Bali's Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Tegalalang Rice Terrace, also known as Ceking Rice Terrace or the Tegalalang Rice Fields, is one of Bali‘s most famous and popular attractions and it is included in Bali’s UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for its traditional subak irrigation system. There’s probably something for everyone here, including scenic walking trails through the rice terraces (our favorite thing to do here), giant swings and various staged photo-op stations, zip lines and aerial “floating” bike rides (Sky Bike) for adrenaline seekers. Yes, Tegalalang gets busy, and crowded, and gives off a certain tackiness and tourist-trap vibes, but it’s still possible to enjoy the natural beauty of the terraces in a more peaceful setting. Fortunately, most people stick to one side of the terraces. If you cross the river at the bottom of the valley (over one of several wooden bridges), you’ll enjoy a much more relaxing visit. To help you plan your visit and get the most out of your time here, we put together this Visiting Guide for Bali’s Tegalalang Rice Terrace. Tegalalang is only a short drive from Ubud, and a visit here can easily be combined with other attractions as part of a day trip from Ubud.

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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

Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Location & Map

Tegalalang Rice Terrace is located in Bali’s Gianyar regency, a short distance north of Ubud (link to Google Maps)

How to get to Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Drive times can be highly variable depending on the traffic conditions.

Distance from Ubud: 10 km // Average Drive Time: 15 -25 min

Distance from Kuta: 40 km // Average Drive Time: 1h15 – 1h30

Distance from Canggu: 35 km // Average Drive Time: 1h15 – 1h30

Distance from Sanur: 30 km // Average Drive Time: 50 – 65 min

Distance from Sidemen: 40 km // Average Drive Time 1h15-1h30

In our opinion, the three best transport options to reach Tegalalang Rice Terrace 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 Tegalalang Rice Terrace 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 Tegalalang Rice Terrace:

Tegalalang Rice Terrace – Ticket Price and Operating Hours

Entrance Fee

There are several entry points to the rice terraces, our favorite is the northern section of Tegalalang, also known as Abian Desa Rice Terraces (Link to Google Maps). It’s easy to find, it has the largest car park in the area and is less busy than some of the other sections of Tegalalang simply because it is further north of Ubud.

The Tegalalang Rice Terrace entrance fee is 25,000 IDR per person (2025), which roughly amounts to 1.50 US$/€.

Although most places in and around Ubud often require that you pay cash, here it is possible to pay by credit card (though with a 3% surcharge). That said, it’s still often a good idea to carry around enough cash in case the credit card payment system isn’t working, and also because many of the add-on activities you can do at Tegalalang require that you pay cash.

Other Activities

– Skye Bike & Zipline adventures: both activities are fairly expensive (in Balinese currency), costing almost 20 times the entrance fee. The zipline costs 350,000 IDR whereas the the Sky Bike costs 450,000 IDR (2025).

– Giant Swings: Single swing 200,000 IDR and Tandem Swing 200,000 IDR (2025).

Opening Hours

Tegalalang Rice Terrace is open daily from 8 am to 6 pm.

Facilities

Clean and modern toilets are available next to the car park and ticket office.

You will also find several kiosks throughout the terraces that sell bottled drinks and snacks. There are also several cafes and warungs (restaurants) near the ticket office along the main road, many of which had outdoor seating areas with superb views of the rice terraces.

What to Wear

Not being a historic or religious site, there are no requirements regarding having your shoulders and knees covered.

The walking surface of the paths and trails throughout the rice terraces are often uneven and occasionally a bit muddy in some places after recent rain, so proper footwear is recommended (avoid flip flips if possible).

About Tegalalang Rice Terrace and its History

Rice cultivation has long been an important part of Indonesia’s history, dating back to around the eighth century. Bali’s fertile soil and optimal levels of rainfall make rice farming a productive operation year-round. There is little information on when rice cultivation specifically began in Tegalalang, but there’s good reason to believe it started around the same time it was being developed in other areas of Bali.

Over time, the Balinese developed complex irrigation and farming systems, known as the Subak irrigation system, a cooperative approach that embodies the Balinese philosophy of “Tri Hita Karana“, which emphasizes the harmonious relationship between humans, nature, and religion. The subak system involves the coordinated management of water distribution, cooperatively built and managed by the farmers themselves. Canals, small waterfalls and intricately designed rice field layouts create sustainable irrigation networks, providing the necessary water supply to each field. The irrigation system is so unique in the world that it was recognized by UNESCO, which added it to its World Heritage list in 2012.

Unfortunately, the UNESCO designation led to a significant rise in popularity, as it often does in many places. The area has since started to become overdeveloped, with typical “tourist traps” popping up all around Tegalalang. For instance, once you start trekking through the terraces, particularly near the main entrance, you will come across multiple drink stands, Bali swings and tacky props to be used for photos. The increase in the number of visitors has no doubt contributed to the local economy, but it has also led to a significant increase in the human ecological footprint in the area. Indeed, balancing the preservation of Tegalalang Rice Terrace’s natural beauty with the demands of tourism is an ongoing challenge.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace – What to Expect

Once you pass the entrance gate, you’ll probably be caught between two minds: on the one hand, the landscape and scenery are spectacular, but on the other, there’s a lot going and there are all sorts of tourist trap attractions nearby, including several giant swings (which you can use at an additional cost) and various decorative displays and props that you can use to take pictures (most are free). There’s also an aerial bike ride (the Tegalalang Skybike) and a zipline that whisks you across the valley. Honestly, we are not particularly into these attractions, and it feels like this side of the valley is definitely getting overdeveloped, which sadly takes away from the natural and pristine beauty of the area.

Fortunately, as soon as you leave the top ledge of the western side of the valley, things quickly calm down and you can start to enjoy the scenery. Most walking paths in the Tegalalang Rice Terrace follow the north-south direction: they run parallel to the valley river that essentially splits the rice terraces into two halves. To our knowledge, there are no good maps of the walking paths at Tegalalang, but it’s honestly quite hard to get lost as the valley is very open and you can see the area almost in its entirety from most vantage points.

We first suggest sticking on the western side of the terraces (the side you came in on), as there are several fantastic viewpoints and scenic lookouts where you fully admire the valley’s beauty.

Eventually, you can start making your way down by following paths that take you toward the valley’s river. You’ll be able to cross to the other side of the valley by one of several small wooden bridges. Few people venture this far, so you’ll likely enjoy a more peaceful visiting experience on this side of the valley.

Once across, you’ll quickly notice that the views are no less spectacular.

You are also more likely to see local farmers working the fields.

There’s also a small temple that you can wander around.

At one point during our trek through the fields, we saw a rice paddy snake (Hypsiscopus plumbea), also known as grey water snake, a species of non-venomous snake endemic to South Asia. Don’t worry if you see one, they fear humans and this one quickly slithered away from us in a heartbeat.

How Long Do You Need at Tegalalang Rice Terrace

We recommend planning to spend about an hour or an hour and a half in Tegalalang Rice Terrace. This should give you enough time to wander around on both sides of the river and enjoy several photogenic viewpoints away from the crowds, without feeling rushed.

If you would like to enjoy some of the additional activities like the zipline and Sky Bike, you’ll probably want to plan for additional time here.

Best Time to Visit Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Best Time of the Year

Although we visited during the dry season, there’s no bad time of year to visit Tegalalang. There’s a higher risk of rain during the wet season (November-April), and there’s also likely to be more mosquitoes and the paths will be muddier. On the plus side, however, there are likely to be fewer other tourists around.

Consider off-peak months like May-June or September-October for a more personal experience with fewer crowds.

In terms of the specific look of the rice terraces, they might not showcase their usual verdant splendor during the harvest season (when farmers collect the rice) and the first several weeks that follow. For the most vivid and lush landscapes, it’s best to schedule, if possible your visit outside these harvesting cycles. However, we found this was difficult to achieve in Tegalalang as we found rice terraces in various states of their cycle, with some sections having recently been harvested and others in early- or mid-growth. There are also year-to-year changes depending on various factors such as weather conditions.

Best Time of Day

The best time to visit is definitely in the early morning when it’s cooler and when there a far fewer other visitors. You will be able to visit the terraces in a much more relaxed atmosphere.

If you can’t make it early in the day, try the late afternoon, an hour or two before closing time. It will likely still be quite warm, but the amount of visitors will have started to thin down.

Is Tegalalang Rice Terrace Worth it?

Despite all the negative tacky and tourist trap aspects we highlighted earlier, we still think Tegalalang Rice Terrace is worth a visit, especially if you temper your expectations accordingly. We knew what we were going into, so we didn’t have very high expectations. That said, we knew that the rice terraces were going to be beautiful nonetheless, and indeed they did not disappoint from a natural scenery and visual perspective. And, as mentioned, if you walk far enough from the main entrance, you’ll be able to experience some solitude and forget about the tacky tourist attractions that surround the terraces.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace vs Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

Though both rice terraces are visually stunning, both offer completely different experiences. Jatiluwih is much larger and is surrounded by beautiful mountains, including the imposing Mount Batukaru. You can walk for much longer, and there are far fewer people that visit given that it is located further away from Ubud. Also, there are no swings or zip lines (at least not as of 2025), with one or two staged photo spots.

Tegalalang, while definitely busier and more crowded, is more visually dramatic due to how steep the rice terraces are – they are more reminiscent of those you might find throughout other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam.

For additional information on how both rice terraces compare, check out our guide: Tegalalang Rice Terrace or Jatiluwih Rice Terraces – Which Should You Visit?

Sights and Attractions near Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Our favourite attractions nearby include a cluster of four temples: Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring, Pura Mengening (another hidden gem), Tirta Empul and Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu. They are all about a 15-minute drive from Tegalalang.

To discover more of Bali’s temples, be sure to check out our guide on Bali’s Best Temples to Visit.

For a more complete list of attractions that you can visit from Ubud, check out our guide on the Best Day Trips from Ubud.

Where to Stay Near Tegalalang Rice Terrace

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

Ubud Village Hotel

Adiwana Resort Jembawan

Kajane Mua Villas

Alaya Resort Ubud

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

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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

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Transfer from Airport
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