How to Spend 48 Perfect Hours in Seminyak, Bali!

Seminyak Bali is the perfect vacation destination for all budgets. From luxury hotels to compact hostels, sleek bars to beachside arak dispensers, Seminyak has it all.

This 48 hour itinerary is aimed at the mid to low range traveller and is based on my own experience in Bali.

While Seminyak has a lot of activities, restaurants, and beach clubs to offer, the best thing to do here, in my opinion, is absolutely nothing at all. Make sure to give yourself time to put your feet up, crack open a Bintang and read that book you’ve had collecting dust.

How to Spend 48 Perfect Hours in Seminyak, Bali! — *Seminyak is all about soaking up the sun.*

*Some of the links included in this post may be affiliate. I may receive a small commission from purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Please know I only recommend products or services that I 100% trust and believe in*

Day 1: Flea Market

Revolver Espresso

Jl. Kayu Aya No.Gang 51, Seminyak.
7 am–11 pm every day

Try Revolver Espresso if you’re a certified coffee snob! We stopped at Revolver because it was close to our accommodation.

After we were caffinated, we head to Gourmet Cafe Petitenget for brekky.

Gourmet Cafe Petitenget

Taman Ayu Hotel, Jl. Petitenget No.100x, Seminyak.
7am-11pm every day

This cafe is for people craving a Western-style breakfast; they have croissants, eggs benedict and avocado toast, among other dishes.

Slowly make your way across town to the Seminyak Flea Market.

Flea Market

Kayu Aya Square Oberoi, Jl. Kayu Aya No.17, Seminyak.
9 am–6 pm every day

It’s honestly not the most impressive flea market I’ve seen, and its probably smaller than you think.

But it’s worth visiting for the experience, and for the shops and sights you’ll see as you make your way there.

Because this is such a tourist-ified market, be prepared to HUSTLE. Stall owners will suggest a price that is wayyy beyond what the item is worth.

My Tips for Bargaining at Bali’s Markets

1. Bring small change.

This will give you bargaining power. You can pull out a note and tell the stall owner that you only have 50K rupiah, so they can sell it to you for that price, or you can’t buy it. This works surprisingly well.

2. Keep your notes randomly separated in your pockets.

The worst thing you can do if pull out a huge wad of rolled up notes from your pocket. The price will double immediately when they see that you can afford it.

3. Be prepared to leave the item (or at least feign it).

A sale is a sale. Stall owners would prefer to sell an item at any price than not sell it at all. As long as you have offered a reasonable price, be prepared to leave if they insist you pay more. More often than not, they will stop you and accept the offer. If they don’t, and you really loved the item, you can return a few minutes later and purchase at their price. But you will likely find the item at another stall where you can try again!

4. Is it Worth It?

While I do think that negotiating is required at Bali’s markets, remember that, as a tourist, your currency is worth a lot more. Don’t get caught up bargaining over amounts that are insignificant to you. Don’t fight over an amount that gets you a postage stamp at home, but gets them a meal in Bali.

Explore Seminyak’s Streets

We strolled around town, visiting souvenir shops, convenience stores and cafes, just soaking up the Balinese lifestyle.

Seminyak is known for having a lot of stray dogs, so you’ll see plenty of dogs walking around, or, as pictured above, guarding temple entrances. I wouldn’t recommend trying to pet them.

Relax by the Hotel Pool

We grabbed some random snacks we’d never tried before from convenience store.

We spent the afternoon lazing around in the pool, reading on the sunbeds or trying some Chitato chips (Mi Goreng flavoured?)

Dinner & Drinks at Motel Mexicola

For dinner on our first night in Seminyak, we visited the trendly Motel Mexicola.

This is bar is kind of pricey (Western prices) but the atmosphere and interior makes up for it. For dinner, we had guacamole and corn chips, grilled corn, and tacos.

Red Ruby Nightclub

After dinner, we went to Red Ruby nightclub for a boogie.

Day 2: Beach Clubs

On the second day of this Seminyak itinerary, it’s time to try some of Seminyak’s infamous beach clubs.

A lot of Bali’s tourists come to Seminyak solely to visit these beach clubs, so I couldn’t leave without seeing what they’re all about.

Mrs Sippy and Potato Head are the two most popular ones, we opted to try Mrs Sippy.

Mrs Sippy

There is 100K IDR entry fee which includes pool access and a towel.

For a day bed (double mattress with umbrella) a minimum spend of IDR 1 million is required.

There are picnic tables and other bed options available, but we found that they sold out very quickly. So its best to prebook your day bed or table on their website in advance.

IDR 1 million sounds like a lot, but it will go very quickly. Food is in the 150K range and drinks in the 60-80K range.

Mrs Sippy is known for its huge pool and triple level diving board.

I loved the swim-up bar.

Bali Travel Essentials

SIM cards: Airalo offers eSIMS for over 200 countries which you can install BEFORE travelling, saving you the stress of running around to find a store or from being ripped off by local vendors. This is perfect for backpackers who are travelling to multiple destinations in a short period of time.

Insurance: You should NOT go overseas without getting travel insurance. Travel insurance protects you in case you get injured or your plans change or are cancelled. I always use Covermore, because the cover is comprehensive and they were easy to work with when I needed to make a claim.

Banking: When travelling and saving for travel I use Up Bank, an online Australian bank, that allows fee-free overseas transactions, unlimited savings ‘pools’ and easy transfers. If you join Up with my QR code we both get $13!

You’ll probably spend the whole day at the beach club, for one, to make the most of your entry fee, and two, because its easy to lose track of time in here!

Personally, I was not the biggest fan of Mrs Sippy. I found the beds to be overpriced and the food to be average.

We had fun, and I see the appeal, but I prefer to experience something a little more local.

Mano Beach House

After the busy atmosphere of Mrs Sippy, we wanted something a little more lowkey, and affordable, for dinner.

Mano Beach House is located right on Petitenget Beach, which makes it the perfect place to watch the sunset.

Again, this place serves Western style food for almost Western prices, but it was way less busy than the beach clubs. They had some fun cocktails.

Ta Man

As the sun set, we decided to go down onto the beach. We found Ta Man, a bar built from an old canoe. They were serving cheap drinks and cocktails, and If you order from them, you could sit at one of their tables with umbrellas.

At Ta Man, you can try arak. Arak is an alcohol made from fermented palm trees and grains. It is VERY strong and VERY cheap, so you do have to restrain yourself a little.

It is often homemade and stored in recycled plastic water bottles.

Ta Man had a deadly arak cocktail for 40K IDR when I visited last year. I’m not sure how I made it back to my hotel.

That’s how to spend a perfect 48 hours in Seminyak, Bali!

Let me know if this itinerary inspired you to finally book that trip to Bali, or if theres any sights or restaurants that people absolutely need to visit!

How to Get to Seminyak

To get to Seminyak, you’ll need to fly to Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport then take a 40 minute taxi to town. If you’re flying from Australia, there are always some good flight deals to be had.

I would NOT recommend arriving in Bali and negotiating a taxi outside the airport. It is pretty hectic, there are people running around shouting at you, trying to grab your luggage and lead you to their car.

I pre-booked my taxi ride before I even left home on Booking.com. You can put in your flight number when booking so the driver can see when you’ll arrive and if your plane gets delayed. I liked this because the price (which was very reasonable) was set, we didn’t have to rely on a taxi meter.

Alternatively, you might be able to arrange for your hotel to pick you up.

Where to Stay in Seminyak

$ Hostel $

Bali Stellar Capsules
Gang Kahyangan No. 4A, Jalan Drupadi, Seminyak
This hostel has a nice pools and is 5 minutes from the main street and 15 minutes walk to Seminyak Beach. Staying here means avoiding using taxis or Grab. Check availability or see other options.

$ Hotel $

Kubu Petitenget Suite
Jl. Raya Petitenget, Gg. Sunyi No 10, 80361 Seminyak, Indonesia.
This guesthouse offers basic but comfortable lodgings. It is located close to central Seminyak and offers a nice pool, which every room looks out over, and a yummy continental breakfast. Check availability or see other options.

How to Get Around Seminyak

Walk

Most of the sights and restaurants in this itinerary are within walking distance of each other.

Grab

If you want to travel longer distances, I recommend downloading the Grab app. This is essentially like Uber for south-east Asia, where you can book cars or mopeds to drive you to a destination for a fixed price.

* Warning about Taxis *

Be wary when accepting taxi rides from the side of the road, as they are likely to charge you astronomical fares.

Bluebird Taxi is one of the most popular and recognisable taxi companies in Bali. The island currently has an issue with ‘fake’ Bluebird taxis. The fake taxi are designed to look the same as the real thing, with blue exterior and the Bluebird logo (they usually have a slight variation in the colour and logo which you start to recognise the longer you stay in Bali, but they are hoping a new tourist won’t notice).

They will be aggressive in offering their services, sometimes driving around offering lifts to pedestrians, or driving up to people who appear to be waiting for a pre-booked taxi. Countless times I saw tourists who had ordered a Bluebird taxi online hop into a fake taxi thinking it was the one they ordered.

Check that the taxi ID, which is written on the side of the car, and the driver ID, which is usually stuck inside the windshield, match what you have booked in the app.

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