Sidemen Bali is pretty “off the beaten track” in Bali, Indonesia, but it’s developing fast. We were last in Bali in 2025, staying in Kuta, Ubud, Canggu and Sidemen. What did we think of Sidemen? Read on.
We have visited Bali many, many times over the last 20 years. Often with kids, but this time as a couple. Our first trip without the kids!
Sidemen Bali
Sidemen is inland; there’s no beach here. It’s northeast of Denpasar, the airport and Kuta. We got there in a Grab Car from Ubud, it’s about 33 km away, but if you know Bali traffic, you know that you’re in for a long drive.
Luckily, once you’re out of Ubud, which is still our favourite place in Bali, the traffic died down and we were mostly driving through the countryside.
We also stayed in Canggu on this trip and didn’t like it much, and Kuta, which we actually enjoy. I’ll tell you why soon, it’s not our usual scene.
Things To Do In Sidemen
Sidemen seems to be mainly about the views towards Mt Agung, the volcano that dominates the landscape. It also has some unspoiled villages and farming, plus natural jungles to admire.
There’s not much of particular interest in Sidemen. You can take a walking tour through rice fields and villages, take a cooking class, or a jewellery-making class.
You can hike up Mount Agung, but we’ve already completed the Mount Batur sunrise hike in Bali, and loved it. So we didn’t bother with the walk on this occasion.
There is a Bali Swing here, Sidemen Swing, these are all over Bali today. The influencers love them.
Sidemen is fairly close to Tirta Ganga, which is a lovely spot but very busy, and to various waterfalls and rafting locations.
The mother temple, Besakih Temple, isn’t far away. We haven’t been, and we should have.
We had previously visited Tirta Gangga when we were staying on Bali’s east coast, and we’ve spent a lot of time walking and running around the rice fields of Ubud, so neither activity was for us.
We’ve also taken Balinese cookery classes, which we highly recommend, again, from Ubud.
We found that dining options were very limited in Sidemen. The simple warungs we found weren’t good, but then there were some very fancy restaurants, which we would have happily paid for, but we didn’t like the menus.
We travel to eat, a lot, so that was disappointing, as was the breakfast in our hotel. Honestly, Indonesian food isn’t very high on our list of favourite cuisines in Southeast Asia.
Is It Worth Visiting Sidemen?
I think that if you are new to Bali and would like to experience traditional farming and villages, including the subak irrigation that Bali is famous for, you might enjoy Sidemen.
It’s more of a location for relaxation than the cultural and active explorations we prefer. A vacation spot, rather than a must-visit for keen travellers.
I would pick a nice hotel with good food. This was one we walked past, it looks fancy, it’s adults only. This is another incredible-looking property with gardens.
We stayed in a mid-range hotel, it wasn’t good, I won’t recommend it. In fact, we left early.
As we explored Sidemen on foot, which was pleasant, we did find a hotel with vegetable gardens that we could explore, I enjoy looking into gardens being a gardener myself. But you can do this from Ubud.
It was still quite peaceful here, but there was a lot of development, and those rice terraces that people want to see could soon be lost to hotels and restaurants.
So maybe, to keep Sidemen as Sidemen, and preserve the traditional way of life, it might be best to not visit. Our young driver was telling us that his family were farmers, but now he’s a driver, how the traffic had got really bad, where previously there was none. It’s something to think about.
Our guide to Bali with kids is here, it includes photos from that dawn volcano hike, we also have a post on swimming with manta rays from Bali. This trip was a couples break for my husband and I, no kids this time.
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