Ubud Culture & Seminyak Beach Holiday

Welcome to the Island of the Gods. As you step off the plane at Ngurah Rai International Airport, the warm, humid air and the scent of frangipani and clove cigarettes tell you that you have arrived somewhere very different from home. Bali is an island of about four million people, most of them Hindu, which makes it unique in Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population. Its culture, temples, festivals and art are unlike anywhere else, and that is what draws visitors from all over the world. Bali is two and a half hours ahead of India, so set your watch forward.

Flights from India reach Bali either directly from some cities or with a short connection through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, and many travellers arrive in the afternoon or evening. At immigration, show your passport, visa on arrival or e-VOA, return ticket and hotel details. The arrival card and the tourist levy can both be completed online before you travel, which saves time at the airport. After collecting your bags and clearing customs, walk out to the arrivals area, where our representative will meet you with a name board.

Your private car takes you north to Ubud, a drive of about one and a half to two hours. It is worth staying awake for. The road passes through Denpasar, the island's capital, and then through a string of villages, each with its own temples, banyan trees and markets. Look out for the tall bamboo poles called penjor, curving over the road and decorated with woven palm leaves; they are put up for festivals, especially Galungan, one of the most important Balinese holidays, when the spirits of ancestors are believed to return to earth.

You will also notice the little offerings everywhere. Each morning, Balinese families place canang sari, small trays of woven palm leaf filled with flowers, rice, a little food and a stick of incense, at their gates, shrines, shops and even on car dashboards, to thank the gods and keep away evil spirits. Walk around them rather than over them, and you will be showing the respect that the Balinese greatly appreciate.

Ubud is the island's centre of arts and culture, a town of painters, dancers, musicians and craftspeople set among rice fields and jungle ravines. Western artists such as Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet lived here in the 1920s and 1930s and helped to make Ubud famous, and today it is home to museums, galleries and craft workshops, as well as yoga studios, spas and some of the most beautiful hotels in Asia.

Check in to your hotel and take the rest of the day at leisure. If you arrive in time, walk into the centre of town for an early evening stroll. Jalan Monkey Forest and Jalan Hanoman, the two main streets, are lined with cafés, galleries and boutiques, and at the bottom of Monkey Forest Road is the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, a forest of huge trees and mossy temples where hundreds of long-tailed macaques live. It is best visited in the morning or late afternoon, and remember to keep your belongings close.

In the evening, Ubud Palace and several temples around the town hold traditional dance performances, with the hypnotic music of the gamelan, an orchestra of bronze gongs, drums and metallophones. The Legong, performed by young women in glittering gold costumes, and the Barong, a dance-drama about the battle between good and evil, are among the most popular, and tickets are sold at the entrance or in the street during the day.

A few practical things will make your stay easier. Buy a SIM card or eSIM at the airport for maps and ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek. Use ATMs inside banks or shopping centres, and change money only at authorised exchange counters. Drink bottled or filtered water, and carry mosquito repellent, especially in the green valleys around Ubud, where evenings can be humid.

Ubud's evenings are cool and quiet, and most restaurants close by about 10 PM, so it is a good place to settle into the slower rhythm of Bali after the journey.

Dinner is at your own choice. Ubud is famous for its food, from Balinese warungs to healthy cafés and fine dining, and it is one of the easiest places in Bali to eat vegetarian. Get a good night's sleep: tomorrow you head into the highlands to see an active volcano.

Included today: meet and greet at Bali airport, private arrival transfer to your hotel in Ubud, hotel stay.

Good to know: apply for the e-VOA, complete the arrival card and pay the tourist levy before you fly. Carry some Indonesian rupiah for small purchases; cards are widely accepted in hotels and restaurants. Read our guide to flights from India to Bali and the Bali visa for Indians.

After breakfast, your private car and driver collect you for a full day in the countryside of central Bali, through craft villages and up to the volcano at Kintamani. Because the tour is private, you can stop wherever you like for photographs and go at your own pace.

The first part of the day is spent in the villages around Ubud, each of which specialises in a traditional craft, passed down through families for generations. In Batubulan, you may stop to see stone carvers at work, shaping soft grey volcanic stone into temple guardians, gods and demons. In Celuk, the silversmiths' village, you can watch craftsmen working with fine silver wire and tiny granules to create intricate jewellery, and visit showrooms where rings, earrings and bracelets are sold. In Mas, the woodcarving village, workshops are filled with carvings of every size, from small animals to huge Garudas and Buddhas, carved from hibiscus, crocodile wood and ebony.

The craft villages are also a window into Balinese life. Most families live in walled compounds with several small pavilions around a courtyard, a family temple in the north-east corner, the direction of the sacred mountains, and a kitchen and rice store towards the sea. You will see these compounds all along the road, each with a carved gateway and offerings at the entrance.

At a batik workshop, you can see how the beautiful patterned cloth of Indonesia is made: designs are drawn on cotton with hot wax using a small copper pen called a canting, then the cloth is dyed, and the wax is removed to reveal the pattern. It is slow, skilled work, and a good batik sarong makes a lovely souvenir. You are never obliged to buy anything, but prices in the workshops are often fair, and bargaining politely is normal.

From the villages, the road climbs steadily north through rice terraces, coffee and citrus plantations and small hill villages towards Kintamani, on the rim of a vast ancient volcanic caldera. As you rise to about 1,500 metres above sea level, the air becomes cooler and fresher, and on some days, clouds drift across the road. Bring a light jacket or shawl, as it can be surprisingly chilly after the heat of the south.

At the viewpoint, the view opens out dramatically. Below you lies the huge caldera, and in its centre rises Mount Batur, an active volcano about 1,700 metres high, with black lava fields spreading down its slopes from eruptions in the last century. Beside it lies Lake Batur, a deep crescent-shaped crater lake, the largest in Bali, which is sacred to the Balinese, as it feeds the springs and rivers that water the rice fields across the island. On a clear day, you can also see Mount Abang and, beyond it, Mount Agung, Bali's highest and holiest volcano.

The lake is surrounded by small villages, and on the far shore lies Trunyan, a traditional Bali Aga village whose people follow customs older than those of the rest of Bali. Hot springs at Toya Bungkah, on the lake shore, are another optional stop, with warm pools fed by volcanic water.

Many restaurants along the rim serve buffet lunches with views over the volcano and the lake, a good place to stop and enjoy the scenery. Lunch is at your own cost. The best views are usually in the morning, before the clouds build up, so the tour aims to reach Kintamani before midday.

If you are feeling adventurous, the Mount Batur sunrise trek is one of Bali's great experiences. You start very early, around 2 or 3 AM, and climb for about two hours in the dark with a local guide to reach the crater rim at dawn, with views of the sun rising over Mount Agung and Lake Batur. It can be added on another day, at extra cost, and it suits anyone with reasonable fitness.

On the way back, you stop at a coffee plantation, where you can see how coffee, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon and other spices grow, and taste a selection of local coffees and teas, such as ginger tea, lemongrass tea and Balinese coffee. Many plantations also offer kopi luwak, made from beans eaten by civets, but much of it comes from caged animals, so we suggest trying the other coffees instead.

If you have time on the way back to Ubud, ask your driver about a short stop at the Tegalalang rice terraces, where green steps of rice curve down a valley, or the Tirta Empul water temple, where Balinese Hindus bathe in holy spring water. Both are optional and depend on time and traffic.

You will be back in Ubud in the late afternoon, with time for a massage, a swim or a stroll before dinner.

Included today: full-day Kintamani volcano and Ubud village tour on a private basis, breakfast.

Good to know: bring a light jacket for Kintamani, comfortable shoes and some cash for small purchases. Lunch, entry tickets to optional sights and the Mount Batur sunrise trek are not included. Read our Mount Batur and Kintamani guide.

Enjoy your last morning in Ubud. Early risers can take a walk through the rice fields close to town before breakfast, when the air is cool and the farmers are already at work. The Campuhan Ridge Walk, a paved path along a grassy ridge between two jungle rivers, is especially lovely at this time, and it takes about an hour there and back. Or visit the Ubud Art Market in the morning, when it is at its liveliest, for sarongs, baskets, paintings and souvenirs.

After breakfast, check out from your hotel. Your private car takes you south to Seminyak, a drive of about one and a half hours, through villages and towns towards the coast. If you would like to break the journey, your driver can stop for a short visit to one of the villages or a café along the way.

Seminyak is on the west coast of Bali, just north of Kuta and Legian, and it is the island's most stylish beach area. Not long ago, it was a quiet village of rice fields and coconut palms, but over the past thirty years it has grown into a place of boutique hotels, private villas, designer shops, art galleries, beach clubs and some of the best restaurants in Indonesia. It is livelier than Ubud but more relaxed and polished than Kuta, and it is especially popular with couples.

Check in to your hotel and spend the afternoon at leisure. Many Seminyak hotels are tucked away in quiet lanes a few minutes' walk from the beach, with gardens, pools and spas. If your hotel is close to the sea, walk down to Seminyak Beach in the afternoon. The beach is wide and sandy, with good waves for surfing, although the currents can be strong, so swim only between the red and yellow flags where lifeguards are on duty.

Sunset is the highlight of the day in Seminyak. The beach faces west, and in the late afternoon, people gather along the sand with drinks and beanbags to watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean. Many of Bali's most famous beach clubs are in Seminyak, with infinity pools, daybeds, music and food and drinks, and spending the sunset at one of them is a classic Bali experience. Entry rules and minimum spends vary, so it is worth checking in advance and booking a daybed if you want one.

Near the beach, Petitenget Temple is one of the chain of sea temples built along Bali's coast in the 16th century. It is still an active temple, and you may see ceremonies here, with Balinese women in lace blouses and sarongs carrying tall offerings of fruit and flowers on their heads. Visitors can watch respectfully from outside the inner courtyards.

In the evening, Seminyak's restaurant streets are busy and fun. Jalan Kayu Aya, known as Eat Street, and Jalan Petitenget are lined with restaurants serving every cuisine imaginable, from Balinese babi guling and Indonesian satay to wood-fired pizza, sushi and modern Australian cooking. Vegetarian and vegan food is easy to find, and there are several Indian restaurants in the area. Seminyak also has excellent shopping: boutiques selling linen clothing, swimwear, jewellery, homeware and Balinese crafts are open until late.

Seminyak is also a good base for a relaxed spa day. Treatments range from the traditional Balinese massage, with long, flowing strokes and warm oils, to the boreh, a warming scrub of spices and rice used by farmers to soothe tired muscles, and the lulur, a royal Javanese ritual of turmeric, sandalwood and yoghurt traditionally given to brides before their wedding.

If you are travelling as a family, Seminyak has plenty for children too, from the beach and pools to a water park in nearby Kuta, and many hotels have kids' clubs or family rooms.

Seminyak's beach is long enough for a lovely evening walk. Head north towards Batu Belig and Berawa, and you will pass beach bars with lanterns and beanbags, surfers carrying their boards home and families flying kites in the breeze, which is a much-loved Balinese pastime between June and August.

Seminyak is close to the airport and to the temples of the south, which makes it a convenient base for the second half of your holiday, and the drive to Tanjung Benoa and Uluwatu is shorter than from Ubud.

Taxis and ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek make it easy to get around, and many restaurants and shops are within walking distance of the hotels.

Included today: private transfer from Ubud to your hotel in Seminyak, hotel stay, breakfast.

Good to know: swim only between the red and yellow flags, as the currents on the west coast can be strong. Beach clubs, surf lessons and spa treatments are optional, at extra cost. Compare the beach areas in our guide to where to stay in Bali.

This morning, after breakfast, your private car takes you across to the other side of the island's southern tip, to Tanjung Benoa, a long, thin peninsula that curves north from Nusa Dua. The drive from Seminyak takes about 45 minutes to an hour, along the Bali Mandara toll road, which runs on a bridge across the mangroves and the bay, with views over the water to the hills of the south.

Tanjung Benoa is the water sports centre of Bali, and for good reason. A coral reef offshore breaks the waves of the Indian Ocean, so the water inside the reef is calm, clear and shallow, perfect for all kinds of activities. The beach is lined with water sports centres, each with changing rooms, showers, lockers and a café, and the bay is busy with speedboats, parachutes and jet skis.

Your package includes a banana boat ride, an easy and enjoyable way to start the day. You climb onto a long inflatable tube with other riders, all wearing life jackets, and hold on as the speedboat pulls you across the bay, bouncing over the wake and swerving from side to side. At the end, the driver usually turns sharply to tip everyone into the sea, which is warm and shallow. It is great fun, and no swimming skills are needed.

If you would like to try more, there are many other activities to add, paid locally. Parasailing takes you high above the bay under a parachute, towed by a speedboat, with views along the coast to the resorts of Nusa Dua. The sea walker lets you walk on the sea floor among fish and corals wearing a helmet supplied with air, with no need to swim or dive. Jet skis, the flying fish, the donut ride, wakeboarding and snorkelling are all available, and some operators run glass-bottom boat trips to Turtle Island, where you can see and hold young sea turtles at a small breeding centre.

A few tips make the morning more enjoyable. Water sports are best in the morning, when the sea is calmest; by the afternoon the wind can pick up and the tide changes. Prices are per activity, and packages of two or three activities are often better value, so ask our team for advice before you go. Wear swimwear under your clothes, bring a towel, sunscreen, a hat and a change of clothes, and keep your phone in a waterproof pouch. All activities are subject to weather and sea conditions and the instructions of the local staff.

After the water sports, you return to your hotel in Seminyak. The afternoon is free, so take it slowly. A Balinese massage is the perfect way to relax after a morning in the sea, and Seminyak has spas for every budget, from simple massage shops to luxurious day spas offering body scrubs, flower baths and facials.

In the late afternoon, you might visit Canggu, just north of Seminyak, a laid-back area of rice fields, surf beaches, cafés and beach clubs that has become one of the most popular parts of Bali. Echo Beach and Batu Bolong Beach are good places to watch the surfers and the sunset. Alternatively, stay in Seminyak, browse the boutiques along Jalan Kayu Aya and Jalan Laksmana, and choose one of the many restaurants for dinner.

Nusa Dua, the resort area next to Tanjung Benoa, is worth a short look on the way back. It was planned in the 1970s as an enclave of large resorts set in landscaped gardens along a calm white-sand beach, and it is very different from the busy streets of Kuta and Seminyak. The paved beachfront walkway runs for several kilometres, and Waterblow, a point where waves crash through the rocks and shoot high into the air, is a dramatic sight at high tide.

Children over a certain age can join most activities, and the banana boat is suitable for most ages with life jackets; tell us the ages in your group and we will advise.

After a day in the sun, drink plenty of water and use after-sun lotion. The equatorial sun burns quickly, even on overcast days.

For dinner, try a Balinese speciality such as sate lilit, minced fish or chicken pressed onto lemongrass sticks and grilled over charcoal.

If you enjoy shopping, look for Balinese handicrafts, linen clothes, silver jewellery and handmade soaps and oils. Fixed-price shops are common in Seminyak, but bargaining is still normal at markets and street stalls.

Included today: half-day Tanjung Benoa beach tour with banana boat ride on a private basis, breakfast.

Good to know: other water sports and Turtle Island are optional and paid locally. Water sports are not recommended during pregnancy or for anyone with back, neck or heart problems. Read our guide to Bali water sports and activities.

Today is a full day of temples, cliffs and ocean views, ending with the sunset at Uluwatu. After breakfast, your private car and driver take you first to Tanah Lot, about 45 minutes to an hour north-west of Seminyak, then south to the Bukit peninsula for Uluwatu. Dress in light clothing that covers your shoulders and knees, as you will be visiting holy places, and bring a sarong or shawl if you have one.

Tanah Lot is Bali's most famous sea temple, built on a large rock that becomes an island at high tide, with waves breaking around its base. The temple is believed to date back to the 16th century, when the Hindu priest Dang Hyang Nirartha, who travelled from Java, rested on the rock and asked the local people to build a shrine there to the guardian spirits of the sea. Tanah Lot is part of a chain of seven sea temples along the coast of Bali, and it remains a very important place of worship.

At low tide, you can walk across to the base of the rock, where a freshwater spring flows out from beneath the temple, surrounded by salt water. Priests bless visitors with this holy water, which is believed to have purifying powers, and press a few grains of rice to your forehead. The inner temple is reserved for Balinese Hindus, but the views from the shore and the cliffs around it are magnificent, and nearby Pura Batu Bolong, built on a rocky arch over the sea, is just a short walk away.

From Tanah Lot, the tour heads south, past Kuta and the airport, onto the Bukit peninsula, the limestone headland at the southern tip of Bali. The landscape here is drier and rockier than the rest of the island, with dramatic white cliffs dropping into the deep blue ocean, and some of the most beautiful beaches in Bali hidden at their feet, such as Padang Padang, Bingin and Suluban, famous with surfers.

Uluwatu Temple, or Pura Luhur Uluwatu, stands at the very edge of a cliff about 70 metres above the Indian Ocean, on the south-western tip of the peninsula. It is one of the six most important temples in Bali, guarding the island against evil spirits from the sea, and its setting is breathtaking. A path runs along the clifftop on either side of the temple, with views over the ocean, the crashing surf below and the temple's thatched shrines perched on the edge of the rock. Sarongs and sashes are provided at the entrance.

The temple is home to a large troop of long-tailed macaques, and they are famous for snatching sunglasses, hats, phones and anything loose, often trading them back for food. Put sunglasses and earrings away in your bag, hold your phone firmly, and do not feed the monkeys.

As the sun goes down, the sky over the ocean turns gold and red, and the temple becomes a silhouette on the cliff. Many visitors stay for the Kecak dance, performed at sunset in an open-air amphitheatre on the cliff. A circle of dozens of men, bare-chested and wearing checked sarongs, chant "cak-cak-cak" in hypnotic rhythms, with no musical instruments, while dancers act out a story from the Ramayana: the rescue of Sita by Rama and the monkey king Hanuman. The performance ends with a fire scene, as Hanuman dances through burning coconut husks, with the sunset behind. Tickets are sold at the temple, at extra cost, and the seats fill quickly.

Between the two temples, your driver can stop for lunch, at your own cost. Many travellers choose a restaurant on the cliffs of the Bukit peninsula, where the views over the ocean are spectacular, or a warung serving nasi goreng, mie goreng and fresh juices.

The two temples show different sides of Balinese Hinduism, a faith that blends Hindu, Buddhist and older animist beliefs, with a deep respect for the balance between people, nature and the gods, known as Tri Hita Karana. Temples are found everywhere in Bali, from family shrines to great mountain and sea temples, and the island has more than 20,000 of them.

Women who are menstruating are traditionally asked not to enter temples in Bali, and visitors should not climb on shrines or walls, or stand higher than a priest.

On the way back, you may like to stop for a seafood dinner on the beach at Jimbaran Bay, where tables are set on the sand and the fish is grilled over coconut husks. Your driver will then take you back to your hotel in Seminyak.

Included today: full-day Tanah Lot temple and Uluwatu temple tour on a private basis, breakfast.

Good to know: cover your shoulders and knees at both temples. Entry tickets, the Kecak dance, lunch and dinner are not included. Keep sunglasses and loose items away from the monkeys at Uluwatu. Read our Bali temples guide.

Your Bali holiday ends today, but there may still be time for one last taste of the island. If you are an early riser, walk down to Seminyak Beach in the morning, when the sand is quiet and the surfers are paddling out, or take a final swim in the hotel pool. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast, perhaps with one more plate of tropical fruit and a cup of Balinese coffee, and look back on everything you have seen: the dancers and craftsmen of Ubud, the volcano at Kintamani, the sea temples at Tanah Lot and Uluwatu, and the sunsets on the west coast.

Checkout is usually at 11 AM or noon. If your flight leaves later, your hotel will store your bags, so you can spend a few more hours shopping, at the beach or at a café. Seminyak's boutiques open from mid-morning, and the area around Jalan Kayu Aya and Seminyak Village has plenty of shops for last-minute gifts. Late checkout is sometimes possible at extra cost, subject to availability.

Popular souvenirs from Bali include batik and ikat textiles, silver jewellery from Celuk, carved wooden figures and masks from Mas, rattan bags, handmade soaps, essential oils and incense, Balinese coffee, vanilla and spices, and paintings from Ubud's galleries. Remember to keep the bills for any expensive items, and be aware of Indian customs limits on duty-free goods and gold when you return.

Before you leave the room, check it carefully for passports, phones, chargers, swimwear and anything in the safe. Pack liquids such as oils, perfumes and sauces in your checked luggage, and keep passports, tickets and valuables in your hand baggage. If you bought wooden or bamboo items, make sure they are free of bark and insects, as customs rules on wood and plant products can be strict.

At the agreed time, your private driver collects you from your hotel for the transfer to Ngurah Rai International Airport. From Seminyak, the drive usually takes 30 to 45 minutes, but traffic in the south of Bali can be very slow at busy times, so allow plenty of extra time, especially in the afternoon and in the peak season. Check in at least three hours before an international flight.

At the airport, the international terminal has duty-free shops, restaurants, cafés and lounges. Change any remaining rupiah at the exchange counters if you need to, although you might prefer to keep a little for your next visit. Queues at security and immigration can be long in July, August, December and January, so do not leave it too late.

As your flight lifts off over the sea and the island falls away behind you, you may catch a glimpse of the southern cliffs or the volcanoes in the distance. Bali has so much more to discover, from Nusa Penida and the Gili Islands to the quiet north and east of the island, and many travellers return again and again. You can also combine Bali with Singapore or Malaysia for a longer holiday.

If you have a late flight, consider a final massage at a spa near Seminyak or the airport. Many offer showers and changing facilities, so you can freshen up before the long journey home, and some hotels have day rooms or lounges for late departures.

Keep your phone charged for your boarding pass and messages home, and if you are flying via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, check your connection time and terminal so you are not rushed.

Before you leave, thank your driver and the hotel staff. Tipping is not compulsory in Bali, but a small amount for good service is always appreciated by the warm and gentle Balinese people, who will have made your holiday so memorable.

Bali is also a wonderful place to return to in a different season: the dry months for clear skies and cool Ubud evenings, or the green season, from November to March, when the rice fields are at their most beautiful and the island is quieter.

Wherever your next journey takes you, we hope Bali stays in your heart, as it does for so many of the travellers who visit.

Thank you for travelling with Dreamland Vacations. Our team will stay in touch until you are safely home, and we would love to hear what you enjoyed most. Whenever you are ready for your next adventure, we will be happy to help you plan it.

Included today: private departure transfer to Ngurah Rai International Airport, breakfast.

Good to know: choose a flight that leaves at least 3 hours after you reach the airport. Late checkout is subject to availability and may cost extra. Read our guide to the best time to visit Bali and our list of Indian food in Bali for your next trip.