Ubud is the spiritual capital of Bali. With yoga and meditation centers, green rice fields, ancient temples, colorful street shopping, cafes, and vegan restaurant, waterfalls; Ubud has a lot to offer for you. Staying a few days in Ubud will turn into a stay of weeks, month or a couple of months. This is a place where traditional Balinese culture imbues every waking moment. Where colorful offerings adorn the streets and where the hypnotic strains of gamelan are an ever-present soundtrack to everyday life. Visit Ubud for relaxing and rejuvenating your body, mind, and soul and it will surely prove to be one of the most magical holidays of your life.
For a peaceful stay in Ubud, I would suggest you stay out of the center of the Ubud town as its congested with traffic, tour groups, and souvenir shops. There is a huge range of accommodation in Ubud from budget homestays to luxury pool villas. Any of the options will be the best if its a bit out of the town. We booked our resort from www.agoda.com. There are plenty of options for motorbike or cycle to hire for the days of your visit to Ubud or you can walk and enjoy the greenish view of beautiful Ubud.
Rules to be followed while visiting any temple in Bali:
- Proper dress is required; knees must be covered by both male or female. Keep your sarongs or sarongs are available in loan at the entrance of every temple.
- Try not to get on the way of worshippers.
- Behave properly and don’t photograph people while they are performing their rituals.
- Follow the rules mentioned by the temple authority or signboards.
Now let me give you a brief idea of the places and things to do while you are in Ubud.
1.Goa Gajah Temple:
Located just 10 mins outside of Ubud in Bali, Goa Gajah is a significant Hindu archeological site. Also known as elephant cave temple because of its proximity to the Elephant River.
Goa Gajah temple was listed as a https://www.tripsavvy.com/southeast-asia-unesco-world-heritage-sites-1629932 UNESCO World heritage site in 1995.
Apart from the temple, there is a beautiful small waterfall at the back of the temple. You just need to take a couple of stairs to reach the waterfall. The temple is surrounded with lush green trees around and little water bodies.
Visiting hours: 8 am to 4.30 pm
Entrance fees: 15000 IDR
2.Sacred monkey forest:
Ubud monkey forest demonstrates the coexistence of humans and nature. Several temple festivals are held within the grounds of the monkey forest. The area enclosed by the temple walls and the forest area around it is considered as sacred. The forest is quite dense and there are tons of monkeys roaming around.
Don’t feed the monkeys there as it may be dangerous for you to handle them and also don’t carry any eatables or drinks as the monkey may attack you trying to snatch the food.
Visiting hours: 8.30 am to 6 pm
Entrance fees: 50000 IDR
3. Ubud Royal Palace:
Ubud royal palace is in the heart of the Ubud in front of the traditional Ubud art market. Also called as Puri Saren Ubud it a kingdom palace with beautiful Balinese traditional houses as a residence of the king of Ubud. It’s very crowded as it’s in the center of the Ubud but yes it is worth a visit.
Visiting hours: 24 hours
Entrance fees: Free
4.Pura Taman Saraswati Temple:
Pura Taman Saraswati temple is dedicated to Hindu goddess Saraswati, the goddess of art, knowledge, and literature. Like any other temple in Bali, this temple is also very beautiful, artistic and peaceful. There is a lotus pond at the entrance of the temple which is the main attraction in the temple and which makes it picturesque.
There is a stage in the temple premises where Balinese dance or Kecak dance is performed every day at 19.30 and tickets are available almost every time whenever you visit there.
Visiting hours: 24 hours
Entrance fee: Free
5. Ubud Art Market:
Ubud art market is just in front of the Ubud royal palace. The market showcases the craftsmanship of the local people of Bali. There are tons of handmade things available in the market like handbags, wooden statues, bamboo bowls, paintings, batik print clothes, silver jewelry, souvenir and what not. Sharpen your bargaining skills before going to the art market as the sellers are going to quote just any price for the same piece in different stalls or shops.
Visiting hours: 6 am to 6 pm.
Entrance fees: Free
6.Campuhan Ridge Walk:
Campuhan ridge walk is our favorite walk in Ubud. It is one of those places to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and breathe the fresh air soaking in greens. I would suggest going their early in the morning or during sunset to enjoy your walk to the most like the rest of the time would be a little warm and there is no shade to rest and relax. It is an easy walk which takes around 40-50 mins to finish with lovely views of the paddy fields.
Visiting hours: 24 hours
Entrance fee: Free
7. Tegenungan Waterfall:
Tegenungan waterfall is located just about 10 km outside of Ubud near to the Tegenungan village. When you reach closer to the waterfall you will see signboards with photo and texts saying “ Tegenungan waterfall” and an arrow in the correct direction so nothing to get confused about the direction of the waterfall and google maps also works fine.
This waterfall is a popular tourist attraction in Bali so try to reach as early in the morning to avoid the crowd.
Visiting hours: 6.30 am to 6.30 pm Entrance fees: 15000 IDR, 5000 IDR for car par
8.Tibumana Waterfall:
Tibumana waterfall is not very close to Ubud like the other places above as it takes around 45 minutes from central Ubud. The road to the waterfall is quite smooth and easy to access following google maps.
There are endless rice fields and palms trees closer to the waterfall which makes it worth to get down and click some pictures.
Once you get to the parking of the waterfall you need to park your vehicle and walk another 10-15 mins to reach the waterfall.
Visiting hours: 6 am – 6 pm Entrance fees: 10000 IDR.
9.Tegallang Rice terrace:
It is one of the most popular tourist spots in Bali situated in Tegallang village north of Ubud featured by lush green terraced rice fields. You can easily access to this place by a motorbike as the road to it is quite simple but we went there by car as we booked the car for a whole day tour which includes other spots around Ubud.
There are swings in these rice fields to enjoy the terrific view of the rice fields from the heights. If you are a poser like me then you will end up spending more time here then expected to be. Again I will suggest you visit early in the day to avoid Bali heat and crowd.
Visiting hours: 8 am to 6 pm
Entrance fees: only donations excepted
