes' drive away, and the two are often visited together.
  • Gunung Kawi Sebatu (temple). Gunung Kawi Sebatu is a spring-fed water temple in the village of Sebatu, where clear water fills koi ponds, bathing pools and channels around thatched shrines below a jungle hillside. Villagers come to bathe and leave offerings, and visitors can walk through the gardens and courtyards. It sees far fewer tour groups than Tirta Empul, and sarongs are lent at the entrance.
  • Mount Batur (nature). Mount Batur is an active volcano of 1,717 meters rising from a wide caldera beside Lake Batur in Kintamani, about an hour's drive north of Tegallalang. Most people climb it in the dark with a local guide to watch the sun come up over the lake and Mount Agung, a walk of about two hours on loose volcanic gravel. Steam vents near the summit show that it is still active.
  • Museum Geopark Batur (museum). The Museum Geopark Batur stands at Penelokan on the rim of the Batur caldera in Kintamani. Opened in 2007 as a volcano museum, it is now the information centre of the Batur UNESCO Global Geopark, with a large model of Mount Batur and its lake, rocks from past eruptions, a room on the 1926 eruption and a film theatre. From its upper floor a lookout faces the volcano across the caldera.

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