Bali (Gianyar Regency)
Ubud
Bali's hill base earns two or three nights, not your whole holiday: stay near the market and Monkey Forest, hire a car-with-driver for a rice-terrace day, and don't come expecting a beach.
Best length
2-3 nights
Airport
Bali Denpasar Ngurah Rai (DPS), ~37km / ~1.5h south
Airport to centre
Pre-booked private transfer ~1-1.5h; Grab/Gojek car similar but pickup at DPS is restricted
Best base
Central Ubud for walking; Penestanan or Sayan for quiet rice-field views
In short
Ubud at a glance
Ubud is Bali's cultural and hill base, best treated as 2-3 nights inside a wider island trip rather than your whole holiday: stay central enough to walk to the market and Monkey Forest, hire a car-with-driver for one full day of rice terraces and water temples rather than chaining taxis, book a Tegallalang swing or a sunrise volcano trek the day before, and don't expect a beach.
The short version
- Two or three nights is the sweet spot: enough for the terraces, a temple day and one waterfall, without running out of things inland.
- Stay within walking distance of Jalan Raya Ubud and the Monkey Forest if you want to skip a scooter; central rooms save a Gojek every evening.
- Hire a car-with-driver for one full sightseeing day (about Rp 600,000-900,000, ~£25-40) rather than three separate taxi runs to Tegallalang and Tirta Empul.
- Book the Tegallalang jungle swings and any Mount Batur sunrise trek the day before, not on arrival, and get them at first light to beat the coach crowds.
- Ubud has no beach and the hills get genuinely cool and wet, so pair it with a south-coast or Nusa-island leg rather than making it the full trip.
Ubud is the part of Bali people picture when they think of rice terraces, temples and yoga, and the easiest mistake is to treat it as the whole holiday. It sits an hour or so up in the hills with no beach, cooler and wetter than the coast, and its headline sights — the Monkey Forest, Tegallalang, a water temple, a waterfall — are quickly covered once you stop chaining taxis between them. The job of a good first stay is to give it two or three nights, hire a single car-with-driver for the day the sights are spread out, and book the swings or a sunrise trek the evening before rather than turning up and queuing behind the coaches.
Stay central enough to walk to the market and the Monkey Forest and you can skip a scooter entirely; drop a hillside or two into Penestanan or Nyuh Kuning and you trade a short walk for better value and paddy views. Either way, Ubud works best as one leg of a wider island route — a south-coast or Nusa base for the sea, these hills for the culture. Below, the structured planning — where to stay, what to book, how to get up from the airport, and a realistic budget in pounds — picks up from here.
Plan your Ubud trip
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Ubud
Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
There is no advance booking and no skip-the-line here — you pay at the gate, so the real decision is when to arrive, not which ticket to buy. Come for the 09:00 opening, before the tour coaches and the midday heat, when the long-tailed macaques are calmer and the three moss-covered temples are at their quietest. Allow about an hour for the looping forest paths, and treat the monkeys as wild animals: anything dangling — sunglasses, water bottles, a phone in your hand — will be grabbed.
Tegalalang Rice Terraces
Tegalalang isn't one ticket but a stack of small fees: a Rp 25,000 (~£1.20) donation at the entrance, then separate Rp 25,000-50,000 (~£1.20-2.40) charges at each viewpoint, photo spot and 'I love Bali' sign as you walk down the valley, plus Rp 100,000-350,000 (~£4.75-16.50) for the jungle swings. There's no booking and no single skip-the-line ticket, so the real move is timing: arrive by 07:30-08:00 before the Ubud coaches, do it as part of a car-and-driver day with Tirta Empul, and bring cash in small notes.
Tirta Empul Temple
There's no advance ticket for Tirta Empul — you pay the Rp 75,000 (~£3.60) entry at the gate and a sarong is included — so the booking decision is really about transport: fold it into a car-with-driver day from Ubud (about Rp 600,000-900,000, ~£29-43 for the lot) alongside Tegallalang rather than a solo taxi run. Arrive at the 08:00 opening to do the melukat bathing ritual in the 30-spout pool before the late-morning coaches turn it into a queue. Allow 1-1.5 hours, and bring a dry change of clothes if you intend to actually get in the water.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
Central Ubud
££ mid-rangeAround Jalan Raya Ubud, the market and the palace: walkable to the Monkey Forest, restaurants and yoga studios, so you can skip a scooter most days. Busier and noisier with through-traffic, but the time saved every evening is the point.
Best for: First-timers, short stays, no-scooter trips
Penestanan
£ valueA quieter rice-field hillside a 10-15 minute walk west of the centre, reached partly by stairs. Better value villas and homestays with paddy views, an easy stroll into town, and a calmer base than the main strip.
Best for: Value, quiet, rice-field views
Sayan / Kedewatan
£££ premiumThe luxury river-gorge ridge west of town, home to the big-name resorts overlooking the Ayung valley. Stunning and serene, but you're 10-15 minutes by car from the centre and reliant on a driver for everything.
Best for: Honeymoons, resort stays, splurges
Nyuh Kuning
£ valueA traditional village just south of the Monkey Forest, quieter than the centre but still walkable to it. Homestays and small guesthouses among woodcarvers' workshops, good for a more local evening without going far.
Best for: Calmer base near the centre, value
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-booked private transfer (DPS to Ubud) | ~1-1.5h | about Rp 350,000-450,000 (~£15-19) | Easiest after a long-haul arrival; driver waits in arrivals |
| Grab / Gojek car | ~1-1.5h | about Rp 300,000-400,000 (~£13-17) | Cheaper, but DPS restricts app pickups to a set zone |
| Hotel-arranged car | ~1-1.5h | usually Rp 400,000-550,000 (~£17-23) | Convenient and fixed-price; ask when you book the room |
When to go
Sweet spot: May, June and September are the sweet spot: dry-season weather and greener terraces without the July-August peak crowds and prices. The dry season runs roughly April to October; Ubud sits in the hills so it's a few degrees cooler and wetter than the south year-round.
Ubud has two seasons, not four. The dry season (April-October) brings warm days and lush paddies, with July-August the busiest as European and Australian holidays collide. The wet season (November-March) sees heavy but often short afternoon downpours, lower prices and emptier swings, though the hill humidity is sticky. Avoid arriving on Nyepi (the island-wide day of silence), when even tourists must stay inside and Bali's airport closes.
What it costs
There are no nonstop UK flights to Bali; one-stop return economy from London to Denpasar (DPS) via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or a Gulf hub runs roughly £600-£1,000, dipping near £550 on cheap dates and climbing past £1,000 in the July-August and Christmas peaks.
Daily budget per person
Ubud's tourist core is pricier than the rest of inland Bali, especially the smart cafes on Jalan Raya and the resort restaurants in Sayan. Eat at warungs a street or two back for a fraction of the price. Remember Bali's separate Rp 150,000 (~£6.30) tourist levy, paid online before you arrive, applies to the whole island.
Book the essentials
Where to stay
Tours & tickets
Airport transfers
Stay connected
Also in Indonesia
Ubud FAQs
How many nights do you need in Ubud?
Do you need a scooter or car in Ubud?
Should I base my whole Bali trip in Ubud?
Ready to book?
Find hotels in Ubud