Hello lovelies ! Hope you’re all well and have been enjoying some sunshine!!
My lovely two and a half week Bali trip has come to an end, so I thought I would share a little guide of the last two and a half weeks and some places I’d reccomend visiting if you ever decide to come to beautiful Bali!!
I travelled to Bali four years ago and spent a month here and Kirsty has also been around a year ago so we decided to choose some of our favourite places for this trip to visit over the space of two weeks.
We started by landing in Denpasar Bali and booked a little Air BnB in Canggu for two nights; Linked here! Through this Air Bnb we pre booked our taxi because sometimes you can be over charged from taxi services at the airport, so I’d recommend trying to pre book a taxi if you have a stay pre booked or just asking a Bluebird taxi to keep it on the metre whilst driving to your location.
We drove straight to Canggu, because from experience both Kirsty and myself, really disliked Kuta so just wanted to avoid going there. This is just personal preference, but it’s super busy, a lot of rubbish everywhere and the scene reminds me of a Magaluf strip, if I’m being honest.
In Canggu we stayed at this gorgeous Air Bnb Bungalow (linked here) , it was super cute and it’s super easy to find places to stay via booking.com or Air BnB!
Air Bnb Canggu.
Also Bluebird taxis were super easy to stop whilst they drove past here. But I would recommend if you find a taxi driver that has a WhatsApp number, I’d recommend getting that as it makes it easy when your booking them to locations to just send a WhatsApp!
Whilst in Canggu there’s so many gorgeous places, little cafes and fab beach clubs you can visit! We didn’t have time to visit them all, but I’ve written the list below because they are all musts if you ever come to Canggu or Seminyak Area!
- Coffee Cartel Bali
- The Loft
- Kynd Community Cafe
- Lola’s Shaking All Day
- Cafe Organic
- The Shady Shack
- Machinery cafe
- Clear Cafe Bali
- Nalu Bowls
- Revolver Espresso
- Sisterfields
- Watercress
- Sea Circus
- Milk & Madu
- Little flinders
- Holiday Canggu
- Mr Warung
Machinery cafe, Canggu.
- BEACH CLUBS:
- Mrs Sippy Bali
- The Lawn
- Potato Head beach club
- Como Beach club Bali
- Echo Beach Club
- Finns Beach Club
- Sundays Beach Club
The Lawn, Canggu.
Finns Bali.
Finns Bali.
Finns Bali.
We then travelled from Canggu to Ubud, to stay at the gorgeous Om Ham Retreat and Resort (linked here) for the first few nights. This Resort was on a deal on booking.com which was why we chose to stay here, and turned out to be such a gorgeous place, amazing staff, lovely yoga in the mornings and incredible Oreo milkshakes and breakfast. (Link go booking.com here) . This retreat was a 15- 20 minute outside of the centre of Ubud, but the resort offered taxis or a shuttle x3 times a day and it wasn’t far at all!
After our first day exploring the Ubud Markets and visiting the monkey forest, we decided to hire some bikes and drive the hour from Om Ham Retreat to Nung Nung Waterfall. The drive was beautiful via bikes, minus the numb bums from sitting on the bikes for too long. Was so worth it! The waterfall is incredible, and although it’s a massive trek down and up it’s worth the amazing views at the bottom. (Pictures below)
After staying at Om Ham Retreat & Resort for two days and exploring some of Ubud’s Markets, the Monkey Forest and cute cafes we moved onto our next stay at the beautiful Nang Ade Villa through Parama (linked here) this was a super affordable Villa, with four big rooms, a nice living space area, kitchen and beautiful pool space, only 10-15mins from the centre. The staff here were so lovely and it was such a nice place to have to ourselves for a few days. We ended up hanging out by the pool a lot, visiting more cute cafes and exploring the area. On our last day in Ubud, we rode our bikes about 12 minutes from Nang Ade Villa to the Rice Terraces. Probably my highlight of Ubud, they were so incredibly beautiful and I loved walking around them for a few hours and there are so many cute cafes you can go to that overlook the gorgeous Terraces. I highly recommend visiting them if you go!
Nang Ade Villas, Ubud.
Ubud has so much to offer and is so beautiful! There is also a lot of amazing luxury resorts and spas that you can pay day entry into, and hang out by the pool also! I have left a list below of some reccomended places to stay,eat and explore whilst in ubud!
Ubud: Hotels and pools you can visit for the day with entry fees.
- Jungle Fish
- Rock bar
Ubud amazing places luxury places to stay:
- Jungle Fish
- Black Penny Villas
- Zen Hideaway
- Own villas
- Bisma Eight Ubud
- Goya Boutique Resort
- Komaneka at Bisma
- Chapung Se Bali Resort and Spa
- Origin Ubud
- Como Uma Ubud
- SenS Hotel and Spa, Ubud.
- Mandapa Ubud
- Viceroy Bali Luxury Villas
- Padma Ubud
- Kamandalu Ubud Resort
- Maya Ubud
Best Boutique Hotels:
- Stone House Ubud
- Blue Karma Ubud
- Wapa Di Ume Ubud
Places to stay affordable Villas/ Spas. Also look on Air Bnb and booking.com as the options are endless and there are some amazing deals on there.
- Nang Ade Villa (AirbNb)
- Om Ham Retreat and Resort (booking.com)
- Cahaya Ubud Villa
- Taman Bintang Villa Ubud
- Darra Ria Villa Ubud
- Inang Villas
- Santosha Villas and Spa
- Suparsa’s Home Stay
- Rouge Villas & Spa
- Jiwa Guest House
- Kajane Mua Villas
Places to eat in Ubud:
- The Elephant
- Zest
- Ibu Susu Bar & Kitchen
- Dumbo
- Casa Luna
- La Pacha Mama
- Milk & Madu Ubud
- Alchemy
- Watercress Ubud
- Yellow flower cafe
- KAFE
- Clear Cafe
- Ubudian Cafe Bali
- Akasha (vegan cafe)
We then got a shuttle bus from Ubud down to Padang Bai Ferry port, to catch our fast boat ferry (2hours) to Lombok (Bangsai Ferry Port). There are two types of ferry’s you can get over to the Gili islands or Lombok, the fast ferry (2 hours) or the slow one (4-5hours) or you can fly for super cheap to Lombok (1-2hours: if you have under 30KG luggage unlike us) but it’s super straight forward and easy to do!
We chose the fast boat as Kirsty and myself get super boat sick so this was the best option for us. The ferry’s also stop off at the Gili islands so if you haven’t visited them, I highly recommend stopping off for a few days and experiencing them. I’ve left a bit of information about the Gilis below, in terms of stays and cafes. Although it’s been four years since I visited (old blog post here) , Kirsty went recently so we’ve piled some tips together below. (Gili air was our favourite)!
If you go to the Gili islands: Must go to cafes below! and a few stays I’d recommend. I didn’t stay on Gili Meno and also only visited for Lunch so haven’t included much on Gili Meno below.
- Kayu Cafe (GILI T)
- Gili Bliss (GILI AIR)
- Nalu bowls (GILI AIR)
Gili Air stay:
- Andin Bungalow (low budget)
- 7 Sea Cottages (low budget)
- Salili Bungalow (mid budget)
- Bambu Cottages (mid budget)
- Captain Coconuts Gili Air (high budget)
- Grand Sunset Gili Air (high budget)
- Sunrise Resort (high budget)
Gili T budget places to stay:
- Gili La Boheme (low budget)
- My Mate’s Place (low budget)
- Gili Klapa (low budget)
- Madison Gili (mid budget)
- Resota Twins (mid budget)
- Villa Ombak (high Budget)
- Pearl of Trawangan (high budget)
Once in Lombok, we headed from the port to the South of Lombok and headed to our first stay at Blue Monkey Villas (linked here) a gorgeous stay with a beautiful view overlooking Mawun Beach. Although Blue Monkey Villas is slightly out of the way from Kuta, Lombok (the centre) it’s defiantly worth a stay and Jeff the owner is super lovely and can do pick ups and drop offs if requested! Pictures below of Blue Monkey Villas:
We then moved onto our next stay in the centre of Kuta Lombok to Bamba/So It Goes (linked here). Which is the most beautiful “poshtel” ever! There is the option to stay in private double bed rooms or dorm rooms made up of six beds. The private rooms sell out super fast, however because there was six of us we had a full dorm of just us and this worked perfectly. The dorms are massive double beds, with locker storage units and a curtain so you have full privacy when in the dorms. The bathrooms have drying racks, showers and toilets and all the facilities are absolutely stunning! Also the comfiest bed I’ve ever stayed in. Also not to mention the beautiful pool, pillow comfy area, Bamba Restaurant Food and incredible cocktails. This place was mine and Jamie’s favourite relaxing spot, we loved the music and had some lovely evenings having cocktails here.
If you are in Lombok there is also some fun places to go out, such as Bus Bar which is a 5 minute walk from Bamba and super fun! They do pizzas and play music till around 1am, we had such a laugh here. And if you fancy continuing your night, Rasta Bar is where everyone usually heads out from Bus Bar afterwards about a 15 min walk or 5 minute bike ride around the corner situated on the beach and it’s super fun for dancing!
After some days exploring and having fun (all recommendations for this below). We moved onto the beautiful Villa Strata, this 5 bedroom villa is around 15 minutes from the centre and about a 8 minute drive from Tanjunn Ann Beach. It was the most incredible place I’ve ever stayed. The staff were incredible, and you have the option to have breakfast, lunch or dinner made for you if requested. The 360 views here were out of this world, always catching the beautiful sunrises in the bathrooms and sunset from the front of the house. The amazing open interior means you constantly get the insane views and light throughout the Villa. We had an amazing stay here, and if you get the chance I couldn’t recommend grabbing a group of you and all chipping in together to stay here!
I’ve also listed some of our favourite Lombok food places for amazing breakfast, lunches and dinners, as well as our favourite places to stay and the beaches to explore below.
Lombok places to stay:
- Bamba: So It Goes.ID
- Blue Monkey Villas
- Villa Strata
- Katamaran Resort
- Mana retreat.
Places for Yoga:
- Mana Retreat Yoga Resort: Linked here.
Lombok places to eat:
- Bamba
- Milk Cafe (oppersite Bamba)
- El Bazar
- Kenza Lombok
Places to go out and have a dance.
- Bus Bar – good pizza and dancing!
- Rasta Bar (usually a spot to go to after Bus Bar finishes at 1am.)
Beaches to visit in Lombok: More info on the beaches linked here.
- Tanjung Aan Beach
- Segar hill (to sit and watch sunset)
- Mawun beach
- Selong Belanak (Good for beginners surfing)
- Senggigi
- Pink Beach
- Tangsi Beach
- Batu Payung
After Lombok we return via fast boat ferry, back to Canggu for our last few days. There are so many stunning places to explore and stay in Bali and Indonesia that I’d recommend exploring that I saw on my previous trip so I’ve left a few of those places and tips below also, because my lists go on for days. Bali is just such a beautiful place.
On the last few days in Canggu, we stayed briefly in Seminyak at Alam Boutique Resort (linked here) pictures below. This is a newly launched resort with lots of different sized villas for groups or couples, offering spa treatments in the rooms, all day food and lovely flowered baths!! The attention to detail here was incredible, it was super clean and it was so lovely being able to experience the opening of this beautiful place. Alam boutique is situated super close to Potato Head Beach Club so whilst we stayed here we had an evening at Potato Head before heading to our last stay at Mojo Resort. Mojo resort was a super simple but lovely stay just outside of Canggu (around 10 min drive from the centre) with a nice pool and rooms. And as i mentioned above, there are some super lovely cafes to visit and beach clubs to go to in a Canggu.
Anyway, that sums up our amazing two week trip in Bali. I’ll be sharing soon my top ten tips when visiting Bali, so keep your eyes peeled and lots of Australia and the Philippines posts coming soon. I hope this is in some way, was helpful if any of you decide to visit this incredible country and if you have any further questions, then please feel free to DM me on Instagram (@indiaamoon) with any questions or comment below! And if you do visit, have the most incredible time!!!!!!
Love, India Moon.
