Bali airport to Ubud: time, cost and transport

How do you get from Bali airport to Ubud?

Book a car at a fixed price before you fly. The road is about 38 km, and 1.5 to 2 hours is a fair plan, our estimate.^{[1, 2]}

A normal daytime run takes 65 to 80 minutes. Peak hours and ceremony days take 80 to 100 minutes or more, and most sellers quote 1.5 to 2 hours.^{[3, 4]}

In September 2026 a 7-seat car was IDR 350,000 (about AUD 28) for up to four people with luggage, and a 12-seat minibus IDR 750,000 (about AUD 60). The driver waits up to two hours after your plane lands before an extra IDR 50,000 starts.^[2]

A higher list fare, from May 2026, is IDR 560,000 (about AUD 45) for a standard car with up to three passengers.^[5]

A shared shuttle drops passengers at several hotels along the way, so it takes longer. It is cheaper for one person, but two people in the IDR 350,000 car pay IDR 175,000 each, inside the shuttle's range, and four pay IDR 87,500 each, our estimate from the car fare. The table sets the three ways side by side.^{[2, 3]}

Grab and Gojek have limited availability on this long run, so treat them as a back-up; the Bali airport guide has the pickup point and the touts to ignore. On Nyepi (Balinese Day of Silence) all road travel stops, so no transfer runs; the Nyepi guide has the dates.^{[3, 4]}

How do you get from Ubud to Bali airport?

Book a car or a hotel transfer for the run, and plan on 1.5 to 2 hours for the 38 km. Sellers' fares from Ubud to the airport, checked in October 2026, run IDR 350,000 to 495,000 (about AUD 28) a car.^{[1, 2, 9, 16]}

Set the pickup at least two hours before the time you want to reach the airport. Traffic can be bad even at 10:00 WITA, and 1.5 hours is the planning floor for a daytime run, not a promise. A pre-booked car or a hotel transfer is the most reliable way to do this run, as Grab and Gojek have limited availability on it and a pickup may be refused (see below).^{[4, 6]}

Can you use Grab or Gojek in Ubud?

App rides in central Ubud work better coming in than going out. Drop-offs are usually fine, though some roads by the market and the Monkey Forest restrict them. Pickups around Jalan Raya Ubud, the Monkey Forest, Ubud Palace and the Ubud Art Market are often controlled by local transport groups. Drivers there often ask you to walk a few minutes to a convenience store, a side street or a car park, and some bookings find no driver at all. Walk out of the centre before you order, or ask your hotel for its nearest pickup point.^{[4, 7]}

Ubud taxis are mostly local cooperatives with fixed or negotiated fares and no meters, and they usually cost more than the apps. Drivers wait at busy spots such as Ubud Palace and the Monkey Forest. In April 2026, short hops in town ran about IDR 40,000 to 70,000 (about AUD 3.2) by app car and IDR 15,000 to 30,000 by app scooter, estimates and not app quotes.^[8]

Gojek usually offers the cheapest fares overall. Drivers booked off the app charge a little more and may haggle, and a full-day driver's price depends on a good contact or on negotiating well.^[15]

A 10-hour day with a private car and driver is about IDR 0.9 million to 1.2 million (about AUD 72) (USD 50 to 65).^[13]

Do not count on a Bluebird taxi to get around the restriction, because sources differ on whether it can collect you in the centre; see Conflicts. If you hire a scooter instead, read the scooter licence rules first.^{[7, 8]}

How much is a car from Ubud to Seminyak, Canggu, Uluwatu or Nusa Dua?

In October 2026, sellers' fares from Ubud run about IDR 400,000 to 600,000 (about AUD 32) a car to Seminyak or Canggu, IDR 500,000 to 550,000 (about AUD 40) to Nusa Dua and IDR 650,000 to 675,000 (about AUD 52) to Uluwatu at fixed-fare sellers, and up to IDR 750,000 by private taxi. The sellers differ: the Canggu fare alone varies by IDR 195,000 between them.^{[9, 11, 17]}

The table lists each seller's fare and quoted time, checked on 21 October 2026. The quoted times are light-traffic runs, so the planning times below run longer.

Allow 1.5 to 2 hours to Seminyak and about an hour to Sanur.^[8]

Canggu takes 75 to 95 minutes at midday and 100 to 130 minutes in the evening peak.^[13]

Allow 2 to 2.5 hours to Uluwatu in daytime traffic, and over 3 hours if you leave between 15:00 and 17:00. The Uluwatu getting there guide covers the other end of the run.^[11]

A shared coach is the cheap option on the south side: Kura-Kura Bus runs Kuta, Sanur and Ubud at IDR 100,000 (about AUD 8) a person one way. None of its Ubud lines lists an airport stop.^[12]

Can you get a ride to or from Ubud at night?

App cars get scarce after dark: availability drops off late at night, and you may need to walk a bit out of town to be collected. Roads outside the centre are dark, with patchy street lighting.^[8]

In 2026 some transfer sellers add about IDR 50,000 (about AUD 4) for pickups between 18:00 and 06:00. The road itself is quicker, with the airport run at 55 to 65 minutes after 21:00.^[3]

How do you get from Ubud to Nusa Penida?

No fast boat leaves from Ubud. The boats for Nusa Penida leave from Sanur, about an hour from Ubud by car, so the trip starts with a car to the harbour at IDR 275,000 to 375,000 across the sellers in the table above, as of October 2026. The fast boat guide covers the crossing, and Nusa Penida, Bali has the island.^{[8, 10, 14]}