Our wonderful Sian from the customer services team spent 12 days in Bali, scooting around the southern area of the island. Here are her three favourite places…

 

Seminyak

Seminyak is close to Bali’s international airport so it’s most people’s first port-of-call. Being knackered after our long flight, we decided to explore the nearby area and found somewhere to stay in Seminyak. It’s a lively, busy town by the beach with lots of bars and restaurants and the buzz of bikes and scooters weaving through the streets. It’s young and trendy with a bit of an Ibiza kind of vibe. I would highly recommend going to this fantastic café and restaurant called Sea Circus - we went about 4 or 5 times in the 3 days that we were in Seminyak! We had some great healthy breakfasts there. Think avocado and eggs on toast with fresh fruit and good coffee. They serve Mexican food in the evenings too, which was equally delicious. You can see some of our beautiful villas in Seminyak, here. 

 

Balangan (near Jimbaran)

Next stop was the beachside town of Balangan. We hired scooters and drove for about an hour and 45 minutes to reach this laid-back surf sanctuary. You have to be careful when hiring scooters in Bali because the police tend to have an eye for spotting tourists and they’ll charge you for not having an international license. We ended up just driving past the police and avoiding eye contact, it was a good tactic!

Balangan was particularly great because it didn’t feel very touristy and it was a really handy base for exploring other beaches, such as the famous Uluwatu. We hired surfboards for about £2 per day – everything in Bali is so cheap! We gave surfing our best shot but the waves were pretty big so we gave up after a couple of days. We have a few stunning villas in Jimbaran you can stay in! 

 

Our highlight of the area had to be Rock Bar in Jimbaran. It’s a swanky bar which is part of the Ayana Resort and it’s built into the cliff rock – you have to get there via a lift! Rock Bar overhangs the sea and so it is the most amazing place to watch the sunset.  I had the best margarita of my life there! The cocktails are expensive for Bali but it is a great place to go for a treat if you are not staying anywhere particularly fancy.

 

Ubud

We were told by most people we met that we had to go to Ubud and experience ‘the real Bali’. So we got on the scooters and headed up north to the luscious green rice fields and mountains of Ubud.

 

It is such a peaceful place, and the ideal detox destination after the drinking and partying of Seminyak. We went to a yoga class at Yoga Barn, we got massages and we visited Hindu temples. The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is well worth seeing, although I’d only recommend buying bananas for the monkeys if you don’t mind having them all over you!

 

Ubud also has some fantastic markets for authentic souvenirs and I’d recommend trying the BBQ ribs from Naughty Nuri’s. Nuri sells these from a street cart - they’re so cheap but so delicious! You can see some of our beautiful villas in Bali Ubud, here. 

 

Bali was exactly the slice of paradise I thought it would be - 12 days was not long enough on the beautiful island!

Have you been to Bali? What were your highlights?

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