Kintamani
Kintamani jeep tour itinerary: the route, the stops, and what you see
Updated · By the Bali Activity Tours desk in Ubud
Short answer
A Kintamani jeep tour is a private 4×4 drive on Mount Batur: up volcanic tracks to a crater-rim viewpoint around 1,350 metres facing Lake Batur and Mount Agung, then down onto black lava fields left by 20th-century eruptions. Breakfast follows, with an optional hot spring on the lake shore. Sunrise trips take 6–7 hours door to door.
Kintamani is the district; Mount Batur is the volcano the jeep climbs. The route stop by stop, what you see from the jeep, and what a jeep cannot do.
Kintamani or Mount Batur: the same tour
Kintamani is the district on the rim of the Batur caldera in Bangli Regency. Mount Batur is the active volcano inside the caldera. A Kintamani jeep tour and a Mount Batur jeep tour are the same trip under two names: the tracks run on the volcano, and Kintamani is where you cross the rim and pass the official entrance post.
The route, stop by stop
Times below are for a sunrise departure. The sunset jeep follows the same route from a 14:30–15:30 pickup.
| Stop | Roughly when | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel pickup | 02:00–03:00 | A car collects you: about 1½ hours from Ubud, 2½ hours from the south coast. |
| Kintamani entrance post | On the way in | The area fee is paid. On our jeep it is already in the price. |
| Jeep base | About 04:30 | You switch from the car into the private 4×4 and get a hot drink. |
| Crater-rim viewpoint | Sunrise, about 06:00–06:30 | Around 1,350 metres, facing Lake Batur with Mount Abang and Mount Agung behind it. |
| Black lava field | After sunrise | Photos on the dark, jagged lava flows below the cone. |
| Breakfast | After the lava field | Served off the ridge. |
| Hot spring (optional) | After breakfast | The Batur natural hot spring or Toya Devasya, on the lake shore. |
| Drop-off | About 09:00–10:00 in Ubud | Later on the south coast, and later again with a hot spring. |
What you see from the jeep
The view is a caldera inside a caldera. The outer rim, about 10 by 13.5 kilometres, formed in a huge eruption about 29,300 years ago, and Mount Batur grew inside a second, smaller caldera, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program. Lake Batur, about 7.7 kilometres long, fills the south-east side.
The black lava fields are flows from 20th-century eruptions, including 1963, 1968, and 1974. The rock is still mostly bare, which is why it photographs so dark against the green caldera walls.
The lake is sacred. UNESCO lists Pura Ulun Danu Batur, the supreme water temple on its rim, as part of Bali's World Heritage cultural landscape, because Balinese regard the lake as the origin of every spring and river on the island.
Sit-in or tracking on the route
The route is the same. On the sit-in jeep you stay with the vehicle all the way to the viewpoint. On the tracking jeep you walk the last stretch with a guide, in closed shoes. Neither is the two-hour summit trail.
What a jeep cannot do
- Reach the summit. The tracks stop at a viewpoint below it; the summit is a hike of about two hours in the dark.
- Promise a clear sky. Cloud can sit in the crater in any month, more often from November to April.
- Drive into the active crater. The jeep stays on the tracks and the lava fields.
Make it a full Kintamani day
The Kintamani day keeps the same sunrise jeep, then adds a hot spring with the ticket included, a coffee tasting at Bali Umah Kuno in Tampaksiring, and a rice-terrace stop, usually Tegallalang, on the drive back. It takes about 10–11 hours and costs Rp 1.300.000 per person.
Sources
Ready when you are
Ride the Kintamani route in your own jeep
Private 4×4, hotel pickup, the entrance fee, breakfast, and the lava field in one rupiah price. Sit-in for no walking, tracking for a short guided walk.
From Rp 750.000 per guest
- Hotel pickup included
- No card online: you pay in rupiah after we confirm the seat
- Change the date up to 24 hours before pickup, if the seat is free
