Bali‘s sacred monkey forests, filled with those cute but mischievous long-tailed macaques, are a great draw for visitors. There are a few different options to choose from, including the Ubud Monkey Forest, Sangeh Monkey Forest and the Ala Kedaton Monkey Forest. You are also very likely to see some macaques when visiting the Uluwatu temple in south Bali and you might see some when visiting Mount Batur (though we didn’t see any there during our time there). We put together this travel guide specifically to help those struggling to decide between the two most popular options near Ubud: the Ubud Monkey Forest and the Sangeh Monkey Forest. You could visit both like we did, but if you are short on time and can only visit one, we hope to help with that decision, as we definitely prefer one over the other.
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You might also be interested in these pages (coming soon):
Best Things to See and Do in Bali
Best Things to See and Do in the Gili Islands
The Perfect Three-Week Bali Itinerary
Everything You Need to Know About Visiting Bali
Sangeh Monkey Forest & Ubud Monkey Forest – Where Are They Located?
Both Bali Sacred Forests are located close to one another, with about a 45-minute drive separating the two. While, as the same suggests, Ubud Monkey Forest is located in Ubud, Sangeh Monkey Forest is a dozen kilometres northwest of Ubud. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the road system with few east-west roads, those 12 km turn to nearly 20 km as you have to drive south of Ubud before heading west, and then finally north towards the Sangeh forest.
If you are staying in Ubud, Ubud Monkey Forest is easy to get to and you can walk there (it’s about a 20-minute walk from the center of town). Getting to Sangeh Monkey Forest definitely requires wheels – see the How to Get to the Monkey Forests section below to see the different transport options available to you.
Ubud Monkey Forest: What to Expect
Officially named the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, Ubud Monkey Forest is a nature reserve that is home to over 1200 long-tailed macaques. It is also still used by the local community for worship as there are three temples within the forest grounds, including the impressive 14th-century Pura Dalem Agung. The walking paths are well-maintained and they scenically wind through the lush and dense forest. It’s definitely a nice change of pace from the noise of Ubud’s busy streets.
The main attractions of Ubud Monkey Forest are obviously the playful long-tailed macaques. You’ll see monkeys of all sorts, small and large, adults and babies, active monkeys and sleepy monkeys.
In Ubud Monkey Forest you are free to walk around at your own pace while enjoying the wonderful forest scenery, and stopping to watch the monkeys behave, well, like monkeys! The forest is large enough that you should plan for at least an hour here and ideally an hour and a half.
Note that it is forbidden to either touch or feed the monkeys, and it is highly recommended to keep your belongings hidden (to avoid having them stolen by the monkeys). See the monkey safety tips section below for more details.
Ubud Monkey Forest Entrance fee: 100,000 IDR* per person on weekdays (2025), which roughly amounts to 6.00 US$/€. (120,00 IDR* weekends); * less expensive for children
Ubud Monkey Forest Opening Hours: 9 am to 5 pm.
For more information on visiting the forest, be sure to check out our separate guide for Bali’s Ubud Monkey Forest.
Sangeh Monkey Forest: What to Expect
We had a completely different experience visiting Sangeh Monkey Forest. While the monkeys roughly behaved the same and were interesting to watch, that’s pretty much where the good news ends, aside from the fact that there were far fewer visitors in the Sangeh forest compared to Ubud’s.
There are several things we experienced in Sangeh that unpleasantly surprised us. The main issue is that the site assigns a “guide” to you during your visit (included in the basic entrance fee). That in itself wouldn’t be a huge problem, but it turns out the “guide’s” only real purpose is to get monkeys to come close to you and jump on your lap or your shoulder. They do this by encouraging you to attract them with peanuts, which are also provided to you and included in the entrance fee. Their end goal is to take pictures of you with the monkey and to try to sell them to you afterwards.
There are three obvious problems with this experience: 1) you’re supposed to avoid direct contact with monkeys yet here they encourage it in the hope of generating a profit, 2) peanuts are extremely unhealthy for monkeys and yet they promote feeding them with those, and 3) the whole thing just feels like a tourist scam.
Aside from the negative experience with the assigned guide, although nice, the Sangeh Monkey forest was significantly smaller and less impressive than Ubud’s, with fewer walking paths. You can cover the entire grounds in less than 10 minutes.
Sangeh Monkey Forest Entrance fee: 75,000 IDR* per person (2025), which roughly amounts to 4.50 US$/€.
Sangeh Monkey Forest Opening Hours: 8 am to 5 pm.
*includes a tour guide, bottle of water and a bag of peanuts
Ubud or Sangeh: Which to Choose?
You probably already sense which way we lean by now. Knowing what we know now, we would only visit Ubud Monkey Forest. However, we will try our best to be unbiased and list the reasons why you might prefer one forest over the other.
Reasons to Choose Ubud Monkey Forest
– There are far more monkeys here (about twice as many as in Sangeh).
– The forest is definitely larger with more to see and do and you can easily spend an hour here, whereas the Sangeh forest can be covered in less than 15 minutes.
– The forest is also significantly more scenic, with beautiful walking paths winding through it.
– It has not just one but three temples to see and visit.
– No guides are trying to get monkeys to jump on you for picture-taking purposes.
– The monkeys aren’t fed unhealthy foods (peanuts).
– It’s within walking distance of most places in Ubud.
– It has a First Aid Clinic on-site in case of a monkey scratch or bite (these are very rare occurrences – see Monkey Safety Tips section below for more information)
Reasons to Choose Sangeh Monkey Forest
– If you really don’t like crowds*
– If you are short on time and want a quick visit
– If you don’t plan on spending any time in Ubud
– If you want to pay a cheaper entrance fee.
*Yes, the Ubud Monkey Forest gets significantly more visitors, but if you visit early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it really doesn’t feel like there are that many people there, as the forest is huge and people spread out.
A Primer on Monkey Safety Tips
While the monkeys tend to keep to themselves most of the time, they can occasionally get close to or even jump on people. If that happens, the most important thing to do is to stay calm and not panic – sudden movements on your part might scare the monkey and provoke an aggressive response. Just remain still and calm, and soon enough the monkey will lose interest and hop off.
Here are some tips to help minimize the risk of direct contact:
– Do not bring food: Monkeys have an excellent sense of smell and will try to snatch any food or drinks, even if it is tucked away inside a bag or backpack.
– Do not feed the monkey: This should go without saying given the previous point, but feeding the monkeys is prohibited, as they are fed properly by the sanctuary’s caretakers. Giving them snacks like peanuts, candy, or bread can harm their health.
– Secure your valuables: Monkeys love shiny objects, so keep sunglasses, hats, and phones secure (ideally don’t bring what you don’t need).
– Don’t run: Running may provoke the monkeys to chase you, thinking it’s a game.
– Don’t touch the monkeys: even if one jumps on you, the best thing you can do is let it be.
– Avoid prolonged direct eye contact: this can be viewed as a sign of aggression by the monkeys.
– Don’t grin or show your teeth while looking at monkeys: this can also be viewed as a sign of aggression by the monkeys.
– Stick to the paths: you will see loads and loads of monkeys during your time in Ubud forest by sticking to the designed paths, there’s no need to go into their environment.
– Be on the lookout even outside the forest: although the forest is encircled by a fence, this doesn’t necessarily keep monkeys in. You are very likely to encounter a few monkeys on the streets immediately around the forest.
What happens if the worse comes to worst and you get scratched or bitten by a monkey?
Don’t panic! If there is a wound, go to the Monkey Forest first aid clinic, where a professional nurse will give any medical treatment that is required to clean and disinfect the wound. If you are worried about potential diseases, you should know that the monkeys in Ubud Monkey Forest are healthy and are constantly monitored for various diseases including Rabies. There have been no reported cases of rabies in the last 15 years, and a mass rabies vaccination program was undertaken in 2023 as an additional precaution. However, medical professionals still might recommend getting a rabies shot just to err on the side of caution, which typically should be administered within the first 72 hours post-incident.
To our knowledge there is no clinic on-site at Sangeh, so if there is a wound following an incident with a monkey you probably should visit a medical clinic or hospital just to be safe.
We should note that during our visits we didn’t see or hear about any monkey scratches or bites, and in fact, only witnessed a few instances of monkeys gently jumping on people (mostly because they got too close or were carrying something of interest to them) before jumping back off without incident. Even if the vast majority of monkey interactions are harmless, it’s best to try to avoid them entirely.
If you would feel more comfortable with a fun and proper guided walking tour of Ubud Monkey Forest, this is also an option that you can pre-book in advance (and includes the forest entrance fee price).
How to get to the Monkey Forests from Outside of Ubud
In our opinion, the three best transport options to reach the Monkey Forests are: renting a scooter (moped), joining a group tour that hits several nearby attractions within a day or a half-day, or hiring a car and driver (which really isn’t as expensive as it sounds).
You can also use Bali ride-hailing apps such as Gojek or Grab, and make use of local taxis, but these options will typically cost more, especially if you plan on visiting several sites and attractions on the same day. Also, Gojek or Grab are not authorized to pick up people in certain locations where local taxi unions limit their services, including Canggu, Sanur, and Ubud. For more information on getting around the island and the different available options, check out our guide on How to Best Get Around Bali.
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Getting to the Monkey Forests by Scooter: Once you get to Bali, you’ll quickly realize that scooter rental operators are everywhere. Although most street-side vendors will regularly be the cheapest option, they come short in several other aspects compared with more reliable and established vendors. For instance, most won’t offer roadside assistance or insurance that covers theft, nor do they regularly sanitize the helmets or have their scooters undergo regular maintenance. For this reason, we highly recommend using Bikago for your scooter rentals. Renting from them might be slightly more expensive (but still can be rented for as low as 12-15 US$/€ per day) but you get great peace of mind as among many other perks, all scooters undergo extensive quality checks.
What you get with your Bikago rental:
-Helmets
-Full tank of petrol and unlimited mileage
-Free Delivery and Collection at your Hotel
-24/7 Roadside Assistance and First Aid Medical Kit
-Charging Mobile Phone Holder
By Car and Driver hire: Hiring a car and driver to explore Bali can be a practical and cost-efficient way to experience a full day of sightseeing. Although this option is more expensive than renting a scooter (typically 40-60 US$/€ per day), you don’t have to worry about navigating the Bali roads and traffic, Also, most cars are modern and air-conditioned, which is welcome in Bali’s humid heat, and the local drivers always know the best routes to take and can optimize your ideal itinerary. Here are some of the best options to choose from:
By Group Tour: Group tours can be a great option to lower costs and reduce the hassle of having to plan an efficient itinerary. Their main downside is they might not exactly be tailored to your specific interests and preferences. But if you are mostly interested in hitting the main sights and attractions, there are these great tour options that can pick you up in multiple towns and visit places including the Monkey Forests:
Where to Stay Near the Monkey Forest
In our opinion, the best place to stay is in Ubud, whose location makes it a great base from which to explore the Monkey Forest and several other attractions around Bali. All of the following are some of the best mid-range hotel accommodations located within walking distance from the city center:
Komaneka at Rasa Sayang Ubud Hotel
Planning a Trip to Bali?
You might be interested in these pages: (coming soon)
Best Things to See and Do in Bali
Best Things to See and Do in the Gili Islands
The Perfect Three-Week Bali Itinerary
Everything You Need to Know About Visiting Bali
We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Bali: The Solo Girl’s Travel Guide
Lonely Planet Bali, Lombok & Nusa Tenggara
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
SafetyWing is a travel insurance company that offers comprehensive coverage for travellers. Includes Medical Insurance and Travel Insurance. Primarily geared towards long-term travellers, digital nomads, and expats.
e-Sim cards
Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide. With Airalo eSIMs, travellers can get connected the moment they land at their destination and avoid nasty data roaming charges
eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.
Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our guide on Sangeh Monkey Forest or Ubud Monkey Forest – Which Should You Visit? and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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