Bali, Indonesia

I wasn’t really a beach person before, but Bali… definitely made me into one.

I could actually sit on the beach all day and not feel like I needed to be somewhere else. I mean, I was also on vacation, but I’ve never understood or experienced this concept.

In Bali, everything runs on “Bali time” a.k.a. “whenever you’re really ready” and everyone is super relaxed and happy. It’s slightly weird – especially because I feel like no place is stress free these days – but so refreshing and needed.

The beauty of the island is that there really is something for everyone, and I think that’s why we enjoyed it so much. Hubs wanted pure relaxation, and a “let’s sit by the beach all day” kind of a trip. I, on the other hand, mostly wanted to enjoy Bali’s natural beauty and explore historic sites. They had it all. And after spending about 2 weeks on the island, we felt like we had spent the perfect amount of time there and had done everything we wanted to.

Trip Itinerary

Dates: Last 2 weeks of August (perfect time to go)

The flight to Denpasar Airport (Bali’s international airport) from Doha on Qatar Airways was about 8.5 to 9.5 hours. It’s a direct flight – super easy!

Here are some of the details of our trip. You can totally do some of these activities from any district that you’re staying in, but traffic can be very frustrating, so keep that in mind.

4 days in Seminyak

• Beachy vibe (views of the sunset)
• Super hip shopping and trendy home stores
• Seminyak Food Safari
• TONS of restaurants, bars, & clubs
• Tanah Lot Temple is close
• Jimbaran beach is close

4 days in Ubud

• Basically a jungle
• Sunrise hike up Mount Batur (active volcano)
• Bike ride down Mount Batur
• Coffee plantations
• Rice fields
• Local Market shopping

Ubud is also known for Monkey Forest – we weren’t too keen on visiting – but this is an option!

4 days in Nusa Dua

• Super beachy and resort vibe – you’re pretty much at a resort or spa and will most likely stay there (views of sunrise)
• Waterhole

There are temples all over the island, so while we didn’t visit a lot of them, make sure to check out some of the major sites. All the hotels and drivers will know which ones are worth visiting so make sure to ask! 

Trip Map

Source: Google Maps

My Travel Essentials & Tips

• DO NOT RENT A CAR. Just hire a driver for the day or if you feel really adventurous (definitely not my cup of tea) rent a vespa or motorcycle. We just hired drivers since it always came out to less than $40/day.
• While weather wise August/September is the perfect time to go, this is also peak travel season. You will sit in the car for an hour or longer to get to most places, especially if you’re driving to another district. Try to arrange activities in that district while you’re there. Traffic can be frustrating!
• One thing you have to get used to in Bali is that there will rarely be a place where there are no tourists. Everything on the island is for tourists, so most places will be packed with people!
• EAT THE LOCAL CUISINE. That doesn’t mean eat it off the street because you’ll probably get Bali belly, but order Balinese or Indonesian dishes. Spicy, but SO good!
• Take a proper camera if you have one. It’s gorgeous there and you’re going to want to capture everything!
• Very family friendly. We saw people with really little kids and couples.

Attractions & Restaurants

So as much as I’d love to pile everything up in one post, I think it’ll be better if I put the shopping related things in another post. I’ve included all of the awesome restaurants we visited in this post though!

Also, make sure to scroll all the way down to watch a video that my very talented friend Hammad put together of his trip to Bali. It’s so beautiful!

The rest of this post will be full of pictures and a few details here and there for the people who want to visit. Enjoy!

What sunrise looks like in Seminyak. Ahh I know!

Seminyak

In Seminyak it’s actually easier to just walk on the beach to get to the restaurants or to the shopping center since everything is pretty close. It’s actually easier and faster than getting into a car because of the traffic.

Seminyak was pretty much the hip part of town. Tons of restaurants, bars, beautiful beaches and HOME DÉCOR SHOPPING (I’ll cover that in a later post)! We actually loved the food so much in Bali. It made our trip even better!

FYI – for all of the restaurants, you HAVE to make reservations!

Merah Puti Restaurant, Seminyak. I LOVED the food here. We actually went twice. Try the rendang steamed buns. Yummmm!!

Ku De Ta Restaurant, Seminyak. This was the coolest place. I felt so hip for being there!

Even Ku De Ta’s outdoor décor was amazing!

Breeze Restaurant at the Samaya in Seminyak. Food was OK, but the views of the beach sunset were insane.

Kilo, Seminyak. This was a Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant, and while the food was something totally different, I really liked it!

Both Breeze and Kilo were part of the Bali Food Safari Seminyak Tour, which I would definitely recommend to couples. It’s a lot of food and takes up quite a bit of time, but it was a great way to experience so many restaurants in one night!

Bambu Restaurant, Seminyak. Food was great. Ambiance was incredible. I would totally go back.

While I didn’t like visiting Jimbaran Beach (way too crowded), the seafood here was awesome! You pick your live seafood and they cook it for you right there. Make sure you go at sunset.

Jimbaran Beach sunset

If you love shisha, stop by the Woo Bar at the W Hotel. It’s surprisingly good!

Look at those ice cream inspired chairs!!

Tanah Lot Temple

Tanah Lot Temple sits right on the ocean!

Tegenungan Waterfall

Ubud

The forests of Ubud!

Local home in Ubud with pathways leading to the praying spaces and a family member’s bedroom. Everyone lives together in a large compound like home. All rooms, and praying and eating spaces are basically little separate buildings within the larger home.

You can visit coffee plantations in Ubud where you can try the famous and expensive Indonesian Luwak coffee. My favorite was coconut and vanilla coffee though 🙂

Coffee roasting process

I’m not sure what this dessert is, but we had it at Blanco in Ubud. Amazing meal, but the 7 courses were a little much. It took 2.5 hours to get through!! I felt like exploding by the end of it…

Mount Batur

Mount Batur, an active volcano, sits in the middle of its own crater. There are even villages in the crater! 

OK, so we totally hiked up this volcano to see the sunrise. It was my most favorite part of this trip.

Seeing the sunrise from up there was unreal and an experience that doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve ever done in my life, but… it was definitely the toughest hike I’ve ever done. I almost gave up after 30 minutes and we still had 2 hours to go! It was kinda like being on a stair master for 2 hours straight… You definitely need good hiking shoes (we had stupid sneakers), warm clothes, and some serious lower body and core strength if you plan on doing this.

You wake up at 2:30 AM to drive over there and start climbing around 3:30 AM. We climbed up about 1700 meters when the sun started coming up. The top was still about 30 minutes more, but this “sunrise point” was perfect.

Going down. The easier part of the climb…

Gorgeous temple on the way down

Bike Ride Down Mt. Batur

We also took a bike tour down Mt. Batur – there are tons of companies who do this, so finding one shouldn’t be a problem. This was SOOO much fun. It’s a 20 km ride, but it’s mostly downhill so you don’t have to do a lot of peddling 🙂

Rice fields on the way down

Nusa Dua

These beaches were just gorgeous! It was all so resort and spa.

Water Blow on Nusa Dua Beach

This was so cool to see. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Sunday Brunch

I HIGHLY recommend booking Sunday brunch at Boneka Restaurant at the St. Regis, Nusa Dua. It’s the best brunch I’ve ever had. Seriously. Everything was delicious!!

Have you ever had a Croissant French Toast? If you have, I bet this one is WAY better. It had a papaya lime jam and cinnamon butter!!

Lastly… You HAVE to also check out this amazing video that my friend Hammad put together of his trip to Bali. It totally captures the spirit of the island 🙂

Aaaaand that’s it! So, if you’re looking for a trip that is relaxing, fun, and stress free, you probably wanna consider going to Bali. And yes, you should do 2 weeks.

For details and pictures of some of the shopping and amazing home décor stores in Bali, stay tuned for a future post!

Hope you loved the trip!!

xoxo