My Budget Bali Trip from Amsterdam
When I told my friends I was going to Bali for a week and budgeted €50 a day, most of them laughed. Bali is supposed to be expensive, they said. The flight alone costs a fortune. They weren’t entirely wrong — the Air India flight from Amsterdam to Denpasar cost me €699 return, which is about as cheap as it gets from AMS. But once I landed, the costs collapsed.
The visa on arrival was 500,000 Indonesian Rupiah — roughly €30 — and it took 15 minutes at the airport. No stress, no pre-application needed. Just hand over your passport, pay the fee, and you’re stamped in for 30 days. I recommend carrying exact change in euros or USD because the ATM at Ngurah Rai airport charges a €5 fee.
Check the latest flight deals from Amsterdam to Bali on Trip.com here.
Where I Stayed and Why Sanur Won
I spent three days in Ubud because every travel blog told me I had to. And yes, the rice terraces are beautiful, the monkey forest is entertaining, and the yoga studios are world-class. But the traffic made me want to cry. It took me 45 minutes to drive 4 kilometers from my guesthouse to Ubud Center. The scooters, the tour buses, the constant horn honking — it drains the serenity right out of the experience.
For the remaining four days, I moved to Sanur on the southeast coast. Best decision of the trip. Sanur has a laid-back beachfront path that stretches for kilometers, proper sidewalks, and actual peace and quiet. I found a simple beachfront bungalow for €22 a night through Trip.com. It had air conditioning, a hot shower, and a view of Mount Agung across the water at sunrise. In Ubud, the same price got me a room with no AC and a bathroom that smelled like damp concrete.
Browse Bali hotel deals on Trip.com to find something similar.
What I Actually Spent Each Day
My €50 daily breakdown worked like this: €22 for accommodation (split the bungalow cost across 7 days), €8 for a scooter rental (in Sanur, not Ubud — the traffic in Ubud is too stressful to ride safely), €5 for petrol for the whole week (scooters are incredibly fuel-efficient), €7 for food (nasi goreng and mie goreng from local warungs cost €1-2 per plate, fresh coconuts €1), €3 for water and snacks, and €5 buffer for entrance fees and unexpected costs.
The best meal I had was at a warung in Sanur called Mak Beng — €2 for a bowl of fish soup with rice and sambal. The sambal was so spicy I cried a little, but I went back three times. I tried the fancy beach clubs in Seminyak on one afternoon and spent €18 on two cocktails and felt like I’d been robbed. Skip the beach clubs. The beach itself is free.
Local Tips You’ll Actually Need
Buy a Telkomsel SIM card at the airport for €5 — it gives you 30GB of data for 30 days and works everywhere including the ferry to Nusa Penida. Don’t exchange money at the airport. The rates are terrible. Use the ATM at a Circle K or a bank branch inside a supermarket and withdraw in one large transaction to minimize fees. And the mosquito repellent that actually works? Autan Tropical — you can buy it at any Indomaret for €2. The local stuff is stronger than anything you bring from Europe.
The money exchange scam is real. I watched a guy at a Kuta exchange counter do the sleight-of-hand trick where they count your money in front of you, then swap a few notes while you’re distracted. Only use official bank ATMs or authorized money changers with a Legality Rate sign. And always count your money before walking away.
Final Verdict
Bali from Amsterdam is a long trip — 15 hours with a layover in Delhi — but the Air India flights are comfortable and the service is genuinely good. Book your flight on Trip.com where I found the €699 deal, and search for accommodation through their hotel listings. Stay in Sanur, eat at warungs, rent a scooter, and you’ll have the trip of a lifetime for well under a thousand euros including the flight.
Author Bio: I’m a budget travel specialist based in Amsterdam who has visited Southeast Asia six times. Every recommendation here is from personal experience — the good, the bad, and the spicy sambal.