Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
Bali
Bali for UK travellers: which beach base to pick (Seminyak, Canggu, Sanur or Uluwatu), why Ubud isn't a beach, the Rp 150,000 levy, real car-and-driver and fast-boat costs, and the one day the whole island shuts.
In short
Bali at a glance
Bali rewards picking one base and slowing down, not racing the island. The mistake UK first-timers make is treating Ubud as a beach town and booking a string of one-night hops — Ubud is an hour up into the rice-terrace hills with no coast, and the southern beach areas are each a different holiday: polished Seminyak for restaurants and beach clubs, surf-and-cafe Canggu for a younger, longer stay, flat and family-friendly Sanur for a quiet base with the Nusa-island pier on the doorstep, and clifftop Uluwatu for the dramatic surf coast. Two practical things catch people out before they even leave the airport: Ngurah Rai (DPS) is only 20-40 minutes from the southern beaches, but Bali traffic is unpredictable, and there's a separate Rp 150,000 (~£6.30) tourist levy to pay online before you arrive. Get your base, your transport and the levy sorted, and the island is as easy as its reputation.
Bali isn’t one beach holiday, and the first mistake UK first-timers make is treating it like one — booking a string of one-night stays and assuming the island blurs together. It doesn’t. The southern coast alone is several different trips: polished Seminyak with its beach clubs and restaurants, surf-and-cafe Canggu for a younger, longer stay, flat and family-friendly Sanur with the Nusa-island fast-boat pier on the doorstep, and the dramatic clifftop surf coast around Uluwatu. And Ubud, the rice-terrace and yoga base everyone pictures inland, is a full hour up into the hills with no coast at all. The fix is simple: pick one base for the south and one for the hills, and day-trip from each with a hired driver rather than living in a car crossing the island.
The decisions that catch people out happen before you’ve even left the airport. Ngurah Rai (DPS) is only 20-40 minutes from the southern beaches, but Bali traffic is genuinely unpredictable, so don’t book a tight onward connection out of traffic-clogged Canggu. There’s a Rp 150,000 (about £6.30) tourist levy to pay online before you land — a conservation tax, kept separate from your other arrival paperwork. On the ground, decide early whether to ride a scooter: at around Rp 70,000 a day it’s tempting, but Bali’s roads are unforgiving, you legally need an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle entitlement, and your travel insurance will quietly refuse a claim without one — most people are better off with Gojek, Grab and a car-with-driver at roughly £30 a day. Get the base, the levy and the transport question right before you book, and Bali is as easy as its reputation promises.
Towns & places in Bali
The route
A 9-day skeleton that lets one island breathe: a few nights on the southern coast near the airport, a few up in Ubud's hills, then a Nusa-island finish. Distances look short but the southern roads are slow and traffic-clogged — Canggu to Ubud is barely 35km but a genuine 1.5 hours on a bad afternoon — so the smart play is to base in each area and day-trip from a hired driver, not chase a new bed every night. Drive and boat times below are real Bali figures, not motorway estimates.
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Days 1-3
South coast — Seminyak or Canggu
Land at Ngurah Rai (DPS), 20-40 minutes by pre-arranged transfer or Grab to the southern beach strip. Base in polished Seminyak for restaurants and a sundowner at a beach club, or surf-and-cafe Canggu if you want a younger, longer-stay feel (allow extra for Canggu's notorious traffic). Use the first day for the beach and the jet lag, not a packed schedule, and set up your Gojek and Grab apps and some rupiah.
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Days 4-6
Ubud and the interior
Move up to Ubud, about an hour inland from the south — rice terraces, water temples and cooler hill air, not a beach. Hire a car with a driver for a full day (~Rp 700,000, about £30) to string together the Tegallalang rice terraces, a water temple like Tirta Empul and a waterfall — far better value than chaining separate Grabs. Treat the Sacred Monkey Forest as a one-hour stop, and book any Mount Batur sunrise trek the day before.
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Days 7-8
Nusa Penida by fast boat
Drop down to Sanur and take the fast boat to Nusa Penida (about 45 minutes from the Sanur pier). Day-trippers swamp the headline Kelingking Beach viewpoint by late morning, so stay a night on the island to catch it at first light, and snorkel with manta rays at Manta Point. The island's roads are rough — use a driver, not a scooter, for first-timers.
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Day 9
Wind down and fly out
Loop back to the south near the airport for your final night — Uluwatu's clifftop temple and sunset Kecak dance make a strong last evening if you want one. Build in a buffer: Bali traffic is unpredictable and Ngurah Rai gets congested at peak departure times. With two weeks instead of nine days, this is where you'd add Lombok and the Gilis or a Java leg rather than cram it in.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Seminyak (south Bali)
££ mid-rangeThe polished all-rounder: walkable beach clubs, good restaurants and easy airport access, without Kuta's rowdy stag-do edge. The best first-timer base if you want comfort and convenience over backpacker prices, though it's built-up rather than a tropical-paradise beach.
Best for: First-timers who want comfort near the beach
Canggu (south Bali)
££ mid-rangeSurf, cafes and a digital-nomad crowd, now busier and pricier than it was. Good for a younger, longer-stay trip — but the traffic is genuinely bad and it's a slog to the airport, so factor that into your arrival and departure days rather than booking a tight onward connection.
Best for: Surfers and longer-stay nomads
Sanur (south-east Bali)
££ mid-rangeCalmer, flatter and more family-friendly, with a long beachfront path and the fast-boat pier for Nusa Penida and Lembongan on the doorstep. The sensible base if the Nusa islands are on your plan or you want a quieter, easier pace than the west-coast surf towns.
Best for: Families and Nusa-island launches
Uluwatu / Bukit Peninsula (south Bali)
£££ premiumThe dramatic clifftop surf coast at the island's southern tip — Padang Padang and Bingin beaches below the cliffs, the Uluwatu sea-temple and sunset Kecak dance, and the upmarket resorts. Spread out and reliant on a scooter or driver, so less convenient than Seminyak but the most scenic southern base.
Best for: Surfers, couples and dramatic coastline
Ubud (central Bali)
££ mid-rangeRice terraces, temples, yoga and cooler hill air an hour inland — Bali's cultural heart, not its beach. Stay a few nights for the interior and the day trips around it, but don't make it your whole trip if you came for the sea.
Best for: Culture, nature and a cooler base
Getting around Bali
There's no rail or useful public transport for tourists, so Bali runs on ride-hailing apps and hired drivers. Download Gojek and Grab before you arrive: they give honest, metered-style fares for cars and scooter taxis, and you sidestep the inflated 'transport, boss?' street quotes — a Grab car across a southern beach town is usually Rp 30,000-60,000 (~£1.30-2.55). For sightseeing days, hiring a car with an English-speaking driver (typically Rp 600,000-900,000, ~£25-40 for a full day) is the best-value way to chain temples, terraces and waterfalls around Ubud. Scooters are cheap (~Rp 70,000-100,000/day, ~£3-4.25) and convenient but genuinely risky — GOV.UK flags poor traffic discipline and rising motorbike accidents, you legally need an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle entitlement to be insured, and many travel claims are refused for riding without one. If you flag a taxi on the street, use only registered firms (Bluebird, Silverbird, Express), as GOV.UK warns of meter and overcharging scams. To reach the Nusa islands, fast boats run from the Sanur pier — about 45 minutes to Nusa Penida and 30 to Lembongan; for bigger hops to Lombok and the Gilis allow 1.5-2 hours, and for Java or Komodo a short domestic flight saves you days over ferries.
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