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I’ll be in Bali in a couple of weeks (roll on the school holidays!). This will be my 3rd trip, I haven’t been since 2008, and I realise things have changed, but from the sounds of it the best thing to do is explore one area, then move to another hotel in a different area of Bali after a few nights (if you really want to explore *just Bali*). That way you’re not travelling big distances through awful traffic from your one base, in an attempt to see all of Bali.
Anyway, I’m basing myself 3km ish N of Ubud, I believe there’s a lovely rice field walking path into town, close-ish to my accommodation (Madani Antique Villas). I plan to walk into town, for the most part. I might book a driver to see a few waterfalls one day, but mostly I plan to stroll in and out of town for food and late afternoon sightseeing, when I’m done lazing by the pool for the day! Then I’m heading to Lombok for a slow boat to Flores (where I have an overwater bungalow booked), and then back to Gili Air.
I realise this isn’t the easiest solution in a lot of cases, especially for most people with a small child, but if you’re used to hiking with little one in a carrier/sling that could work, especially if seeing the gorgeous rice terraces is something you’re keen on. I’d also suggest the same to other commenters with and without kids, if you’re mobile enough, and wanted to see Bali for the great outdoors.
I realise that I may be back in 2 weeks, eating my words and wailing about how much Bali has changed…
That plan sounds absolutely perfect, Cat – Kelimutu alone will be worth the whole trip.
Afternoon/evening definitely the best part of the day in Ubud: a fabulous meal followed by a dance/gamelan performance. You definitely won’t be eating your words, you’ll be eating delicious seafood ;o)))
Hope your case makes it back!!@Cat
Sounds wonderful, you will be well ready for a break from those maths yr9 kids… we also love that area outside Unud, plenty to see and do, but think not with little ones! Once again we are having to cancel,our 241 to SIN end of October, pre surgery required for the OH, unfortunately. However, planning to transfer trip to feb 25, flights permitting.
…Sorry to hear that, Pol – but sure it’s worth it, looking to the future. We’ll be doing the traditional SingaBali combo shortly, so will report back on anything new! Take care x
Hi @Yorkshire Rich – we are staying at the Adiwana Suweta hotel. It is a small resort and very nice. We have a 2 bedroom pool villa but I don’t recommend this if you have young kids as there are no doors between the living area and pool – it’s semi open air if that makes sense and would be a safety risk for young children. There is a nice main pool area where kids can happily play if you were to get a room in the main hotel building.
So after reading all the comments about Bali and doing some research we have decided to spend a bit more time in Lombok/Gili and less time in Bali. Would appreciate any help with the below.
Gili Islands – is 2 nights enough? and which island is best? i couldn’t find much accomodation on Gili Air.
Lombok – 5 nights at Oberoi
Ubud – 5 nights. We are thinking of basing ourselves in Ubud and do a couple of days of visiting sights outside Ubud with a driver. So do we base ourselves in Ubud or a bit out? Though it would be nice to be able to walk to the restaurants etc.. but would we be stuck in heavy traffic when we want to leave Ubud?
The current choices are: Element; Sthala and Adiwana Monkey Forest.For the last 3 nights we would like to stay on the coast with a nice white beach and not too busy. Any suggestions?
Couple in our early 50s.
Just to say two nights = one full day.
Tnx for kind wishes.. yes, bit gutted at timing, but Feb on the cards still… Cat will WhatsApp you pics of the huge red snapper, seriously fed 4 of us easily. He is at the Tuban end of old Kuta beach, between the Bintang Beach resort, and the posh Holiday Inn near by. We really love going to Envy at the Holiday Inn too, for their 241 Prosecco etc, right by the beach at sunset. Then pootle on up to a fish dinner. Envy has a nice local menu too, staff are wonderful. Korner cafe is very very local. Wonky chairs and beach tables. Kids running around, but lovely people around to chat to.
Korner cafe
Is that actually on the beach side, Polly? Where Warung Sendy is?
Yep @Michael C Sendy is just down from there. Korner is the 1st one of the little row of warungs….. it’s up from Jerman Beach. All been cleaned up now over the years.. but this little row retains pure Balinese tradition, as you know…
@JaneDoe, south Ubud is good if that’s the only place you stay or you’ll be doing day trips from.
Sthala is in a good location, not too close to Ubud town and easy to get away to south avoiding the traffic.
For beach stays, Sanur and Seminyak are popular places. You can read comments on the HfP review of Andaz Bali.
@JaneDoe we are at the Oberoi Lombok right now and it’s amazing! Rooms are lovely, food is good and staff are really helpful. Just to note that the beach is very narrow here.
Before Lombok, we based ourselves in Ubud for 5 days which worked well for day trips out. Our hotel the Adiwana Suweta was 10min outside of Ubud. I see you are considering Adiwana Monkey Forest – this is in central Ubud so just be aware that due to heavy traffic in the centre it may take time to travel to and from that hotel by car. If you do stay at that hotel, there is a great restaurant right opposite called Honey and Smoke which I highly recommend!BBBetter & FH2 – thanks.
@FH2 – so looking forward to Oberoi, heard so many lovely things about it. Did you do any of the Gili islands while there? And how did you get around Lombok to visit the sights?Ubud- – we are leaning towards staying central as would be nice to just walk to dinner and back.
@Polly – i think i remeber you mentioned a driver you recommend in Bali. Would you mind sharing their details?we are at the Oberoi Lombok right now and it’s amazing! Rooms are lovely, food is good and staff are really helpful. Just to note that the beach is very narrow here.
Hello, have you done any daytrips or visited any points of interest on Lombok itself?
Hi @JaneDoe,
Yes we have used Putu Denny for a long time. A lovely female driver who has a 6 seater blue, but NOT bluebird. She’s very reasonable rates. Speaks and writes very good English. Her WhatsApp number is 006281805590598. Hangs out usually around Seminyak, Kuta etc. but will take you on day trips etc. Will do airport pick up too. Brilliant to be able to call her when we have bags etc. if she can’t do it, she’s got a nephew who works with her, we have had trips with him too.
Have a great trip.Thanks Polly appreciate that
So since SLH became Hilton, I had a look at the properties and with the 100% Hilton points promotion, I decided to take the plunge and book the Viceroy. It doesn’t seem to have as glowing reviews as the Ritz Carlton or Four seasons but I think it’s certainly a step above the Element Ubud where I had originally booked. It’s the wife’s Birthday aswell so I’ll class that as her Birthday present.
As I’m Hilton Gold, I got the “free” night, which compared to cash prices represents pretty decent value even at 105,000 per night.So far with subject to change, I’ve got Singapore 2 nights, Hotel Indigo at seminyak 4 nights, Vuceroy at UBud 4 nights, and then Hyatt Sanur 3 nights.
I did look at Andaz but the club lounge at Hyatt is same price and bed and breakfast at Andaz so think I will go with that.
Thankyou to everyone for restaurant reviews. I’m slowly noting them down.
@JaneDoe; @Aston100 we have done day trips to the Gili islands from the Oberoi – private boat charter is around £150 for half a day and includes guided snorkelling. Apart from that I’m embarrassed to admit that we haven’t yet visited any other points of interest and have just been relaxing at the resort! I am trying to persuade the family to visit a nearby village but no joy so far. We had a busy time in Ubud so the Lombok part of our trip is about rest and relaxation.
@JaneDoe: the Oberoi is in the middle of nowhere so easiest option is to use their transportation to get around. Not cheap though. They offer their own guided tours too. You could probably look into hiring a private driver – maybe check on Tripadvisor for recommendations – they have a dedicated Lombok forum. Re driver in Bali – I can recommend the guy we used – his name is Wayan Merta. Nice guy and reasonable rates, punctual and reliable. You can WhatsApp him on +62 812 3609749.@MichaelC – I cannot wait to see the Kelimutu lakes! I wanted to go when I last went to Indonesia (back in 2008), but just didn’t have the time, as it’s quite the side trip from Lombok!I’m going to try to climb Inirie too, if I have the time.
I’m honestly getting so excited – I absolutely love Indonesia. For those who haven’t been – part of the joy is all the different islands, and just how spectacularly different they are to each other. I hope I still love Ubud!
Hope your case makes it back!!
🤣
Yep @Michael C Sendy is just down from there. Korner is the 1st one of the little row of warungs….. it’s up from Jerman Beach. All been cleaned up now over the years.. but this little row retains pure Balinese tradition, as you know…
Thanks @Polly, I think I’ve worked out where it is and have tagged on Google. That red snapper looked incredible. I’m very much looking forward to eating all the food!
@JaneDoe – I’d stay for longer on the Gili islands, and skip the 3 nights on a white sand beach elsewhere. The Gilis have gorgeous white sand beaches all around (and wonderful snorkelling). I’m staying at the Vyaana on Gili Air for 4 nights – it looks lovely, and will report back. The Gilis warrant a longer stay. Just avoid Gili T.Is 8 nights too short for Lombok and the Gilis?
We went to Gili Meno yesterday and the beach is gorgeous – white powdery sand and clear turquoise water. It’s a 20min speedboat ride from Oberoi Lombok. @Richie – I don’t think 8 nights is too short.
Hi, I thought it was sensible to post this here, as a well as the daily chat thread, for those that are planning a trip involving Ubud.
1) go to Petulu village for one sunset (if you have any interest in nature, don’t worry if not), purely to see the madness of all of the herons of Bali coming to roost in the trees of Petulu. It’s an incredible sight!
2) for food in Ubud, I recommend I Love Bali for a cheap and cheerful substantial meal, Bebek Bengil Crispy Duck for said crispy duck, or Hujan Locale if you want a fancy meal. I also had the crispy duck there. It was incredible.
3) For a massage, I *highly* recommend Sang Spa Ubud. I’m a bit of a massage afficionado, and I have no time for bad massages. Tini was fantastic, and from the reviews I read, the rest of the staff are wonderfully skilled at sorting out aches and pains. Also the prices are fair.
4) for anyone who wants to avoid the hellish traffic around Ubud, stay outside of the city centre, ideally to the North where there are some incredible accommodation options (either with jungle/gorge views, or rice field views) , and do one of two things
– plan a trip in first thing (after an early breakfast) or last thing (to enjoy dinner in Ubud), the traffic seems to be at its worst between check out time and mid afternoon
– if you have reasonable mobility, get a grab to one of the trailheads for the walks into town (you won’t encounter traffic that’s too awful until you get closer to Ubud), then enjoy the views of rice fields while strolling the rest of the way. Do the same on the way back, in reverse. This worked brilliantly for avoiding the stress of the traffic repeatedly.Two obvious routes are:
https://strava.app.link/hT1F0eK5ALb
and
https://strava.app.link/j8RgfhN5ALb
The only reason they took so long is that I kept stopping to take photos!
For the second trail, I recommend you continue along the section where I completely missed the turn for the bridge and had to backtrack (unless you have the surefootedness of a mountain goat) – the path is narrow and bordered by a steep drop into a gorge for the last section between the bridge and Ubud. Continue down my wrong path onto the road into Ubud.
There’s also a Sari organic walk, and various other trails on Google maps.
I hope this is useful to someone!
Hi guys.
I’ve convinced myself to strongly consider renting Villas in Sanur and in Ubud rather than staying at a hotel.I’ve noticed that most of the ones I’ve looked at have got open air / semi outdoor bathrooms, and possibly the same for kitchens.
How do guests cope with insect attacks at night when lights are switched on?
Mrs Aston is worried and is considering holding the ‘bum gun’ (from recent chat threads) ready to shoot any 4 – 8 legged interlopers while she spends a penny.I guess this is an ‘us’ problem, since so many properties have this kind of arrangement for bathrooms and kitchens and I didn’t notice any particular reference to that in a negative manner on the property reviews.
Any thoughts on this please?
As this thread is still live thought i ask about transport from Lombok to Bali. Any suggestions? Looking at ferries and airlines but don’t know much about any of the companies, how reliable and safe they are. Also is it a rough crossing by ferry?
What have people gone for or plan to use? Thanks
As this thread is still live thought i ask about transport from Lombok to Bali. Any suggestions? Looking at ferries and airlines but don’t know much about any of the companies, how reliable and safe they are. Also is it a rough crossing by ferry?
What have people gone for or plan to use? Thanks
We flew from Bali to Lombok with Citilink so you could look at that airline (we flew Lombok to Singapore so didn’t use Citilink to depart from Lombok). Citilink was fine, though the flight was delayed by over an hour. It’s a very short flight – about 30min. I think the only other airline that flies direct from Lombok to Bali is Wings. We decided not to opt for the ferry as my daughter gets seasick. We met a couple in Lombok who had taken the ferry from Bali and said it was a very rough crossing (this was in mid July).
Hi guys.
I’ve convinced myself to strongly consider renting Villas in Sanur and in Ubud rather than staying at a hotel.I’ve noticed that most of the ones I’ve looked at have got open air / semi outdoor bathrooms, and possibly the same for kitchens.
How do guests cope with insect attacks at night when lights are switched on?
Mrs Aston is worried and is considering holding the ‘bum gun’ (from recent chat threads) ready to shoot any 4 – 8 legged interlopers while she spends a penny.I guess this is an ‘us’ problem, since so many properties have this kind of arrangement for bathrooms and kitchens and I didn’t notice any particular reference to that in a negative manner on the property reviews.
Any thoughts on this please?
Hi @Aston100 – I had the same concerns as your wife! We had a villa (within a hotel resort) which was semi-open air. I spotted the odd lizard (ghecko?) but that was about it. No mosquito bites thankfully but I did use insect repellent. I hate creepy crawlies but honestly it was fine!
Hi guys.
I’ve convinced myself to strongly consider renting Villas in Sanur and in Ubud rather than staying at a hotel.?
This villa is one I have been drooling over for years – it’s where I would take all my family to if I won the lottery https://beachbalivillas.com/properties/villa-batujimbar/
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