Bali is a very small island, so it’s easy to get around by car (make sure you don’t rent a Jimni, though, it’s motor is not near strong enough for the steep hills and you do not wish to get stuck outside cell phone coverage).

The southern part of Bali (Kuta / Denpasar) is infested with tourists, so you might want to stay away from there.

Stay away from the warm springs up north, the locals there are a nuisance. The dead volcano further north is worth visiting, though (there’s a road on the crater rim).

It’s been 3 years since I was there, so I’ve forgotten most names. Monkey Forest is one name I remember, and the place could be worth visiting. Bring small bananas or other fruits for the monkeys.

If you feel you have the time, you could spend one of your days on the neighbor island, Lombok

Enjoy!

superb… youll fly into denpasar get yourself anywhere from mount batur which is a good trek to monkey mia or venture even north… i was there 10 years ago so i bet things have changed. but if you want a good place to stay which has all the night life stay at the pendawa in kuta,say hi to billy for me ! lol…and good luck! let me know how you get on….tee!

I’m not sure what state it’s in after storms, but the one off the beaten path spot I’d recommend wildly is Tirta Gangga.

It’s a water garden complex with all kinds of statuary and pools and so on. Amazing and beautiful and definitely not overrun with tourists – but it’s way north and may be out of your range if you’re just there for a week.

Here’s a link to their website

For sightseeing & do :
-Monkey Forest in Uluwatu (there’s also a hindu temple there where they have kecak dance performance, best time to go there is 2 hours before dawn, the scene is gorgeous)
-watersport at benoa
-Tanah Lot
-Pura Besakih
-Jatiluih Rice Paddy Field
-Garuda Wisnu Kencana

food must try :
-made’s cafe
-bebek bengil in ubud (famous for their crispy duck, they even have their outlet in hong kong)
-jimbaran bay, dinner by the sea
-ina oka roasted pig (featured on No Reservation)

for transportation,
there are many good transportation services for tourist, there are also lots of car/bike rentals, so i would say that transportation there is not that hard to handle.

Wow, nice hotel. But it’s far away. Are you sure you want to stay at that hotel ? Is there any possibilities that you could change your hotel ?

Now, it depends on you .. if you want to see all the tourist side then you have to arrange your time carefully, otherwise you could not enjoy your time good enough especially this is your 1st time in Bali.

I don’t think that you should spend your water sport in Benoa, it’s too common.

I will give you a list of several places and you can arrange it by the direction (sorry, I have to check it when I visit Bali sometimes in November)

- Pura Besakih (the larget temple in
Bali)
- Kertagosa (the old court Balinese
Hindu, you will amazed with Balinese
traditional language / hand written.
- Uluwatu, there’s a temple in the
middle of the lake
- Kintamani, a lake, if possible you
can cross over the lake and visit
Banyan Village, where they put the
dead bodies in the tree
- Jatiluwih, rice padi terrace
- Sunset at Tanah Lot (you have to go
there in the evening to watch the
sunset, don’t go there in the morning
or noon)
- Legong dance in Ubud, (around 7 pm)
at the palace of one of Ubud’s noble.

I will recommend you to stay in Ubud, and there’s one hotel that you will find the hospitality of Balinese people. It’s locate in Keliki Village, quite modern hotel, no tv, no radio. I always stay there when I’m in Bali.

They have their own tourist tour, and am highly recommended you to take that, it’s a tour to Balinese traditional village, through padi terace, visit the coffee plantation, ..it’s absolutely beautiful.

The hotel name is Alam Sari Keliki Hotel, you can search it through net www.alamsari.com.

If you would like to go to Kuta, to watch the monumen of Bali Bombing and have lunch at “Made’s Warung”, then just visit but please don’t stay there. It’s full of tourist.

If you want to buy handicraft, you could buy it at Tegallang, Ubud.

Please feel free to ask me if you need more information about Bali.

Hope you’ll enjoy your time in Bali …

hi! please find my personal itinerary for bali here. enjoy the trip!

I was there 18 years ago so I don’t remember many of the names. The mountan that Klaus mentioned is one place I didn’t get to but wanted to.

Have you been to Indonesia before? A word of advice, bartering is expected and while the initial quoted prices may seem low by US standards, don’t pay them until you have attempted to bring it down. On the other hand, one village on Bali, which I don’t recall the name right now, was the only place in Indonesia that would NOT accept my bartering when I was trying to buy a craft piece. So, I don’t know what more to say except that you can always try it. Also, some natives will try to cheat you when you buy stuff. I was shorted on change when I bought a bottle of water. It was a very small amount and the guy got a big grin when I told him, but it opened my eyes.

if you stay in kuta, stay at cempaka dua … quite cheap, and very clean … i don’t think they have a/c, but it is only perhaps two dollars per night. just up the street and to the right from there is a nice warung (the second one, not the first) that you can eat at for 50 cents, perhaps a little more if you add protein. don’t spend all your time in kuta, though … so much beauty out there … definitely explore dreamland if it is still in existence. ah …
oh, yes, and then there is the volcano climb at mount batur. definitely a must.

Uluwatu is not th eone with the temple in the lake, that Pura Ulu Danu, up north a bit. When I was there it was all misty and drizzly- couldnt see much but enough to make it really atmospheric. Nice drive too.

The drive upto Ubud from, say Kuta, is quite nice- we syopped at small villages that are not where your driver/guide might take you but you can just stop cause you feellike a walk…

Uluwatu is the temple down south on the cliff- gorgeous at sunset, though we did not see the performance, preferring to stare into bluey orangey sky instead…

Kuta /Legian beaches are packed, but interesting enough if you’re looking for that sort of thing

Ubud is lovely try and be there for a little longer than the sum total of the time you want to sepnd on only the sights…

haggle, smile, enjoy the warm people, and relax….

have a good trip!