This place is known as the Cultural Heart and Center of Bali. The healthy lifestyle, food, and spirituality reign are the major features attracting the nomads, backpackers, and spiritual romantic travelers.
Some of the most amazing temples in the whole of Bali are located in the region of Ubud. Many tourists visit Ubub to learn local yoga and meditation.
Ubud is also a hub of cultural museums. Apart from these historical and traditional spots Ubud also offers the Monkey Forest to visit for an adventure.
Things to do in Ubud, Bali
1. Monkey Forest, Ubud:
Known as the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal, this destination attracts tourists interested in history, forests, and adventure. This forest is the house for more than 700 grey long-tailed macaques.
Here, you will find dense leafy nutmeg forests and ancient statues and temples. You will see lots of macaques hopping from one canopy to another, eating bananas, and fighting.
Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal and Pura Prajapati, dedicated to village funerals, stand as the most popular temples here.
You must also visit Pura Beji, which is a bathing temple, located northwest of the main site of the forest. You can hire a guide here who will explain to you the significance of the temples and statues.
Avoid wearing loose jewelry or clothing on this trip, as monkeys may snatch them in search of food. The Wenara Wana staff may help you get your belongings back.
This place opens for tourists at 8:30 in the morning and closes at 5:30 in the evening.
2. Royal Palace, Ubud:
It is a cultural repository of art, dance, and culture of Ubud. Tjokorda Putu Kandel oversaw the construction of this palace.
The stage and meeting halls of this palace host several international events and the opening ceremony of the Annual Ubud Writer and Readers Festival.
During the day, you can roam in the front section of the palace, which provides you the opportunity of sightseeing and photography. In the evening you can enjoy the traditional dance performances with gamelan percussive orchestras.
You can get a ticket from the ticket window in the afternoon. This palace opens at 8:00 AM and closes at 7:00 PM.
3. Art Market, Ubud:
This market is located in the center of Ubud. The market is divided into two parts: eastern and western. In the eastern, you will find grocery stores serving daily necessities.
The western market is the main art market. Vendors transport all the items sold in this market from neighbouring villages like Pengosekan, Tegalalang, Payangan, and Peliatan.
This market serves a wide variety of products such as silk scarves, shirts, statues, kites, handmade woven bags, baskets, hats, Balinese-style paintings, and wooden carvings. This market opens at 8 in the morning and closes at 5 in the evening.
4. Agung Rai Museum of Art:
This museum is the house of hundreds of paintings from legendary and new artists. The most valuable paintings in the museum are from the Batuan Era. The museum, built in December 1989, displays paintings set in artistic vintage frames.
There is also a museum store where you can buy souvenirs. There is also a cafe in the museum where you can enjoy Balinese traditional food. At this museum, you can do a lot more than just viewing the paintings.
ARMA museum provides various kinds of activities to participate such as woodcarving, cooking, batik class, and dance lessons. You can also watch the theatre, dance, and music performances held 4 times a week in the museum area. The museum opens at 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
5. Saraswati Temple, Ubud:
It is located near Starbucks and behind Lotus Cafe Ubud. As its name suggests, it is a place of worship of Goddess Saraswati. The major attractions of this temple are its lotus pond and water garden.
Plumeria trees line the edges of the pond, and the bridge is adorned with paras sculptures from Hindu mythology. To enter the inner sanctum
you have to go through red-bricked kori agung gates. On the northeast side of the temple is located the Padmasana shrine. The base of the Padmasana shrine features paras carvings of several nagas and turtles.
6. Bukit campuhan:
Here you will find several small hills. You can enjoy the mind-blowing scenery and the jogging track between the hills. The main attraction of Bukit Campuhan is the Gunung Lebah Temple, and this area is also known as the Mountain of Bees.
The trekking path goes up to the top of the hill. At the top, the width of the path is 1.5 meters and the length of the path is about 2 kilometers. From the top of the hill, you can enjoy the view of rice fields, groups of trees, and palm groves.
You will find the place hygienic and dustbins placed at small distances, there is no staff to take care of hygiene, so you have to maintain it. You can also rent a bike for tracking for about Rp 20,000. This location is open 24 hours.
7. Tegallalang Rice terraces:
These terraces are created using the “Subak” irrigation technique, which forms a stepped landscape. You can walk around the terrace and along with learn how to plant and harvest rice.
You will also find some souvenir stalls to buy some souvenirs. The best time to visit this place is in the morning and afternoon, as it is too hot in the daytime for roaming in the fields.
Places to eat in Ubud:
1. Mozaic Restaurant Gastronomique:
This is a perfect place for fine dining. This restaurant showcases European cooking techniques with imported spices and ingredients and fresh local produce.
The must-try of this place includes Japanese baby lamb with smoked eggplant, kenari fruits, cardamom, and fresh curry leaves, and the Canadian blue lobster tail with confined baby potato in a fresh clam juice-garden herb broth.
2. Locavore:
This restaurant uses locally made plates and furniture, and only sustainably sourced local spices. Their special serve is la cara or the famed, seven-course degustation feast.
They also have a cocktail bar “The Night Rooster”. This restaurant opens for lunch from 12 PM to 2:30 PM and then for dinner, it opens from 6:30 pm to 10 PM.
3. Zest Ubud:
This restaurant is vegan, but it won’t let you get disappointed with the servings. You can try mashed cassava fritters, taro root fries, and sticky spiced carrots.
For dessert, the must-try is a banana muffin. This restaurant opens at 8 in the morning and closes at 10 in the night.
Must-try dish in Ubud:
1. Babi guling:
This dish is also known as a spit roast pig. It is one of the most famous cultural dishes in Bali. Originally a ceremonial offering to Balinese Hindu Gods, this dish involves rubbing the pig with turmeric, stuffing it with traditional spices and genep flavours, and slow roasting it over an open fire until the skin is crispy and the meat is tender.
It is then sliced thinly and served with aromatic genep, rice, pork satay, blood sausage, long beans, and mahogany. In ubud, you can have babi guling at Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka 3.
How to reach Ubud:
1. By flight:
The closest airport is Bali. Deboard at Bali and get either a bus or car to reach Ubud.
2 By Road:
You can get a bus, usually called public memos from Denpasar’s Batu Bulan terminal. The ticket costs about IDR 8,000
3. By waterways:
The only way to reach Ubud by waterways is from Gili Island. Gili Cat service runs Gili Gili boats to reach anywhere all over Bali.
