Balithisweek

🌏 **Bali continues to earn global recognition.**

Bali has been ranked ** #9 in the world for solo travel** in Tripadvisor’s 2026 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards.

Among Asian destinations in the global Top 10, Bali comes in ** #2 in Asia**, behind Hanoi, Vietnam, while ranking ahead of Cape Town, South Africa, which takes the #10 global spot.

The recognition is based on the quality and quantity of traveler reviews and ratings collected by Tripadvisor over a 12 month period.

For Bali, the ranking highlights something many travelers already experience: the island is not only a destination for couples, families, and groups, but also a place where solo travelers can explore culture, nature, beaches, wellness, food, and local communities at their own pace.

Another positive recognition for Bali on the global tourism stage. 🇮🇩🌴

Two groups face off after dark, throw glowing coconut husk embers at each other to the sound of gamelan, and call it protection, not a fight. Siat Geni traces back to when Majapahit forces first cleared the land around Tuban, when villagers reportedly fell into trance and this ritual became the fix that stuck.

Sparks scattering through the night sky, dozens of young men on each side, holy water sprinkled before anyone throws the first ember. Open for visitors to watch, but worth remembering this is a sacred ceremony, not a performance.

Save this before 26 September, share it with someone who plans trips around a good ceremony, and follow Bali This Week for more rituals still running exactly as they always have.

Once a year, a village in Mengwi throws ketupat and rice cakes at each other in the middle of the street, on purpose, with full blessing from the temple. It has been happening since 1339, tied to a full moon that shifts the date every year, so most people outside Bali have never even heard of it.

There is a reason behind the throwing, and it is not chaos for its own sake. Feminine meets masculine, earth meets sky, and the whole thing traces back to a famine and a promise made almost 700 years ago.

Save this before 26 September, share it with someone who'd actually show up for this, and follow Bali This Week for more traditions still running exactly as they always have.

Some of these travel myths have been passed down so many times nobody remembers where they started, first-timer or not. We picked four that even repeat visitors still believe, and laid out what's actually true for each one.

No judgment if you've said one of these yourself. Just save it before your next trip so you're not the one repeating it.

Which one got you?

Save this for your next Bali trip, share it with whoever still swears by one of these, and follow Bali This Week for more myths we're happy to bust.

Bali's art scene did not stop at the last painting you saw hanging in a cafe. There is a room in Karangasem walking you through an entire life cycle, from birth ceremony to cremation, and a museum in Mengwi keeping over 20 towering ogoh ogoh standing year round instead of letting them burn after a single Nyepi night.

Some of these have been running for decades and still barely make it onto anyone's itinerary, tucked between temple visits and beach club bookings. Worth the detour if you actually want to understand what shaped the island's art beyond what ends up on a postcard.

Which museum goes on your list first?

Save this before your next Bali trip, share it with someone who actually cares about the culture side of the island, and follow Bali This Week for more art and culture worth knowing.

We’re moving forward with plans for a battery powered electric tram connecting Ngurah Rai International Airport with Canggu, passing through key tourism areas including Kuta, Legian and Seminyak.

The proposed corridor is around 13 km and aims to provide a new public transport option while helping tackle congestion in South Bali.

The first Airport to Legian section is currently targeted for commercial operation in late 2028, with further development toward Seminyak and Canggu subject to planning and feasibility studies.

As Bali continues to welcome millions of visitors every year, we’re seeing new infrastructure take shape to support the island’s future. Better public transportation could make it easier for both residents and visitors to move between the airport and Bali’s busiest tourism areas.

Bali is growing, and we’re excited to see how the island continues to evolve. 🌴

An Unforgettable Evening of Dining by the Sea at Nusa Dua

An Unforgettable Evening of Dining by the Sea at Nusa Dua - Balithisweek On August 28, Le Bleu by K Club welcomed 100 guests to The Longest Table, a landmark evening of luxury beachfront dining in Nusa Dua that brought together gastronomy, Balinese culture, live music, and the Indian Ocean beneath a full moon. Set to be an annual celebration of dining, The…

This week Bali is not choosing between culture and a full calendar, it is doing both at once. Tirta Gangga has a full art festival running through the weekend, Nusa Penida gets its own beachfront festival at Amarta, and somewhere between a comedy night in Seminyak and a live score cinema screening at Klymax, there is genuinely something for whichever mood you are in.

Sunset gigs, a fun run before the heat sets in, a sunday market, a solo exhibition in Ubud quietly running the whole weekend. The full lineup, dates, and locations are all on the slides, worth a proper look before you commit to just staying home again this Saturday.

Which one's already on your calendar?

Save this for the weekend, share it with whoever keeps asking what's happening in Bali this week, and follow Bali This Week for more of what's on.

You duck through a gap in the rock barely wide enough for your shoulders, and it opens into a cave big enough to hold an entire temple complex inside. Goa Giri Putri has been an active pilgrimage site long before it became a stop on anyone's itinerary, and that distinction still shows in how it operates today.

There is a version of this visit that takes thirty minutes, and a version that takes two and a half hours if you are there for the full purification ritual. Neither is the wrong way to experience it, but knowing the difference before you go in changes how you plan the rest of your day on Nusa Penida.

Save this before your next Nusa Penida trip, share it with someone always chasing the spots nobody else knows about, and follow Bali This Week for more sacred sites worth understanding first.