- 1. The horn is your best friend in Bali, so don’t hold back. Drivers honk when they’re about to overtake, to announce their presence and to hurry all kinds of animals off the road. So banish your British reserve, follow the local example and pump that horn!
- Whatever you see in front of you is your responsibility – that’s the golden rule for driving in Bali. Anyone can enter a main road without so much as a fleeting glance behind them, so stay on the ball and leave plenty of braking distance.
- Bali is a peace-loving island with spiritual as well as secular traffic principles, so road rage is a big no-no. Go slow, stay calm and never get offended. There’s no need to rush anything on this island.
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Search for the best car hire deals in Bali
Renting a car in Bali is a direct route to real adventure, where you can cruise between hidden beaches on the southern coastline, race through the rice terraces, follow twisting roads through volcanic foothills and swing by sleepy fishing villages. Bali packs bags of diversity into a small space, putting all kinds of activities at your fingertips.
Travel Information
Language: Indonesian | Currency: Indonesian Rupiah Rp | Local time: (UTC+8:00) | Average flight time: 18:4hrs
Ease yourself into the driving seat
Driving in Bali is certainly different, and pretty daunting at first. If you’re new to navigating roads in Asia, it might be better to stick to a scooter for the local sights and use buses to cover more serious ground. Even experienced drivers will need time to adapt, so take a few smaller trips in your Bali rental car before setting off on a round-island road trip.
Don’t leave home without organising an international driving license in advance, as this is mandatory in Bali. Car rental companies don’t always check, but it’s not worth taking the risk and getting caught out.
Hiring a car from Bali airport
Renting a car fresh off the plane in Bali is fairly straightforward (although not the cheapest way to go about it), with several car hire companies operating directly from the airport. Once you pass through arrivals, you’ll find all the usual suspects, including Avis, Hertz, Budget and Europcar, waiting to set you up with a set of wheels.
Hiring a car in Bali is relatively cheap, often costing between £30 and £40 per day, although you can bag even better bargains by booking through a local outfit rather than an international player, and you’ll usually find the cheapest Bali car hire deals online.
Picking up your hire car elsewhere
Getting straight behind the wheel after a long-haul flight is no-one’s idea of fun and, in terms of safety, it’s not always a good idea. You definitely need to be wide awake for your first taste of driving on the island.
So instead of collecting your Bali rental car at the airport, take a taxi to your hotel and arrange to pick up your wheels at your resort. It’s easy to hire a car in Bali from all the key tourist hotspots, and it will be far less stressful too.