Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK): A Visitor’s Guide to Bali’s Giant Statue

Regular entry is IDR 150,000, and the Ultimate package with the Top of the Statue tour is IDR 400,000 (checked Oct 2026). On Wednesday to Saturday you can also buy entry plus the BarAong show for IDR 200,000, or the show alone for IDR 125,000, which includes the park after 6 pm. The buggy costs IDR 40,000 per person, and children under 100 cm are free.

GWK opens daily, but it does not publish gate times on its ticket site. Its own 2025 articles give opening at 8 or 9 am and closing around 9 pm, while older listings say 8 am to 10 pm. Performances run from 10 am, and on BarAong nights the park stays open after the 6 pm show. Confirm the closing time at the gate.

Yes, if you like big monuments, Balinese dance and engineering, or travel with children: the scale of the statue and the Barong show make an easy afternoon near Jimbaran. It is less worth it if you want an old temple or dislike heat; at IDR 150,000 it costs more than Uluwatu Temple, and much of the visit is walking across open stone plazas.

For most first-time visitors, yes. The package costs IDR 400,000 against IDR 150,000 for regular entry, and includes a guided visit of about 45 minutes to the 9th-floor museum and the 23rd floor, about 90 meters up, with a glass floor and views over the airport and the south coast. Skip it on a hazy day or if heights bother you.

The monument stands 121 meters including its 46-meter pedestal, so the figure of Vishnu on Garuda is 75 meters tall on its own. The wings span 64 meters, and it weighs about 4,000 tonnes. It is the tallest statue in Indonesia, taller than the Statue of Liberty with its pedestal, and GWK bills it as the fourth-tallest in the world.

Balinese sculptor I Nyoman Nuarta designed the statue in 1990, and building began in 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis halted the project for 16 years, until Alam Sutera Realty took it over in 2013. The last of more than 700 modules went up in July 2018, and President Joko Widodo inaugurated the statue on 22 September 2018.

GWK lists 15 daytime performances between 10 am and 5 pm, including the Barong and Bojog dance at 3 pm and Joged Bumbung at 5 pm, all covered by the regular ticket. The BarAong show runs from 6 to 6:30 pm, Wednesday to Saturday, on a separate ticket. GWK’s schedule also lists a daily 6 pm Kecak at the Lotus Pond; check at the gate.

GWK says most visits take 2 hours, enough to walk to the statue, see Plaza Wisnu and catch a dance or two. Allow 3 to 4 hours if you add the 45-minute statue tour and the 6 pm BarAong, and more if you stay for dinner at Jendela Bali. Add 15 to 25 minutes each way from Jimbaran.

Pick Uluwatu for the classic Ramayana Kecak on a clifftop at sunset, for IDR 150,000 plus temple entry, with big crowds and a slow drive back. Pick GWK for the BarAong, a modern family show much closer to Jimbaran and the airport. Both start at 6 pm, so you cannot do both on the same evening.

By car, about 11 to 13 km and 30 to 40 minutes, through Jimbaran or via the Bali Mandara toll road. In 2025 GWK quoted IDR 140,000–170,000 by airport taxi and IDR 100,000–150,000 by Grab or Gojek. Leave luggage at your hotel first if you can; the park involves a long walk.

Yes. A free shuttle runs from Parkir A to Plaza Bhagawan, the ticket gate, and to Jendela Bali. Inside, the buggy costs IDR 40,000 per person for one trip from Plaza Bhagawan to the statue and on to Festival Park, and must be bought with an entry ticket. Without it, the walk to the statue is about 1 km with slopes.

Yes, at the ticket counter in Plaza Bhagawan. Booking online on ticket.gwkbali.com saves the queue and, according to GWK, is the safer choice for the BarAong at weekends and on holidays. Pick your date first, since the show tickets only appear for Wednesday to Saturday and some event dates, such as 31 December, are closed to regular tickets.