What is Ubud like to visit?
Rice terraces, river gorges, temples, yoga and the best food outside the south. Also traffic, crowds at the famous sights, and 90 minutes to the nearest beach.
Ubud is the cultural centre of Bali and has been a destination for artists and travellers since long before the island had an airport. It is also comprehensively discovered, which means the good version of Ubud is 15 minutes outside the centre.
What it is actually like
A town in a valley system, surrounded by rice terraces and river gorges, with a dense centre around the palace and market and a spreading network of villages — Penestanan, Sayan, Sanggingan, Peliatan, Mas — where most of the good accommodation sits.
The centre is busy and the main road through it is slow. Twenty minutes walking out of it, you are in rice fields with ducks.
The famous sights, honestly
Tegalalang Rice Terrace. Photogenic, crowded by 9am, with swings and cafe platforms built for photographs. Worth it at 7am, a disappointment at noon. Jatiluwih, an hour away, is vastly larger, a UNESCO site, and has a fraction of the visitors.
Sacred Monkey Forest. Genuinely good: a temple complex in a forest with several hundred long-tailed macaques. Keep nothing in your hands, nothing loose on your head, and do not resist a monkey that takes something.
Campuhan Ridge Walk. A short free walk along a ridge between two rivers. Go at sunrise, when it is empty and cool.
Tirta Empul. The water temple with purification pools. Meaningful and busy. Early morning, with a guide who explains the sequence, is the version worth having.
Goa Gajah, the elephant cave, small and quick.
Tegenungan Waterfall, close and crowded. Kanto Lampo, more photogenic. The better waterfalls are north, toward Munduk and Gitgit.
What to do that is not on the list
Take a cooking class in a village. Cycle downhill from Kintamani through the rice fields. Walk the Sayan or Penestanan paths at sunrise. Watch a legong performance at the palace. Visit the Neka or Blanco museums. Get a massage at a spa that charges 150,000 rupiah rather than 900,000.
Eating
Ubud has the best food on the island outside Seminyak, with a strong vegetarian and health-food layer that exists nowhere else in Indonesia at this density, plus serious Indonesian restaurants and a handful of genuinely excellent fine-dining rooms in the valleys.
Babi guling, Balinese suckling pig, is the local dish and the famous places are institutions.
Where to stay
- Central Ubud, walkable to the market, palace and restaurants, and noisy.
- Penestanan, up the steps west of the centre, a village of small hotels and long-stay foreigners.
- Sayan and the Ayung valley, the luxury bracket, with the gorge views.
- Sanggingan and Kedewatan, a short ride north, quieter, good value.
- Peliatan and Mas, southeast, more local, closer to the drive out.
Anywhere further than 15 minutes from the centre needs a scooter or a driver every day.
Practicalities
Weather. Wetter and cooler than the coast. Afternoon rain is common even in dry season and nights need a light layer.
Traffic. The one-way system through the centre is congested from mid-morning. Parking is difficult.
Distance. The airport is 75 to 120 minutes. Canggu is 90 minutes. The nearest decent beach is an hour and a half. Ubud is a base, not a day trip from the coast, and doing it as a day trip is the classic way to waste a day.
Mosquitoes. More than the coast. Repellent in the evenings.
Day trips from Ubud
North to Munduk and the lakes. Ulun Danu Beratan on the water, the Munduk waterfalls, and Jatiluwih on the way back. A full day and the best one from Ubud.
East to Sidemen and Tirta Gangga. Rice terraces under Agung, water palaces, and almost no crowds. Also a full day.
Kintamani and Batur. The caldera, the lake, the coffee plantations on the way. Shorter, and the view from the rim on a clear morning is worth the drive.
Keramas or Lebih on the coast, 40 minutes, for black-sand beaches and far fewer people than the south.
What does not work from Ubud is a beach day in the south. Canggu is 90 minutes each way in the wrong traffic.
A sensible three days
Day one: Campuhan ridge at sunrise, the market, the palace, a spa, a dance performance in the evening. Day two: Tegalalang at 7am, Tirta Empul by 9, back for lunch, the monkey forest in the afternoon. Day three: a cooking class in the morning, or the drive north to Munduk for the day.
That covers Ubud properly and leaves the rest of the trip for the coast.
Common questions
How many days should you spend in Ubud?
Three to four. Enough for the main sights early in the morning, a cooking class, a walk and a day trip north.
Is Ubud worth visiting?
Yes, for culture, food, green and cool air. Not if you want a beach holiday, because the coast is 90 minutes away.
What is the best time to visit Tegalalang?
Before 8am. By mid-morning it is full and the light is flat.
Is Ubud expensive?
Accommodation is better value than the south at every level, and restaurants are cheaper for the same quality.
Can you swim in Ubud?
In hotel pools and a few river spots, not in the sea. The nearest beach is roughly 90 minutes away.
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Kai, Bali property adviser