Lombok
Indonesia
Bali’s quieter neighbour, with a 3,700-metre volcano, empty south-coast bays and the Gilis offshore
Photo by Süleyman Coskun on Unsplash
Photos by Johnny Africa, Kilian Karger, Kaspars Upmanis and Atilla Taskiran on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Indonesia
May to September — Rinjani closes for the wet season
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 290mm in Jan
Where it is
8.65°S, 116.32°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Climb Rinjani to the crater rim, with a guide and two spare days
- Take the boat to Gili Air, which is the balance of the three
- Ride the south coast from Kuta to Selong Belanak
- Walk to Tiu Kelep through the river tunnel
- Eat ayam taliwang where the smoke is
Lombok travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Indonesia
Good valueChange at an authorised changer with a shopfront in Mataram or Senggigi, and count the notes at the counter. The Gili islands have no banks and terrible rates.
ATMs & cards
BCA and Mandiri machines in Mataram, Senggigi and Kuta Lombok. The Gilis have a handful of independent machines that charge heavily and run empty at weekends — take cash across on the boat.
Avoid these
- the independent machines on the Gili islands
Use these instead
- BCA
- Mandiri
- BNI, in Mataram or Senggigi
The Gilis have no banks and their few machines charge heavily and run empty at weekends. Take cash across on the boat.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Indonesia
SafeGenerally easy and friendly, and quieter than Bali in every sense. Three real cautions: the Rinjani trek is a serious two- or three-day climb that people underestimate every season, the south-coast surf has rips and few lifeguards, and scooter accidents are the commonest thing that happens to visitors. Lombok is more conservative than Bali — cover up away from the beaches, particularly during Ramadan.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the south-coast surf breaks — rips and few lifeguards
- the mountain roads at night — unlit, and scooter accidents are the commonest thing that happens to visitors here
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Indonesia visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 days500,000 IDR (~€30)
Visa on arrival is the same price and available at Bali airport, but the queue is long — the e-visa lets you walk to immigration directly. Extendable once by 30 days.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at evisa.imigrasi.go.id before flying, or pay on arrival at the VOA counter. Every arrival also files the electronic customs declaration and the SATUSEHAT health pass.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: the arrival card
All Indonesia (electronic customs declaration)Required
In the three days before you arrive.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- flight number
- the full address of your first night
The customs declaration is per family group rather than per person.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Indonesia
Good but costlyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies — Bali has an active dog and monkey rabies problem
- Japanese encephalitis for long rural stays
Getting treated
Bali has good international clinics (BIMC, Siloam) used to treating tourists, but they are expensive and anything major means evacuation to Singapore or Australia. Insurance with evacuation cover is not optional here. Public hospitals are cheap and variable.
Rabies is the serious one — any monkey or dog bite means immediate treatment. Dengue is common. Malaria is not a risk in Bali or Jakarta but is in Papua and parts of eastern Indonesia.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodSasak food is much hotter than Balinese: ayam taliwang, grilled chicken with a chilli paste that means it, and plecing kangkung, water spinach with chilli and lime. Lombok means chilli in Indonesian, which is a coincidence but a fair warning.
Getting around
Limited- GrabWorks here
- GojekWorks here
- MaximWorks here
- UberNot here
Gojek the Indonesian one, and the better app here
- From the airport
- Denpasar airport to Seminyak Rp 120,000–200,000
- Against a taxi
- Far cheaper than the airport taxi desk and the hotel car.
Some beach areas and villages block app pick-ups on the street — the local transport co-operative enforces it, and the fix is to walk a block, or let the hotel call.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Makassar — 12 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 21:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 21:00–05:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Indonesia
Why these are Indonesia's numbers and not Lombok's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 40% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 61% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Lombok, so these are medians for all of Indonesia. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Indonesia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Indonesian
- HelloHalo / Selamat pagiHA-lo / se-LA-mat PA-gee
- PleaseTolongTO-long
- Thank youTerima kasihtuh-REE-ma KA-see
- Yes / NoYa / Tidakya / TEE-dak
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePermisiper-MEE-see
- How much is it?Berapa harganya?buh-RA-pa har-GA-nya
- The bill, pleaseMinta bonMIN-ta bon
- Cheers!Bersulang!ber-SOO-lang
Religion
Muslim nationally, Hindu on Bali
Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country on earth, but Bali is the exception and is around 87% Hindu. The daily canang sari offerings on the pavement are religious — do not step on them.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Give and receive with the right hand, or both hands for respect
- Wear a sarong at temples — they are provided at the entrance
- Step around the small daily offerings on Balinese pavements
- Dress modestly away from the beach; Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country and Bali a Hindu one
Don't
- Do not use the left hand to eat, give or receive; it is the toilet hand
- Do not touch anyone’s head, or point with a single finger — use the whole hand
- Do not enter temples if bleeding, including menstruating, which is a stated rule at many
- Do not lose your temper in public; it causes serious loss of face on both sides
Where to stay in Lombok
No Holistay rentals in Lombok yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Lombok on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Lombok International LOP
1hfrom the airport· 13 km as the crow flies
1h to Senggigi, 30 min to Kuta Lombok.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
