Kintamani Things To Do Bali – 18 Amazing Reasons Why

Kintamani is located in North Bali. Lodge in a mountainous area, Kintamani has been a hotspot for visitors to experience a more off-beaten track than what we’re used to. About a 2 hours drive from Ubud, Kintamani is accessible while still retaining the calm atmosphere that is different from the bustling city area like Seminyak, Kuta or even Ubud. From mountains to lakes, hot springs and cold weather, tasty coffee and delicious local food, Kintamani is a must visit for all.

Getting Around Kintamani

There are no Grab or Gojek services in this area. You can only get around this area by driving yourself, or getting tour packages that includes the attractions you want to visit.

Kintamani Weather

Kintamani is in a mountainous area and will be pretty chilly compared to the blazing hot sun like the rest of the island. Average temperature ranges from 15°C to 25°C (59°F to 77°F) all year round, with lower temperatures at night and during rainy season in December. Don’t forget to bring a light jacket! If you are planning to ride a motorcycle in this area, either get a windshield or bring a thicker jacket. Some rental places may not carry windshields so do check beforehand!

What to do in Kintamani?

Plenty! This post has been categorised into 3 categories – experience nature, calm vibes with the mountains and local cultural immersion experience.

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Cafe hopping with a fantastic view of the mountains, relaxing in warm healthy hot spring, glamping under the starry night, hiking Mount Batur, cruising the scenic lakes and mountains on an e-scooter or e-bike, reunite with nature by picking strawberries and coasting through a scenic pine tree forest, interact with local Balinese culture visiting temples and local villages, trying local delicacies and even explore the North Bali area and admire majestic waterfalls and even dolphins!

Kintamani Natural Landscape

Kintamani is blessed with stellar natural landscape that are jaw-dropping stunning. Between 2 majestic live volcanoes Mount Batur and Mount Agung lies a peaceful lake Batur. The mountainous terrains proves challenging to drive around, but everything you see here is well worth the effort.

<lake photos gallery>

Admire Beautiful Mother Nature – Experience the Landscape

1. Mount Batur Volcano Hike Tour

The iconic Mount Batur (gunung Batur) that every tourist go crazy for! A very doable hike for newbies and people of all ages. If you can’t climb any longer, you can even get a ojek, which is motorcycle taxi, to take you up 2/3 of the hike! Some people do resort to this if they can’t handle the climb or descent, and they are available throughout the hike if you ever decide you can’t continue. I find that so fascinating that Indonesians do be riding their bikes literally everywhere. Many locals do this to casually watch the sunrise/sunset, or just chill and enjoy the views.

There is a tour package for the hike, and it is quite difficult to go up yourself unless you know where the starting point is because there will be people asking for “entrance fees” etc. The tour can pick up hikers from Ubud and drive you back, so if staying overnight in this area is not on your list, you can still go for the famous Mount Batur hike.

There is also a Mount Batur jeep tour where you are driven around hardened black lava remnant and watch the stellar sunrise!

2. Ride an e-scooter, e-bike or bicycle around scenic landscapes

I thought this was quite overrated when my friends first suggested to me. But I had so much fun in this 2 hours tour around peaceful and gorgeous Kintamani forest. Fresh air, chilly winds really makes you think, life is so much bigger than what you are fretting about. The battery powered vehicles are worked to the maximum going through the ups and downs, don’t forget to double check the battery life before riding off. There are bicycle tours too if you are interested, but I personally would not opt for that unless you want a workout.

3. Lake Batur

A drive around the lake Batur (danau Batur) is sure to take your breath away but why not hop off to see it in closeup? The landscape is almost untouched and absolutely stunning. In the water, you can spot a few fish farms rearing local fish Nyat Nyat which is absolutely delicious but more on that later.

4. Mount Agung Volcano

Mount Agung is said to be most sacred and the highest point of Bali at 3031m. Experienced and very fit hikers can attempt to tackle this monster, but it is said to be very difficult and unforgiving. I personally prefer to admire it from the bottom or from Mount Batur because of how scary it sounds. There are tours available, many picking hikers from Ubud.

5. Batur Hotsprings

Overlooking the stunning Lake Batur are these 2 hot springs that are splendid to soak in. The Batur hotspring water source are all natural, full of minerals that are good for your skin and warm. Numerous Mount Batur hiking tour offers the hot spring in the package too and it is perfect to soak away the fatigue from the morning hike.

There are 2 main ones: Batur Natural Hotspring and Toya Devisya.

Pools of many sizes are available for all ages. The deeper pools are typically colder than the shallower ones so you have a variety of temperatures to choose from. The bathrooms infrastructure are still quite unsophisticated with faulty doors or lack thereof. If this bothers you, just get a light rinse and wash up in your accommodation. You can also book an accommodation that has a sharing or private pool to enjoy the same luxury! All pools of any sorts in Kintamani is definitely a hot/warm spring water pool because there is no way you’d expect yourself to jump in shivering cold water in Kintamani’s climate.

6. Drive or Walk through the Pine Tree Forest

Fully immerse yourself in a scenic drive through the Pine Tree Forest with your favourite people and experience the serenity of nature! You can even find an e-scooter tour to get you around the best nature spots in Kintamani.

Relax in the Nature – Be in the Moment

7. Cafe Hopping – Instagrammable Photospots

As the city is built on the mountains, there are tons of spots you can go to enjoy the fabulous view of the famous Mount Batur and Mount Agung and vibe with the calming ambience of different cafes. From the most instagrammable, to vintage, to funky and even local hut style cafes, there are many of options all around area. Tasty cafe food and drinks are the norm, and many of the cafes are very innovative with their menus while providing numerous photo spots with scenery and aesthetics so don’t forget to bring your best fit!

The special Kintamani coffee which is homegrown in the area is a specialty in many places. These local coffee beans can be found in many stores around Bali as well.

The cafes in Kintamani feels so luxurious as they are big and spacious unlike the ones in Ubud. Definitely a must visit if you love cafes in Bali! Notable cafes that I have loved includes Montana Del Cafe, ecobike and Oculus.

8. Camping and Glamping Kintamani under the Milky Way

Away from the city lights, Kintamani is peaceful and serene at night. All the accommodations in Kintamani are small villas, glamping areas with a natural concept or even camping with a portable tent if you wish. Regardless of whichever option you choose, you can absolutely savour the starry night on clear days.

Bobocabin Kintamani

Don’t let the fear of bugs stop you from staying over! Many have well-built systems to keep them out while you get your beauty sleep like this beautiful camping cabin.

9. Strawberry Picking

Yes, you saw that right. The cold Kintamani climate allows the tiny red fruit to grow, even if it is not to a humongous size you see in Korea or Australia. There are so many small strawberry local farms for you to choose from, some even selling strawberry juices and other strawberry products they made with their harvest. Stop by any local farm to support their family business and get cute pictures and fresh sweet strawberries for the go or to enjoy in the farm!

10. Local Food – Ikan Nyat Nyat (Fish)

A must-try dish when you visit Northern Bali, Nyat Nyat fish (ikan) is as authentic and as local as you can get. Traditionally cooked with tons of Balinese spices and herbs, this healthy delicious dish will be sure to tickle your stomach. All balinese food are very spicy, even to my diluted Indonesian tongue. You can try to request a non-spicy version of the dish when you order, but it will still have a tinge of spiciness due to the pan or wok when they cook. It can be quite feat to tackle but the fresh seafood is wonderfully seasoned and definitely worth a try. You can check out Tegukopi for great cafe and local food variety. To get a truly authentic experience, you can visit any restaurant that you drive by with signs that says “Ikan Nyat Nyat”. Many of these local dining places do not have Google Maps store but serve fantastic and cheap local food that is tastier than any cafes you can find.

11. Flower Fields – Marigold Garden and Taman Edelweiss

Bask in the beautiful flower plantation and experiment with your camera to take the cutest photos with stunning volcano in the background, and flowers in the foreground. With different flower fields, the flowers are fully bloom typically in summer time.

marigold field map

12. Get Up Close with Dolphins at Lovina Beach

Yes, you saw that right! Dolphins grace the Lovina Bay every morning in the early hours between 7 to 9am. As they travel across the straits, many tours have come to get a glimpse with these magical creatures swimming across the shore. The tours are either private tours are usually priced per boat, and you can combine with another small group to go on this expedition. The tour guides are usually quite aggressive in chasing after the dolphins for the tourist to get a closer look, but the loud engine of the boats actually disturbs them and chase them away even further. It was quite distressing to see. I have seen others getting local boats from their accommodations that are not part of the tour group, which definitely is more peaceful as the crowd of boats are not seen in the vicinity.

Cultural Immersion – Local Traditional Villages and Temples with unique characteristics

13. Ulun Danu Temple

The Ulun Danu temple lays over the Beratan Lake in a holy and spectacular display of strong faith and deep religious practices. All the temples are still active even as tourist roam around. The temple, is on the way if you are driving up to Kintamani from Ubud. The large size of the temple housed various religious customs throughout the day which visitors can watch along. Lush greeneries provides a peaceful environment in the temple that protects the lake overlooking the tall mountains in the far distance. A must visit if you can spare the time for a view you don’t want to miss!

14. Penglimpuran Village

Penglimpuran village is one of the best preserved traditional Balinese village. A quiet welcoming corner of Bali far from the throngs from tourist, this serene village gives us a glimpse of the traditional houses and lifestyles of the locals. A worthy stop in the North, the local tours will also support the village economy by providing jobs and sales of souvenirs on top of the cultural experience.

15. Trunyan Village

Trunyan Village is famously known for its unique tradition of not burying their dead. The bodies are left in bamboo cages covered by cloth in the open until it is fully decomposed, before moving the skull to a stairs altar for preservation. It is said that the Banyan tree prevents the bodies from smelling purid, but the sight all over the village is certainly not for the fainted hearted. The village dating as far back as to the 10th century, has strict traditions and customs that they practice even today.

16. Besakih Temple

The most prolific temple in Bali is the Besakih temple. Known as the largest and holiest temple in Bali, this sacred temple dates back to even older than 2000 years old. Standing 1000m beside Mount Agung, the extensive complex of 23 temples within the complex are always bustling with festivities.

As the Besakih temple is such a famous tourist destination, there are many people who will force the guided tours, photography sessions on you or leg covers for the ladies. Be prepared to trudge through them straight to the ticketing counter and don’t stop along the way to pay for any “road usage” or “entrance” until you are right at the foot of the temple.

17. Handara Gates

An entrance to a resort complex has turned into a profitable business for locals facilitating tourists to get their photos, videos and drone shots. You have to pay a fee to take photos even if you are using your own camera, and only get 15 minutes per person. The waiting time averages 1 hour so unless you are adamant on getting that perfect travel shot, you can move along and take it somewhere else.

18. Pura Lempuyang Luhur

Another hot spot for the perfect Bali “gate to heaven” shot, an illusion of a reflective lake is created by placing a mirror at the bottom of the camera lens. You have to pay to get the photographers to take this photo for you and they will direct your shot so you look glamorous in the intersection between earth and the sky.

There is another quiet Gate to heaven in Nusa Penida that has nobody and free to take as many photos as you want. Check out it out here.