When to go to Lombok?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: May to September
At a glance
Why go to Lombok?
Lombok lies 35 km from Bali and has not followed the same path. The island covers 4,700 km², has around 3.7 million inhabitants and remains mostly Sasak and Muslim, with the call to prayer setting the rhythm of the day and rice paddies running right down to the road. Tourism arrived later and is concentrated in three pockets: Senggigi, the Gilis and Kuta. Elsewhere, you can ride a scooter for an hour without passing another traveller or a single sign in English.
Rinjani changes the scale of everything else. The volcano rises to 3,726 metres, can be seen from half the island and holds in its caldera an 11 km² lake sitting at 2,000 metres, with an active cone planted in the middle. The climb takes three days, two nights under canvas and real fitness, yet it remains one of the busiest treks in Indonesia. Those who do not climb still have the waterfalls of Senaru, the terraced rice fields of Sembalun and the hot springs of the northern slopes.
The south is a string of almost empty bays. Selong Belanak, Mawun, Tanjung Aan and Are Guling follow one another along 40 km of indented coast, with pale sand, dry hills behind and waves for every level. The Mandalika development has brought an expressway, a MotoGP circuit and resorts, but ten minutes down a dirt track is enough to find a deserted beach again. Off the north-west coast, the three Gilis add flat water, turtles and a total absence of engines.
Map of Lombok: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Mataram
- Rinjani
- Gili Trawangan
- Kuta Lombok
- Senaru
- Sembalun
How much does a trip to Lombok cost?
Once you are there, Lombok remains one of the cheapest destinations in South-East Asia: a €20 room, €3 meals and a €6-a-day scooter are enough to last a week. The flight from Europe and the Rinjani climb are the two real expenses.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €30-50/day | Homestay with a fan, warungs, shared scooter, public boats to the Gilis |
| Comfort | €80-130/day | Hotel with pool, car with driver every other day, grilled fish in the evening, one dive trip |
| Premium | €300+/day | North coast resort, private transfers, a personal guide, Rinjani trek on a private basis |
Indonesian rupiah can be withdrawn from cash machines in Mataram, Praya and Kuta, often with a limit of 2.5 million rupiah and fees of €3-5 per withdrawal. On the Gilis, the machines often break down: arrive with cash. Cards are accepted in resorts, rarely in warungs.
Is Lombok safe?
Lombok is a safe island for travellers, assaults are rare and the Sasak welcome is straightforward. The real risks lie elsewhere. The road first: scooters cause most holiday accidents, and a helmet and an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle endorsement are compulsory. Then the sea, with strong currents and no lifeguards on most southern beaches, where only Selong Belanak is safe for children. Finally Rinjani: altitude, cold nights and ash slopes call for a reputable agency, and the park closes the trail from January to March. Avoid the home-made arak sold by the glass on the Gilis, as cases of methanol poisoning have been reported. Dengue circulates all year round, and evening repellent limits the risk. The main hospitals are in Mataram; the north has remained poorly equipped since the 2018 earthquakes.
What to see and do in Lombok
- Climbing Rinjani
- Segara Anak Lake
- Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep Waterfalls
- Gili Trawangan
- Selong Belanak Beach
- Bukit Merese Hill
- Sade Sasak Village
- Tangsi Pink Beach
Rinjani and Segara Anak lake 3 627 m
The volcano towers over the whole island at 3,726 metres, and its caldera holds an 11 km² crescent-shaped lake at 2,000 metres, with the active cone of Baru Jari planted in the middle. The classic climb starts from Sembalun, camps on the crater rim at 2,639 metres and reaches the summit before sunrise, on ash slopes where you slide back one step for every two. The hot springs on the lakeshore run at around 40°C. The national park closes the trail from January to March.
The Gili Islands
Three flat islets a few kilometres off the north-west coast, administratively part of Lombok. Gili Trawangan, the largest, measures 3 km by 2 and is home to most of the bars and dive centres. Gili Air still has Sasak families and a slow pace, while Gili Meno can be crossed in an hour on foot and has a salt lake at its centre. There are no motor vehicles: bike, cidomo or walking. Green turtles appear within ten metres of the shore, and visibility often exceeds 20 metres in the dry season.
Kuta and the southern beaches
The village of Kuta has grown fast since the expressway and the Mandalika circuit opened, but the surrounding bays remain wide and lightly built up. Selong Belanak unrolls a crescent of a kilometre and a half that is ideal for learning to surf, Mawun is enclosed between two headlands, and Tanjung Aan has sand made of round grains known as pepper sand. Bukit Merese, east of the bay, rises fifty metres above the waves and fills up every evening.
Senaru and the northern waterfalls
At 600 metres on the northern slope of Rinjani, Senaru is the gateway to the park and the base for two waterfalls. Sendang Gile drops 31 metres at the bottom of a 300-step staircase, while Tiu Kelep has to be earned with twenty minutes of trail and two river crossings, then rewards you with a swim in a wide pool under permanent spray. The village keeps a traditional Sasak hamlet, Dusun Senaru, with its bamboo houses and dry-stone enclosure.
Sembalun and the eastern rice fields
A valley at 1,150 metres wedged between Rinjani and Mount Anak Dara, where garlic, strawberries and terraced rice are grown. In the morning, mist rises from the fields, then suddenly reveals the volcano. It is the most popular starting point for the trek, with a line of porters forming at dawn in front of the park office. The hills of Bukit Selong take twenty minutes to climb and show the checkerboard of plots from above.
Mataram and the old port of Ampenan
Together with Cakranegara and Ampenan, the island's capital is home to more than 400,000 people and serves mainly as a practical base: hospitals, cash machines, markets. The Balinese temple of Pura Meru, built in 1720, and the pools of the Mayura water palace recall the century of Balinese rule over western Lombok. Ampenan, a former colonial port, keeps crumbling Chinese and Arab facades along its straight streets.
How many days, and which itinerary?
A week lets you combine the south, the Gilis and the north without spending every day on the road. Allow ten days if you add the three-day Rinjani climb, plus a recovery day that nobody regrets.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Lombok guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of Indonesia
The south and the Gilis (5 days)
Two nights in Kuta for Selong Belanak, Mawun and Tanjung Aan, with a surf lesson in the morning and Bukit Merese at sunset. A day for Sade, Rembitan and the Praya market, then the transfer to Bangsal, about three hours by road. Two nights on Gili Air or Gili Meno, quieter than Trawangan, with mask and snorkel off Turtle Point. Fly home from Praya airport, an hour from Bangsal on the expressway.
Around Lombok (10 days)
The same southern base, extended to the north and east. Two nights in Senaru for Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep, two nights in Sembalun for the terraced rice fields and sunrise over the volcano, then the north coast as far as Sire and its flat beaches. Add the pink beach of Tangsi in the south-east, two hours of dirt road from Kuta, and a day in Mataram for the Cakranegara market and the old port of Ampenan. Plan on a scooter from the first day to the last.
Lombok and Rinjani (2 weeks)
The full tour, with the three-day climb slotted into the middle of the trip and two rest days afterwards, on the Gilis or in Sire. The trek starts from Sembalun at 1,150 metres, camps on the rim at 2,639 metres, reaches the summit before sunrise and descends via the lake and Senaru. The rest of the time goes to the southern beaches, the Sasak villages and a dive trip in the Gilis. Book your trekking agency before you arrive between June and August.
Getting there and getting around
Praya International Airport, in the centre of the island, receives direct flights from Jakarta, Surabaya, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, plus a daily shuttle flight from Denpasar in thirty minutes. From Europe, expect two stopovers and around eighteen hours of total travel time.
The public ferry links Padangbai, on Bali, to the port of Lembar in four to five hours for less than two euros, with hourly departures. Fast boats leave Padangbai, Amed or Serangan for the Gilis, taking an hour and a half to two hours, for €25-40.
The scooter remains the easiest way to get around, at €5-8 a day. An International Driving Permit with a motorcycle endorsement is required by both the police and insurers, and checks are frequent on the Kuta road and around Senggigi.
For long stretches, a car with driver costs €35-50 a day, often less than a series of transfers. Public boats from Bangsal serve all three Gilis for about one euro, and on the islands everything is done on foot, by bike or by cidomo.
Where to stay in Lombok?
Sasak homestays in Kuta and Selong Belanak: €12-30 a night for a simple room with a fan, with breakfast and scooter hire extra. It is the most common option in the south of the island, and often the best way to find a guide you can trust.
Bungalows on the Gilis: €25-70 depending on the island and the distance from the beach. Gili Trawangan has the liveliest places, Gili Air strikes a balance, and Gili Meno remains the quietest of the three, with only a handful of places to stay and no nightlife.
Resorts on the west coast, from Senggigi to Sire: €100-400 a night, with a pool facing the strait and views of Bali's Mount Agung on clear days. The low season from November to March brings rates in this category down by about a third.
On Rinjani, you sleep in tents at the camps on the Sembalun rim and by Segara Anak lake, with equipment and porters provided by the agency. Bring a warm sleeping bag: the temperature drops to around 5°C on the rim before dawn, with wind.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Lombok?
Ayam taliwang, chicken grilled with chilli, garlic and shrimp paste, comes from the Karang Taliwang neighbourhood of Mataram. It is served with plecing kangkung, water spinach with tomato sambal and peanuts, for €3-5 a plate in a warung.
Sate rembiga, beef skewers marinated in chilli and palm sugar, is sold in the evening at Mataram's food stalls. Sate bulayak comes with a tube of rice wrapped in a palm leaf, which you unroll in a spiral before dipping it in the sauce.
On the Gilis and in Kuta, the evening's grilled fish is chosen on ice before cooking: €6-12 per fish with rice and vegetables. The morning markets in Praya and Cakranegara sell mangosteens, snake fruit and durians in season, for a few cents a handful.
Lombok is Muslim and alcohol stays discreet outside the tourist areas: local beer costs around €3 on the Gilis and is almost impossible to find in the villages. During Ramadan, many warungs close during the day and reopen after sunset.
Entry requirements
Visa on arrival for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports: 30 days, paid on landing or bought online beforehand as an e-VOA.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Lombok
How much does the Rinjani climb cost?
Allow €150-250 per person for three days and two nights in a group, with porters, tents, meals and permits included. The permit alone costs 150,000 rupiah a day on weekdays, a little more at weekends. The trail closes from January to March for the rainy season and usually reopens in early April.
How do you get from Bali to Lombok?
Three options: the Denpasar-Praya flight in thirty minutes from €40, the public Padangbai-Lembar ferry in four to five hours for less than two euros, or the fast boat to the Gilis and Bangsal in an hour and a half to two hours, for €25-40 depending on the company and the departure port.
When is the best time to go?
From May to September, the dry season, with calm seas and 20 to 30 metres of underwater visibility. July and August fill up the Gilis and the trekking agencies, while May, June and September offer the same weather with fewer people. From December to March, the monsoon soaks the south and closes the Rinjani trail.
How should you dress on a Muslim island?
Swimwear is no problem on the beaches and the Gilis, but cover your shoulders and knees in the villages, at markets and in Mataram. A sarong or light trousers in your bag solves the problem. During Ramadan, avoid eating, drinking and smoking in public during the day.
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