When you think of Bali and Indonesia you think of tropical island paradises with gorgeous white sand beaches and crystal blue water. They are exotic locations that over the last 20 years have become mainstream travelers' destinations popular with young and old alike. But if you are traveling from the West it is a long way away, and you'll have several options for getting there.

Ways to Go:

The most obvious way to get to Bali or Indonesia is to fly. If you are coming from either Europe or the U.S. a good place to find an inexpensive flight is at cheapflights.com, a price-comparison site that considers fares from several carriers to find you the lowest price. The flight is about 20 hours from the West Coast of the United States and about 16 hours from Europe.
If Indonesia and Bali are a leg on a round-the-world trip a good place to get a ticket is airtreks.com, which specializes in this type of travel. Here are sites you might want to consider for good deals on airfare:
• Airline Consolidator (airlineconsolidator.com)
Cheap Flights (cheapflights.com)
Cheap Seats (cheapseats.com)
Expedia (expedia.msn.com): Good for flights from the U.S., Canada, the U.K. or Europe.
Hotwire (hotwire.com): Good site for U.S. and Canadian departures.
Kilroy Travels (kilroytravels.com): Flights from the Netherlands and Nordic countries.
Opodo (opodo.com): Fares from Europe.
Priceline (priceline.com): Bid on the best fares from the U.S. and Canada.
STA (statravel.com): Prominent in international student travel, but you don't have to be a student; site linked to worldwide STA sites.
Travelocity (travelocity.com): U.S. site that allows you to search fares to/from anywhere.
Zuji (zuji.com): Excellent site for departures from Australasia and the Pacific.

If you'd like to go by sea there are several options. From the U.S. or Europe there are a number of cruise ships that offer trips that take between three and five weeks. Check out cruiseabout.com, which has listings for dozens of cruise lines in Europe and the U.S. that go to destinations all over the world.
Although as of 2009 it is not possible to travel directly from the U.S. to Bali or Indonesia it is possible to go to another country and continue your journey from there.
If price is no object then you might want to consider using Seabourn (seabourn.com). These are luxury yachts smaller than the bigger cruise ships that carry 450 passengers. Trips are pricey, however, and start off at around $40,000 to get to Asia from Florida as of 2009.
Princess Cruises also offers trips to Asia from the U.S. You can check these at princess.com. This is one of the largest commercial cruise lines, and although it's not as luxurious, the prices start at around $10,000 as of 2009.

Go over land. Obviously, if you are coming from the West you will have to board a ship or plane at some point. But if you've made it to Asia or Europe and would like to travel to Indonesia and Bali over land the rest of the way one of the best places to start researching your trip is bootsnall.com. This is a comprehensive site that includes a forum where you can meet other travelers, as well as hundreds of tour operators who can arrange your trip.
A similar site is responsibletravel.com, which specializes in dealing with socially responsible tour operators whose trips benefit local economies and are environmentally respectful. There are about 30 trips that specialize in Bali and Indonesia, ranging in price from $400 to $8,000 as of 2009.