A Simple Guide to Visiting Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Bali ~ LillaGreen

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Let’s talk about the most Instagrammed place in Bali – the Tegalalang rice terraces! Tegalalang rice terraces are located in central Bali, just about 25 minutes of drive from Ubud (find my Ubud Guide here). And if you ask me if the Tegallalang rice terraces are supposed to be touristy and crowded – yes they are, but not in the early morning and after 4 p.m. And whether or not touristy, I absolutely fell in love with the landscape – I just hadn’t seen something like this before travelling to Bali. The views are breath-taking, the natural scenery – absolutely unique!

You cannot end up with not being impressed while walking through the terraces … Tegalalang is one of the prettiest places I have ever been! It felt familiar to me – I had a similar feeling while visiting the Tea Plantations of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia (here).

Tegallalang Rice Terrace: How to Get There

Tegallalang Rice Terrace is located at Tegalalang Village in the centre of the island of Bali. You can reach the Tegallalang rice terraces in just 20-30 minutes of drive from Ubud. The terraces are also about 35 km from Denpasar (ca 1h 15 min by car), 45 km from Kuta (ca 1h 30 min by car), 55 km from Nusa Dua (ca 2h 30 min by car), and 45 km from Padang Bai (ca 1h 30 min by car).

Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Things to Know Before You Go

There is no opening hours. Tegalalang Rice Terrace welcomes visitors 24 hours, every day from Monday to Sunday. The restaurants and cafes are open from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

5.000 IDR for cars, and 2.000 IDR for motorbikes

You will be asked multiple times for donations – these donations are considered optional, but they felt mandatory to me! Anyway, the donations are an important contribution of the visitors for the local farmers who work here every day.

Things to Know about Rice Terraces in Bali

Indonesia is among the top ten rice producers in the World. Only China and India produce more rice than Indonesia. Bali is a part of the rice production, but the small island has rather a market for premium and organic rice in Indonesia. Rice to the people of Bali is much more than a food or rice field – it is one of the most important elements of the Balinese culture and tradition. Rice terraces and paddy fields are the most common sight in Bali and are the most photographed landscape by visitors.

The rice fields and terraces in Bali represent an ancient and complex watering system. The water comes from the surrounding rivers and mountains and the water canals build by the farmers allow the water to flow from one field into another. Growing rice in Bali is more difficult as you may think – almost all of the Balinese rice is still grown by hand, not machines. Balinese rice culture has been awarded World Heritage Cultural Landscape status by UNESCO which means that the rice cultivation should happen like 150 years ago.

And the Balinese are really proud of their quality rice! Each time the song “No Women, no cry” by Bob Marley came from the radio, the Balinese sang “No women, no rice” 😀

! Did you know that ...

Farmers working in the rice fields in Bali (but also visitors) are among the most exposed to venomous snakebite. There are plenty of “hidden” snakes in the rice fields of Bali. Some of them are venomous, like equatorial spitting cobras, king cobras, banded kraits, keelbacks, etc. And other are non-venomous: Burmese python, reticulated pythons, white-banded wolf snakes, Indochinese ratsnakes, vine snakes, etc.