Markets and shopping in Bali

How a pasar works

A pasar is a traditional market, and many of Bali's run in two shifts. Mornings are for food and daily needs: rice, vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, spices, household goods and the flowers and palm leaves used for offerings. From late afternoon the same markets fill with food stalls, cheap clothing and snacks, and stay busy into the night.

Pasar Badung

Pasar Badung sits on Jalan Sulawesi in the Gajah Mada heritage area of central Denpasar, on a site it has occupied since 1907. A fire in February 2016 destroyed most of the old buildings. The rebuilt market began trading on 24 February 2019 and has two basement levels and four trading floors for 1,690 traders.

• Ground floor and forecourt: vegetables, fruit, spices, chicken, seafood and household goods.
• Second floor: fabric, office and school clothing, Balinese traditional dress and supplies for Hindu ceremonies.
• Third floor: mats, buckets, tableware, herbal medicine and gold and silver shops.

The main building trades from 08.00 to 17.00. Night food stalls set up in the forecourt from 15.30 and run until 23.00, and the secondhand clothing stalls behind the building are busiest in the late afternoon and evening. Porters called tukang suun, usually women, carry shopping to your vehicle in a basket on their heads. Bring small notes for the smaller sellers, although some areas take cashless payment. A flood in 2025 damaged parts of Pasar Badung and Pasar Kumbasari.

Pasar Kumbasari

Pasar Kumbasari faces Pasar Badung across the Badung River on Jalan Gajah Mada, and a bridge links the two. Before independence it was known as Pasar Payuk. The present market opened in 1977, burned in 2000 and reopened around 2001, and about 800 vendors trade there.

• Ground floor: groceries.
• Second floor: udeng (Balinese head cloths), fabric, sarongs and bed covers.
• Third floor: sculptures, paintings, Balinese ornaments, handkerchiefs and bags.
• Fourth floor: souvenirs, including shell and paper crafts and goods from outside Bali.

Stalls on the upper floors open gradually from around 08.00, and prices leave room to bargain.

Pasar Kereneng

Pasar Kereneng, also written Kreneng, is on Jalan Kamboja 24 in North Denpasar and has traded since 1983 in a three storey building. Until around midday it is a food and household market. Sellers arrive from about 15.00, and from 16.00 the night market known as Pasar Senggol is in full swing, with food stalls running until midnight. Dishes cost Rp5,000 to Rp20,000 a portion, and traditional snacks include pisang rai, laklak, bubuh sumsum and black and white sticky rice. The night market also sells cheap clothing, shoes, bags and watches, and the third floor has secondhand and antique goods.

Night markets beyond Denpasar

Sindhu Night Market is Sanur's fresh market by day, selling groceries, vegetables, dried fish, spices and household goods. In the evening the stalls switch to food: chicken noodles, meatball soup, fried rice, satay, lamb curry and mixed fruit ice, with snacks from Rp3,000. Most of the food is made with halal ingredients. Prices are low enough that bargaining is hardly needed, and it helps to ask for the spice level you want.

Pasar Senggol Gianyar is the night market on Jalan Ngurah Rai in the centre of Gianyar town, about 10 km southeast of central Ubud. It fills up from around 17.00. Stalls serve babi guling, tipat cantok, lawar, ayam betutu, grilled chicken and nasi jinggo, along with sweets such as klepon and bubur candil, and some sellers offer clothing, shoes and watches.

Ubud Art Market

Ubud Art Market reopened in 2023 after a rebuild. Fruit, vegetables, fish and other staples are sold on the ground floor, and Balinese crafts fill the second floor. Around 1,000 small craft and creative businesses trade here. On 17 August 2024 a fire damaged one of the market's two blocks.

Typical goods are wooden statues, masks, paintings, wayang kulit puppets, woven baskets, ikat, straw hats, clothing, bags, jewellery and bronze statues of Hindu deities. Many stalls carry similar stock, so compare before buying. The final price depends on your bargaining, and mornings are less crowded.

Sukawati and Guwang

Sukawati Art Market in Gianyar regency dates from the early 1980s. The Gianyar regency government runs it together with the customary village of Sukawati, and part of the profit pays for village ceremonies and social activities. A new building, which cost Rp160 billion, was opened by President Joko Widodo on 1 February 2023. Paintings, sculptures, traditional Balinese clothing and handicrafts are the main goods, and nothing has a fixed price.

Guwang Art Market, also called Pasar Sukawati 2, covers about one hectare and has around 800 vendors selling souvenirs, accessories, barong shirts and paintings. It celebrated its 21st anniversary in November 2022.

Klungkung textile market

Pasar Klungkung in Semarapura, the main town of Klungkung, has 1,282 traders, and most of them sell traditional cloth: endek, songket, cepuk and rangrang, plus fabric for religious ceremonies.

What to buy

Sarongs and Balinese dress

Sarongs, udeng head cloths and the rest of Balinese traditional dress fill the second floors of Pasar Badung and Pasar Kumbasari. Sukawati Art Market sells traditional clothing too.

Endek, songket and geringsing

• Endek is a weft ikat: the pattern is tied and dyed into the weft threads before weaving. Today it is woven by the length in workshops in Gianyar, Denpasar and Tabanan on non mechanised ATBM looms. Under a 2021 circular from the governor (No. 4 of 2021), government offices, universities and government owned and private companies in Bali are asked to wear endek on Tuesdays.
• Songket has its pattern woven in with a supplementary weft.
• Cepuk is a weft ikat from Nusa Penida.
• Geringsing is a double ikat: both warp and weft are dyed before weaving. It is woven only in Tenganan Pegringsingan in East Bali, a single cloth can take two to five years to make, and the cloths are sacred and used in rituals.

Threads of Life is a textile gallery on Jalan Raya Lungsiakan in Ubud, open daily from 10.00 to 18.00. It sells hand woven and naturally dyed textiles, scarves, bags and homeware made by more than 1,200 women in over 35 weaving groups on 12 Indonesian islands.

Silver from Celuk

Celuk, a village in the Sukawati district of Gianyar, is the centre of Balinese silverwork. Its smiths worked for the royal family of Puri Sukawati in the days of the Sukawati kingdom, and the craft boomed in the 1980s. Galleries and workshops along the village sell rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and pendants made by carving, chiselling and inlay, and craftsmen take custom orders for ring sizes, stones and your own designs.

When buying silver:

• Look for a purity stamp such as Sterling Silver 925.
• Compare designs in several galleries.
• Ask about after sales cleaning or a warranty.
• Keep the receipt as proof of what you bought.

Woodcarving from Mas

Mas, in the Ubud area, has been known as a woodcarvers' village since the 1930s. Shops along the main road sell statues, and visitors can watch carvers at work. Prices depend on the type of wood, the size and how difficult the piece was to carve. The Njana Tilem Museum shows work by the carvers Ida Bagus Njana and Ida Bagus Tilem, and Siadja Gallery has been open since 1955.

How bargaining works

Bargaining is expected at roadside stalls, traditional markets and art markets. Malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and most branded shops have fixed prices.

1. Ask "Berapa?" (how much?) and let the seller name the first price.
2. Counter well below it. A common opening is about half, and deals often settle between half and two thirds of the first price.
3. Use a few words of Indonesian: "Mahal" (too expensive), "Turun sedikit?" (a little lower?) or "Minta diskon" (a discount, please).
4. Buy several things from one stall for a better price.
5. If the price stays too high, walk on to the next stall. Sellers often call you back with a last price.
6. Only start bargaining if you intend to buy. Backing out after a price is agreed is considered disrespectful.

More tips:

• In food markets, where prices are already low, a very low offer can offend. Ask for a small discount instead.
• The first sale of the day is considered lucky, which can help you get a good price early.
• Guides on group tours can earn commissions of up to 50% or more from the shops they bring visitors to, so prices are usually better when you shop on your own.
• Carry small notes, since sellers may claim to have no change. Cash is still preferred in many markets, though QRIS payment is spreading in towns.
• Bargained goods rarely come with refunds or after sales service.

Malls and supermarkets

For fixed prices, the south has malls such as Beachwalk Shopping Center and Discovery Mall Bali in Kuta, ICON Bali Mall in Sanur, Level 21 Mall Bali in Denpasar and Bali Collection in Nusa Dua. Bintang Supermarket Seminyak is a supermarket in Seminyak. Bargaining does not apply in any of them.