Bali 5D4N suggestions for a first timer!

[BabyBlade]

Hi all. Need some suggestions for planning Bali with some friends. I've googled reviews, blogs, youtube and even scanned through edmw but nth better than asking for the recommendations of MCFers, it's easier to digest.

I've narrowed down to Ubud or Seminyak. I'm on the fence regarding these two locations. 

Ubud

• Further from the airport around 1 hr 20 mins by car
• Closer to nature
• Mount Batur Sunrise Hike (1 day tour with hotel pickup)
• Monkey Forest
• Seems closer to Bali Swing for phototaking

Seminyak

• Closer to the airport around 30 mins by car
• Seems like a more upmarket beach location but without being too over the top like Kuta
• Closer to restaurants, shops, bars (Potato Head)
• No hotel pickup for Mount Batur Hike?

Ideally it'll be great if we could fit in these two locations. Maybe 2D in Ubud, 3D in Seminyak or the other way round. Anyone done that before? Feasible or too exhausting and time consuming?

Activities we're planning to do other than the ones on top includes a cooking class, river rafting, some water sports, snorkeling, and maybe just people watch at the bars.

Transportation wise, other than a taxi from the airport to our hotel, we're cool with either renting a car (but I've heard about the jam), renting motorcycles, or even just leaving all the driving to the taxi driver. Heard places like Ubud does not allow the usage of Grab?

Also, those who did the Mount Batur hike, what's the difficulty level? 💀

Welcome all suggestions, recommendations. Thanks in advance!

[SuPerBoRed]

for me Seminyak... other places more convenient to go since its more central...  ubud do a day trip can liao .. would be boring after.. unless u really into outdoor stuff.. that being the case .. then choose ubud

[therock]

As a first timer, you can visit either, or add Nusa Dua.

But do consider Tanah Lot and 

Tabanan... it's a really nice place:

https://trip101.com/article/best-things-to-do-tabanan-indonesia

[Strat]

Seminyak - more things to eat, crowded with people. 

Ubud - lesser crowd and traffic, fresher air with nicer scenery , lots of vegan restaurants.  

Grab is banned is Ubud and you can only hire local taxi or you can rent a scooter which cost like $7 a day to rent

 

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by Strat

[Kaka23]

3 hours ago, BabyBlade said:

Hi all. Need some suggestions for planning Bali with some friends. I've googled reviews, blogs, youtube and even scanned through edmw but nth better than asking for the recommendations of MCFers, it's easier to digest.

I've narrowed down to Ubud or Seminyak. I'm on the fence regarding these two locations. 

Ubud

• Further from the airport around 1 hr 20 mins by car
• Closer to nature
• Mount Batur Sunrise Hike (1 day tour with hotel pickup)
• Monkey Forest
• Seems closer to Bali Swing for phototaking

Seminyak

• Closer to the airport around 30 mins by car
• Seems like a more upmarket beach location but without being too over the top like Kuta
• Closer to restaurants, shops, bars (Potato Head)
• No hotel pickup for Mount Batur Hike?

Ideally it'll be great if we could fit in these two locations. Maybe 2D in Ubud, 3D in Seminyak or the other way round. Anyone done that before? Feasible or too exhausting and time consuming?

Activities we're planning to do other than the ones on top includes a cooking class, river rafting, some water sports, snorkeling, and maybe just people watch at the bars.

Transportation wise, other than a taxi from the airport to our hotel, we're cool with either renting a car (but I've heard about the jam), renting motorcycles, or even just leaving all the driving to the taxi driver. Heard places like Ubud does not allow the usage of Grab?

Also, those who did the Mount Batur hike, what's the difficulty level? 💀

Welcome all suggestions, recommendations. Thanks in advance!

I stayed in Seminyak and Uluwatu previously but my itinerary were mostly food, drinking and lazing by the beach/pool. Did not participate in the activities you have mentioned. I do think you can just book a nice villa in Uluwatu for all of you and then spend a day hiking, a day by a private beach, a day river rafting and a day exploring Kuta/Seminyak. Can rent a bike or cab down to Seminyak and spend the entire day exploring and eating. Not sure about Ubud as I have never visited that area.

Seminyak - Montigo

• lots of famous F&B - bar - Mexicola,  brunch - Sisterfields, dining - Merah Putih
• convenience is key. almost everything is walkable
• accommodation is ex
• can easily finish exploring the area in 1-2 days

Uluwatu - Temple Hill Residence Villa

• Perfect for big groups. booked a villa with 4 rooms and a private pool
• Less crowded, quieter
• nearer to places like Omnia, Sunday Beach Club (check it out). the nicer beaches are down south. can spend the day there and watch the sun set.

Transport - Grab drivers will pick you up quietly at city areas such as restaurants or hotels. But if you travel further away and where taxis are waiting at the entrance, you wont be able to get Grab drivers. Apparently taxi drivers will beat up grab drivers if get caught. I had no issues booking Grab to Omnia late afternoon say 5-6pm. But after clubbing it was impossible to get grab at 10-11pm. Blue bird taxis were readily available but they are quite costly and be ready to negotiate.

Batur Hike - They will pick you up from your hotel in Seminyak, at 2am, and you will start hiking at 4am (iirc). There is 2 end points, and we chose to go all the way to the top. Only at the top you can oversee the volcano and have a good view of the sunrise. There they will make simple breakfast (bread, banana and egg) and hot drinks for sale. Pls bring appropriate clothing as it was freezing while waiting for the sun to rise. Many of us were shivering and were "forced" to buy hot drinks. Overall it was tough for me. My face was pale and I had to request for many stops along the way. However my wife had no issues at all. Funny thing is she doesnt exercise regularly and I do 5km runs once or twice a week. Probably because I didnt have enough rest.

[Voodooman]

5 hours ago, BabyBlade said:

Hi all. Need some suggestions for planning Bali with some friends. I've googled reviews, blogs, youtube and even scanned through edmw but nth better than asking for the recommendations of MCFers, it's easier to digest.

I've narrowed down to Ubud or Seminyak. I'm on the fence regarding these two locations. 

Ubud

• Further from the airport around 1 hr 20 mins by car
• Closer to nature
• Mount Batur Sunrise Hike (1 day tour with hotel pickup)
• Monkey Forest
• Seems closer to Bali Swing for phototaking

Seminyak

• Closer to the airport around 30 mins by car
• Seems like a more upmarket beach location but without being too over the top like Kuta
• Closer to restaurants, shops, bars (Potato Head)
• No hotel pickup for Mount Batur Hike?

Ideally it'll be great if we could fit in these two locations. Maybe 2D in Ubud, 3D in Seminyak or the other way round. Anyone done that before? Feasible or too exhausting and time consuming?

Activities we're planning to do other than the ones on top includes a cooking class, river rafting, some water sports, snorkeling, and maybe just people watch at the bars.

Transportation wise, other than a taxi from the airport to our hotel, we're cool with either renting a car (but I've heard about the jam), renting motorcycles, or even just leaving all the driving to the taxi driver. Heard places like Ubud does not allow the usage of Grab?

Also, those who did the Mount Batur hike, what's the difficulty level? 💀

Welcome all suggestions, recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Seminyak for me.  The picture shown in your post is Alila Seminyak Bali. Very nice hotel with a good beach.

[BabyBlade]

12 hours ago, SuPerBoRed said:

for me Seminyak... other places more convenient to go since its more central...  ubud do a day trip can liao .. would be boring after.. unless u really into outdoor stuff.. that being the case .. then choose ubud

Seems like with the list of activities I've planned out, Ubud has a more central location. Potato Head Beach Club and Ku De Ta are the places in Seminyak I really wanna go though, at least once. 

[BabyBlade]

12 hours ago, therock said:

As a first timer, you can visit either, or add Nusa Dua.

But do consider Tanah Lot and 

Tabanan... it's a really nice place:

https://trip101.com/article/best-things-to-do-tabanan-indonesia

I only realise after listing down my activities that 5D4N in Bali is totally not enough. It's not like Phuket or Krabi where 4D3N can mostly cover the key places. Bali is so much more. Or I could be wrong. Right now I'm swaying more towards Ubud. Will post my drafted out itinerary later in the morning. 

Nusa Dua is definitely on my to do, but maybe the next Bali trip. Too packed! 

[BabyBlade]

12 hours ago, Strat said:

Seminyak - more things to eat, crowded with people. 

Ubud - lesser crowd and traffic, fresher air with nicer scenery , lots of vegan restaurants.  

Grab is banned is Ubud and you can only hire local taxi or you can rent a scooter which cost like $7 a day to rent

 

 

80% of me screams Ubud now. Since it's my first trip to Ubud, I'm gonna do more sightseeing. Visit temples, rice terraces etc. Definitely gonna rent a bike for some of the days there. 

[BabyBlade]

23 hours ago, Kaka23 said:

I stayed in Seminyak and Uluwatu previously but my itinerary were mostly food, drinking and lazing by the beach/pool. Did not participate in the activities you have mentioned. I do think you can just book a nice villa in Uluwatu for all of you and then spend a day hiking, a day by a private beach, a day river rafting and a day exploring Kuta/Seminyak. Can rent a bike or cab down to Seminyak and spend the entire day exploring and eating. Not sure about Ubud as I have never visited that area.

Seminyak - Montigo

• lots of famous F&B - bar - Mexicola,  brunch - Sisterfields, dining - Merah Putih
• convenience is key. almost everything is walkable
• accommodation is ex
• can easily finish exploring the area in 1-2 days

Uluwatu - Temple Hill Residence Villa

• Perfect for big groups. booked a villa with 4 rooms and a private pool
• Less crowded, quieter
• nearer to places like Omnia, Sunday Beach Club (check it out). the nicer beaches are down south. can spend the day there and watch the sun set.

Transport - Grab drivers will pick you up quietly at city areas such as restaurants or hotels. But if you travel further away and where taxis are waiting at the entrance, you wont be able to get Grab drivers. Apparently taxi drivers will beat up grab drivers if get caught. I had no issues booking Grab to Omnia late afternoon say 5-6pm. But after clubbing it was impossible to get grab at 10-11pm. Blue bird taxis were readily available but they are quite costly and be ready to negotiate.

Batur Hike - They will pick you up from your hotel in Seminyak, at 2am, and you will start hiking at 4am (iirc). There is 2 end points, and we chose to go all the way to the top. Only at the top you can oversee the volcano and have a good view of the sunrise. There they will make simple breakfast (bread, banana and egg) and hot drinks for sale. Pls bring appropriate clothing as it was freezing while waiting for the sun to rise. Many of us were shivering and were "forced" to buy hot drinks. Overall it was tough for me. My face was pale and I had to request for many stops along the way. However my wife had no issues at all. Funny thing is she doesnt exercise regularly and I do 5km runs once or twice a week. Probably because I didnt have enough rest.

Thanks for the enlightenment! After reading more reviews, I've decided to go for Ubud. Since it's our first Bali trip we're gonna check off the touristy places first. Gonna stay at more budget villas as well since most of the time we'll be out.

I've also read about the Mt Batur hike where it doesn't matter if you're the fittest out of the group or not, if you have altitude sickness then good luck. Just not your day. I happen to fall under the group of people whose only form of exercising is walking 2,000 steps the entire day.

We'll do 3N Ubud and 1N Seminyak (on my last day). Looking through my activities, Ubud is closer to most of our planned places like the Sacred Monkey Forest, Tegallalang Rice Terrace, and for other packages like river rafting etc, our pickup time will be slightly later since we need lesser time for traveling.

Day 1
- Morning ✈
- 🚕 to Ubud
- Lunch 🌮 @ Ubud 
- Ubud Art Market & Ubud Market
- Dinner 🥙
- 💤 early
- 2am Mt Batur 🌄 Trek!

Day 2
- By 10am should be back at Hotel
- 💤💤💤
- 2.30pm pickup: Cooking classes (3 hrs to 730pm)
- Cafe/bar hopping 🍻🥂🍹🍸

Day 3
- 8am/9am pickup: Ayung River 🚣‍♂🚣‍♀ Rafting! (4hrs should be done by 1pm)
- 💤💤💤
- 🥪🌮🌯🥙
- Sacred 🐒🐵 🌳
- Balinese Massage 
- Gianyar Night Market/Dinner
- 🍻🍷🍸🍹🥂

Day 4
- 1. Tegalalang Rice Terrace 📷📸
- 2.Tirta Empul Temple (6.9km away) 
- 3. Waterfall🌊
- Check out of our Ubud Hotel
- 🚕 to Seminyak
- Check in to Seminyak Hotel
- Shop around Seminyak
- Ku De Ta 🌭🥪🌮🌯🥙
- 🍷🍻🍦

Thinking of booking a guide to bring us around for the first 3 places so we save time on traveling. 

Day 5
- Chill at Potato Head Beach Club
- ☕🍵🍮🍰🍩
- Last min shopping
- Night ✈

Anyone had experiences with booking a private guide/transport for like 3 to 4 hours to bring you around places?

Also, any affordable food/dessert recommendations?

[Strat]

For Tegalalang Rice Terrace , - Tirta Empul Temple (6.9km away) and waterfall

Maybe you ask for package which includes sending you to Seminyak

you can put the luggage in the car and you will have more time as well

 

for food in Ubud, you can try  Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka 3, (for pork), Naughty Nur's for Pork ribs, Cloud Nine (Korean food),  Melting Wok .

 

if got time, can try Campuhan Ridge Walk in the morning or evening time.

 

By the way, you can use Klook to book a ride from airport to Ubud as usually it is cheaper.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Strat

[Tohto]

Do take note Bali beach like Seminyak is getting very dirty. Unless they did a clean up.

[Adrianli]

Better check on the volcano if it is still active.

 

The last time I was in Bali was in 2001 so cant give much input. We hired a local driver who brought us around. Went up the volcano at the restaurant having lunch. Also brought us to Seminyak for massage with "special". So I am surprised that now Seminyak is so popular with tourists. My tots of Seminyak was not so good family friendly place. 

And watchout for those moneychanger magic tricks. Always personally count the money in front of them by yourself and not by them.

Enjoy your holiday.

[Tohto]

On 11/22/2019 at 1:40 AM, BabyBlade said:

I only realise after listing down my activities that 5D4N in Bali is totally not enough. It's not like Phuket or Krabi where 4D3N can mostly cover the key places. Bali is so much more. Or I could be wrong. Right now I'm swaying more towards Ubud. Will post my drafted out itinerary later in the morning. 

Nusa Dua is definitely on my to do, but maybe the next Bali trip. Too packed! 

My last trip to Bali I spend 3N in Semiyak and 3N Ubud. Still felt too short.

5D4N too tight for 2 place.

[Discoburg]

Definitely stay in Seminyak. My fav place to stay. Lots of villa with personal pool. good food nearby also. PLEASE do not stay in Canggu.

 

Ubud and Tanah lot can be done in a day trip with a van taxi rental with driver. Avoid Jimbaran, tourist trap.

[Wt_know]

alamak ... no love for nusa dua already?

[Discoburg]

On 11/25/2019 at 10:39 PM, Wt_know said:

alamak ... no love for nusa dua already?

Expensive area la

[Ichibawa]

I would opt for Ubud and Lembongan. Seminyak is like any resort we have in our neighboring countries.