Ubud Palace (Puri Saren Agung), Bali

The palace you see was built in its present form under Tjokorda Putu Kandel, who ruled from 1800 to 1823, and it was rebuilt after the 1917 earthquake. The family still lives in the inner compounds, so you see the gates, the carved pavilions and the forecourt, not the rooms. That makes it a short visit. Thirty minutes covers the daytime courtyards, and most people come back after dark for the show.

•Go before 10 AM for empty courtyards and soft light on the carved gate.

•Cover your shoulders and knees. On a ceremony day you will also need a sarong and sash.

•Carry rupiah cash if you buy the dance ticket on the street, and arrive by 7 PM, or 6:45 PM for the front rows.

•Walk to the Water Palace, the Art Market and Museum Puri Lukisan from here. All three are within 500 m.

•Avoid Nyepi, Bali's Day of Silence, on Monday 8 March 2027, when there is no show and the island stays indoors.

Ubud Palace is worth a stop on any Ubud day. It costs nothing by day, takes half an hour, and sits at the point where every walk in town begins. The evening dance is the reason to come back.

All times on this page are Bali time, which runs 2.5 hours ahead of India. A 7:30 PM show starts at 5 PM IST.

What is Ubud Palace (Puri Saren Agung)?

Ubud Palace is a royal residence that still works as one. "Puri" is the Balinese word for the walled compound of a noble family, and Puri Saren Agung is the senior house of the Ubud princes, whose titles begin with Tjokorda (often written Cokorda). The family no longer rules, since Bali's kingdoms became part of the Indonesian republic, but they still host ceremonies, sponsor the dance troupes and act as patrons of Ubud's temples.

Charging for entry would mean selling tickets to someone's home, which is why the daytime visit has always been free. It also explains the closed doors. Only the front of the compound is open to visitors.

History of Ubud Palace

Ubud's story starts long before the palace. In the 8th century the Hindu priest Rsi Markandeya came to Bali from Java. He buried five metals at the site that became Besakih, Bali's mother temple, and founded Pura Gunung Lebah at Campuhan, where two rivers meet just west of today's palace. Tradition says the area took its name from "ubad", the Balinese word for medicine, after the healing plants that grew along those rivers.

The royal line came later. Ubud's princes descend from the court of Sukawati, itself a branch of the Gelgel and Klungkung kings who ruled Bali from the 16th century. Sukawati princes settled Ubud to hold the area, and their Ubud branch outgrew its parent. The palace you walk into dates from the reign of Tjokorda Putu Kandel (1800 to 1823). The 1917 earthquake damaged much of it, and because the family lived there, it was rebuilt quickly.

The palace's modern fame began in the late 1920s, when the family opened rooms to foreign guests. Artists followed. In 1936 Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati, the last ruling prince of Ubud, founded the Pita Maha artists' association with the German painter Walter Spies and the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet. That is the root of Ubud's reputation as Bali's art town, and the reason Museum Puri Lukisan, which the same prince founded, stands 500 m down the road.

What to see inside: gates, courtyards and carvings

Most visitors walk in, take a photo of the gate and leave in ten minutes. Slow down and the palace reads like a short course in Balinese architecture, because almost every carving has a job.

The forecourt and the banyan

The open ground in front of the palace, shaded by a huge Bengal fig, is where Ubud gathers. Ceremony processions start and end here. At night the same space becomes the dance stage, with the carved gate as its backdrop.

The main gate and the Bhoma face

Balinese compounds move from public to private through a series of gates. Above the main doorway look for the bulging-eyed face of Bhoma, a guardian whose job is to stop evil spirits following you in. The stepped brick-and-stone tower around it is a kori agung, the formal roofed gate used at palaces and major temples.

Lempad's stone carvings

Much of the finest carving here is the work of I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, a sculptor and architect from Bedulu who lived from about 1862 to 1978 and worked for the Ubud family for decades. Look at the gate reliefs and the guardian statues in the first courtyard. The deep-cut flowers and demon faces are his style, and you will see it again at Saraswati Temple.

The bale pavilions

Inside the first courtyard stand open-sided pavilions, or bale, raised on stone plinths with red-and-gold carved doors and thatched or tiled roofs. Each has a set use, from receiving guests to holding offerings during ceremonies. Do not climb onto them.

Ubud Palace entry fee and costs

Ubud Palace has no entry fee. You walk in from Jalan Raya Ubud and walk out again, with no ticket desk and no donation box you have to pass. The only thing you pay for at the palace is the evening dance.

The palace publishes no official timetable, and guides give opening and closing times that differ by up to two hours. Plan your daytime visit between 9 AM and 5 PM, every day of the week. Our Ubud Palace timings page sets out every reported window and why that is the safe one.

Ubud Palace dance show: ticket, time and what you'll see

The palace dance starts at 7:30 PM every night of the year except Nyepi and runs for 60 to 90 minutes. It is held in the forecourt, under lights, with the carved gate behind the dancers and a live gamelan orchestra at the side.

Legong is the dance the palace is known for. It is performed by young women in gold brocade, all darting eyes and flicking fingers, and it began as a court dance performed for the royal household. Other nights bring the Barong, a lion-like protector who battles the witch Rangda, or a Ramayana ballet. The programme changes by night, so check the Ubud Palace dance show by day before you choose an evening.

Some online vouchers must be swapped for a paper ticket before the show, so read the small print on yours. Same-day tickets are fine for most of the year. In July, August and the Christmas weeks, buy yours in the afternoon. Ask the seller what happens if it rains, because the stage is open to the sky.

Ubud Palace dress code and etiquette

Cover your shoulders and knees, and you are dressed correctly under every version of the rule. The palace is a home, not mainly a temple, so by day there is no strict sarong check at the gate. When a ceremony is on, the rules tighten, and a sarong and waist sash become expected. Guides that say "no dress code" are describing a quiet afternoon. Guides that say "sarong required" are describing a ceremony day. Both happen.

Don't count on borrowing a sarong at the gate. Sources disagree on whether the palace hands them out, so carry your own or buy one at Ubud Art Market across the road for about IDR 70,000 (Rs 367) after a little bargaining.

A few habits will mark you out as a good guest. Step around the small palm-leaf offerings on the ground, never over them. Don't sit or climb on shrines, pavilions or statues. Use no flash during the dance. If you are greeted, "terima kasih" (thank you) and "sama-sama" (you're welcome) go a long way.

Ubud Palace vs Ubud Water Palace (Saraswati Temple)

They are two different places, about 200 m apart on Jalan Raya Ubud. Ubud Palace is the royal residence on the crossroads. The "Water Palace" is Saraswati Temple, a temple to the goddess of learning, set behind a long pond of lotuses just west of the palace. The confusion is easy to make, because the royal family built the temple and both sites stage evening dances.

See both on one walk. Start at the palace, cross to the Art Market, then walk west to the lotus pond. Our Ubud Water Palace guide covers the temple and its café in detail.

Best time to visit Ubud Palace

Go between 9 and 10 AM. The courtyards are close to empty, the light falls cleanly on the carved gate, and you finish before the tour groups that fill the forecourt from about 11 AM to 2 PM. Late afternoon is the second-best slot, and it lets you stay in town for the show.

Season matters less here than at a beach or a waterfall, because the visit is short and the town has cover everywhere. From April to October the days are drier. From November to March showers tend to arrive in the afternoon, so take the morning slot. Ceremony days are when the palace is at its liveliest, with processions and offerings in the forecourt, but some areas may close. Galungan falls on 13 January and 11 August 2027, and Kuningan on 23 January and 21 August 2027. Treat those as days to ask your driver about, not days to avoid.

How to reach Ubud Palace

Ubud Palace stands at the centre of Ubud, where Jalan Raya Ubud meets Jalan Monkey Forest and Jalan Suweta. If you are staying in central Ubud, walk. From the south of Bali, the easiest way is a private driver, which many Bali packages include for the Ubud day.

From India, fly into Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) in south Bali. The palace is 35 km north, about 75 to 90 minutes by road. The times below are from road distances, padded for normal daytime traffic. Leave before 8 AM and you will beat most of them.

Private car and driver. The simplest choice for a day trip from the south, and the only easy one if you plan to stay for the 9 PM finish. Ask the driver to drop you at the crossroads and collect you from Ubud Central Parking, where cars pay about IDR 10,000 (Rs 52).

Scooter. Easy from anywhere in Ubud, and parking in front of the shops is cheap at IDR 2,000 to 5,000. You need an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle endorsement, and the traffic on Jalan Raya Ubud at 5 PM is slow and tight.

Grab or Gojek. Drop-offs at the palace are routine. Pickups on the main road can be slow, so walk a few minutes down a side street before you book the ride home.

On foot. From hotels on Jalan Monkey Forest the palace is a 10 to 20 minute walk uphill. From the Campuhan Ridge start it is 1.1 km, about 15 minutes.

Places to visit near Ubud Palace

The palace is the centre point for Ubud's best short walks. Three sights are within 500 m, and the Monkey Forest is a pleasant stroll down one street.

For a meal before the show, our guides to restaurants near Ubud Palace and cafes near Ubud Palace list places within a few minutes' walk. For the wider list, see places to visit in Ubud and things to do in Ubud.

Is Ubud Palace worth visiting?

Yes, for two reasons. By day it is one of the easiest places in Bali to see royal Balinese architecture up close, free, in half an hour. At night it puts on one of the island's most accessible dance shows, in a real palace forecourt rather than a hotel hall. If you expect furnished rooms or a museum interior, you will be disappointed, because those are private.

Two easy plans built around the palace

The first plan suits a day trip from the beach areas with a driver. The second suits travellers staying in Ubud who want the evening.

If you would rather have the driver, hotels and the Ubud day arranged for you, start with our Ubud tour packages, or see Bali tour packages to combine Ubud with a few nights on the beach.

What a visit costs for Indian travellers

A daytime visit costs nothing. An evening at the dance for two people runs about Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 if you are staying in Ubud, and Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,500 as a full day trip from the south with a private car. The car is the big cost, not the palace.

Meals are extra. Drivers usually quote a day rate of about 10 hours, so if you stay for the show and drive back to the south after 9 PM, agree an evening rate before you set out. Indian debit and credit cards work at many cafés, but the street ticket sellers, parking attendants and Art Market stalls take rupiah cash only.

Tips for visiting Ubud Palace

Cash, an early seat and covered shoulders solve most problems here. The rest is below.

Above all, give the palace more than ten minutes. Read the gate, find Bhoma, look for Lempad's guardians, and you will understand the rest of Ubud's temples better for it.

Edited by TravelTriangle. Last updated November 2026. Facts checked on 4 November 2026. Our Bali desk cross-checked the palace's history and location across encyclopaedia and Ubud heritage sources, compared the dance ticket and dress rules across 29 visitor guides, and worked out every drive time on this page from road distances for 20 starting points, padded for real Bali traffic.