Ubud Monkey Forest: Ticket, rules, and what to know before you enter

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary — known to most travelers as the Ubud Monkey Forest — is a nature reserve and Hindu temple complex in the heart of Bali. If you are planning a day in Ubud, the sanctuary is one of those stops that looks simple on the surface: buy a ticket, walk through a forest, see monkeys. In practice, the rules around food, bags, personal items, clothing, and how you behave around semi-wild primates determine whether your visit is calm and memorable or ends with a trip to the on-site first-aid clinic.

This guide walks you through the current admission fees, the entry rules that actually matter, what to wear and what to leave at the hotel, the best time to arrive, and the layout that helps you see the three active Hindu temples, the banyan tree heart of the forest, and the quieter corners most people walk past.

What to know first

• Opening hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day. Last entry is at 5:00 PM, and you need roughly 60–90 minutes to walk the main route without rushing.
• Adult admission is IDR 130,000 and child admission is IDR 100,000. Tickets are sold at the lobby on Jalan Monkey Forest and online through the official Megatix booking page.
• The sanctuary is home to over 1,260 Balinese long-tailed macaques living in 10 separate troupes across 12.5 hectares. They are semi-wild — not pets and not trained — and the posted visitor guidelines are enforced.
• You cannot bring food, drinks, or plastic bags inside. Lockers are available at the lobby for items the monkeys are likely to grab.
• If a monkey jumps on you, do not run or scream. Stand still, stay calm, and walk slowly. On-site first-aid staff are available if a monkey bite or scratch does occur.
• A 14-year observation study recorded no rabies case among the sanctuary's macaques, but any scratch or bite should still be treated at the on-site clinic immediately.
• The sanctuary is an active place of Hindu worship. Cover your shoulders and knees near temple compounds, lower your voice, and do not enter restricted areas.

Source: Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, Ubud, Bali — Wikimedia Commons.

Tickets, booking, and what payment gets you

Admission at the gate is straightforward: IDR 130,000 for adults and IDR 100,000 for children. There is no timed entry, no resident-versus-foreigner price split, and no advance-reservation requirement — you can buy at the lobby counter on the day of your visit. Cash and card are both accepted at the ticket desk.

The sanctuary also sells tickets online through its official Megatix booking page. An online ticket saves you a few minutes at the entrance but does not grant a separate fast-track lane. Neither the gate ticket nor the online ticket comes with a guide; guides are available to hire on-site for an additional fee.

One add-on to know about is the supervised monkey-selfie activity inside the forest for IDR 50,000. A staff member helps you get a safe close-up photo with one of the macaques without breaking the no-touch visitor rule.

Rules that actually change your visit

Most visitors skim the posted rules and regret it. The macaques see plastic bags, food wrappers, water bottles, phones, sunglasses, and jewellery as objects worth investigating — and sometimes grabbing.

Leave these items in the lobby lockers: plastic bags of any kind, packaged snacks even if sealed, water bottles in an outside pocket, loose sunglasses, dangling earrings or necklaces, hair ties, keychains, and anything that fits in an open hand. The macaques recognise what a plastic bag looks like and will target it.

Do not feed the monkeys. Staff feed the macaques nine times a day with a controlled diet of sweet potatoes, bananas, papaya leaves, and seasonal fruit. Visitor-provided food — especially peanuts — harms their health and encourages aggressive food-seeking behaviour.

Do not stare directly into a macaque's eyes; this is read as a threat. Do not crouch close to take a photo — step back and use a zoom lens. If you are travelling with young children, keep them within arm's reach. Small children move in ways that macaques interpret as play or provocation.

What to wear and what to leave behind

The sanctuary is a sacred Hindu site, and the temples inside are active places of worship. Shoulders and knees should be covered. A sarong or a long scarf tied around the waist is a good backup if you arrive in shorts or a sleeveless top.

Closed shoes or strap-on sandals are the safer choice. The paths are mostly paved but forest-floor sections can be uneven, and a sudden step away from an overly curious macaque is easier in secure footwear. Flip-flops work but leave less grip on the steeper stretches near the Holy Spring Temple.

Bring the smallest bag you can live with. If you carry a daypack, wear it on your front through the monkey-dense central area. The macaques have learned to unzip compartments, and a front-worn bag is harder for them to access unnoticed.

Best time to arrive and how to get there

The quietest window is the opening hour, 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. The macaques are most active in the morning before the midday heat, and the light for canopy photos is at its best. Tour groups tend to arrive after 10:00 AM, and the central Banyan Tree area gets crowded by 11:00 AM. Late afternoon between 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM is another calmer slot with softer light. Entering after 4:30 PM with a 5:00 PM last-entry cutoff leaves too little time.

A practical route starts at the main lobby off Jalan Monkey Forest. Walk east through the dragon bridge into the main forest loop. The central banyan tree is the natural midpoint — the paths to the three temples branch from here. Visit the Main Temple in the southwest, then circle north to the Holy Spring Temple and Cremation Temple. The wooden boardwalk on the east side, built during a 1990s conservation expansion, is often the quietest stretch and gives a clean view of macaque groups moving through the canopy.

From Ubud centre, the sanctuary is walkable: Jalan Monkey Forest is the main street, and most guesthouses within a 1-kilometre radius are a 10- to 20-minute walk. A car from Seminyak or Canggu takes 60–75 minutes in light traffic and 90–120 minutes during the morning rush. From Sanur, plan on 40–50 minutes.

Temple visits and what you can and cannot enter

The three temples inside the sanctuary — the Main Temple, Holy Spring Temple, and Cremation Temple — date to the 14th century. They are not museum pieces: the local Balinese community uses them for regular prayer and ceremony. Visitor access stops at the outer courtyard areas. You can walk up to the gates, photograph the architecture from the perimeter, and observe any ceremony underway, but the inner sanctums are closed to non-worshippers.

The Holy Spring Temple is a site of ritual purification called melukat. The spring water is considered sacred, and throwing coins into the pool is not part of Balinese temple practice. The Cremation Temple sits next to a burial ground used once every five years for a mass cremation ceremony. If you hear gamelan music or see offerings being prepared, give the space and the people using it a wide, quiet berth.

Common mistakes that lead to a bad visit

Bringing food inside, even in a sealed wrapper, is the most frequent cause of trouble. The macaques can smell sealed snacks and will work at zippers and pockets to find them. Holding a phone at arm's length for a selfie next to a relaxed macaque is the second-most-common way visitors get bitten: the macaque interprets the raised device as a threat or a territorial gesture. Standing under a tree full of active macaques without checking above can mean a dropped branch or worse.

Entering with only 30 minutes to spare is another common misjudgment. The full loop, with temple stops and time watching a troupe interact, needs at least 60 minutes. Rushing through and skipping the temple perimeter or the conservation boardwalk means you pay the full ticket but see less than half the sanctuary.

What to check before you go

• Visit the official Monkey Forest Ubud website on your travel day for closure notices tied to Balinese Hindu ceremonies. Major temple festivals can change hours or restrict access to parts of the forest.
• Check Bali's calendar for Nyepi, the Day of Silence. On Nyepi and the days immediately before and after, the sanctuary operates on altered hours or closes entirely.
• If you are driving, the parking building is on Jalan Monkey Forest near the main entrance. Ride-hailing pickup and drop-off are at the lobby gate.
• Reconfirm the current adult and child ticket prices on the official visit page; the sanctuary adjusts fees periodically.

Sources

• Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary Ubud — Visit page with hours and fees: https://monkeyforestubud.com/visit/
• Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary Ubud — Guidelines and FAQ: https://monkeyforestubud.com/guidelines-faq/
• Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary Ubud — Official booking page (Megatix): https://megatix.co.id/white-label/forest-of-monkeys