Bali Travel Forum

hi all,

will visite bali in august for 22 days, plan to hire a car for driving a round island and take to lombok..how is the road there, smooth or bumpy road? is it safe place to drive..shall i drive or hire car with driver?

thank you in advance

Hi,
The roads in Bali are good. But the city area is very crowded and you may find it a bit difficult to drive in these areas. Outside the city limits, the road markings are found in important places but they are not sufficient to prevent you from getting lost. If you insist on self driving (I'll advice against this, not because it is unsafe, but because you get a vehicle with a driver at very cheap rate), buy a good road map from popular book shops. There is one such book shop in Discovery Shopping mall near Kartika Plaza Hotel in Kuta. I saw a good collection of Bali road maps there. Outside of city areas, the roads are not so wide and when you drive in the mountain regions (Bendugul, Kintamani, Besakhi temple area etc), exercise caution because roads are very narrow and winding up and down. Nevertheless, the roads are smooth and not bumpy by any standard.
As per my understanding, you can ferry your vehicle to Lombok. Its a 4-6 hrs ferry ride. But I'll say, once you have done your sightseeing in Bali, surrender your vehicle (if u r self driving), take a ferry to Lombok and hire another vehicle in Lombok, rather than ferrying your vehicle to Lombik. As I said, you can get a 7-SEATER vehicle with driver for the whole day for as cheap as USD 50.

Definitely hire a car with driver. Why? hassle free & saving ur time a lot! Furthermore tour driver is much expert for the alternative routes incase any route is having bad jam or to avoid peak hours traffic...

Worries not...hire a driver is much more convinient as they are all very good people, friendly and cheap :-)

Hi Rungtip,

I hired a car for self-drive on Lombok around last Christmas, see my transportation tips on Lombok. The roads on Lombok are not as good as they are on Bali. The main routes - between the main tourist centres - are ok, but if you try a secondary road, it may well be very bumpy. We tried to go to the south-eastern peninsula (Sungkun), found that it can only be done with a four-wheel drive. On the other hand the road to the west (Banko-Banko) was being surfaced and should be fine by now.
If you are not accustomed to Indonesian traffic conditions, it is safer to hire a car with driver. Usually your self-drive car is not insured, when they say it is they mean that damage to the car is insured, not your liability to third parties. So you will be in trouble if you are involved in a serious accident!
I also advise against trying to take a hired car to Lombok, better hire another car once you are in Lombok. Car papers are routinely checked when you want to get on a ferry, and the police may want to see proof that the owner agrees to you taking the car across.
Cheers,
Theo

Hi
Really good advice by previous posters, just to re-inforce one point, if you consider self driving, it is unlikely that any hire company in Bali (and especially the guys on the street), will allow you to take the car to Lombok. The larger companies can arrange for a special document which shows the police at the check points that you have permission to take the car out of Bali, but really it would be best to hire one in Lombok once you are there. Also as I have said many times in the past you need an International Driving License to hire a car, there are people who will give you their car without one, but you definately won't be able to get to Lombok without one

thank you very much for all suggestions..

my husband has int.license, our plan is to pick up car at airport and then drive to Sanur stay there for 2 days, then move to Candidasa, will be there for another 2 days then cross to Lombok, after Lombok drive up to batur lake, stay overnight for one night then go up north, after that move to west and go down to Medewi and then Ubud and come down to Kuta beach....thats why i need self drive, if we hire a car with driver, it will be difficult as we travel around the island...we will try to see a whole island in 21 days...should be enough i think...i would like to visit hilltribes as well, if anyone has info about them, please share with me..

thank you one again

rungtip

Well good luck,
You definately need to arrange the car hire through a reputable car rental company in Bali, you need to inform them that you would like to take the car to Lombok. When you find one that will agree for you to do that, they will probably require a large deposit (I have been quoted 20,000,000 rupiah as deposit (TWENTY MILLION RUPIAH)
Have a great time

Hi. I have been to Bali 9 times, and the roads are not that good. I wouldn't drive there. The traffic is chaos and there seem to be no road rules. On all my trips, I hired the same driver. His name is Agus Kuswana, a very dear friend now. He speaks very good english, as good as an Aussie, and he is a very lovely, honest and reliable guy. He is about 42 years old, and will take you wherever you want to go. We used him to take us over to the other side of the island to Lovina, for 2 days, and then back around the island to Kuta. He is based in Kuta, and his phone number is 0011 62 8123942814 from Australia. If you are ringing in Bali,8123942814. If you need any more info, please feel free to email me on kstedfor@bigpond.net.au. Have a great holiday...CHEERS...Kerry (female)

If you do ring Agus the driver, just tell him that Kerry sent you.

Hi there,

Hire a car with driver. Easy for you to find what you want and much save your time. Write to wisbaliatgmail.com, maybe he can help you.

Thanks