We spent 6 days in Ubud, Bali visiting temples and the monkey forest, enjoying coffee shops and vegan eateries and scouring the streets for treasures to bring home in the same market that was made famous in “Eat Pray Love”. If I had to describe Ubud in a single word it would be green. Lush surroundings and healthy food GALORE, so pretty much my dream area of Bali. Plus everyone is either on their way to or on their way home from a good workout sessions (yoga is very popular in Bali in general), so I felt right at home! I loved everything about this city except for the sidewalks and pathways. I damn near twisted my ankle on more than one occasion trying to navigate the choppy streets and sidewalks. A small price to pay, in my opinion, to visit such a beautiful place! Today I’m sharing 12 things you won’t want to miss in and around Ubud, Bali!
12 Things You Can’t Miss In Ubud Bali
Some of our favorite places in Ubud are:
Tegallalang Rice Terraces
Tirta Empul Water Temple
Tirta Empul is a beautiful water temple that is a little bit of a drive, but absolutely worth it. Hire a driver for the day and head straight for Tirta Empul first thing in the morning, then stop at the rice terraces on the way home!
People come from near and far to experience the healing powers of the water. I didn’t get in, but Dane did and watching him was a pretty cool experience.
Like most of the temples in Bali, there are some guidelines before you enter. Women must have their shoulders covered, anyone with long hair must tie it up and all visitors must wear a sarong. Also, if you have your period you may not enter at all.
Viceroy Bali
Holy wow – this place was freaking incredible. A full post on it can be found here.
Grandpa’s Coffee
Green Key
Ubud Monkey Sanctuary + Forest
I had no idea we were both making funny faces, LOL!
Ubud Art Market (yep, this is the place that was in “Eat, Pray, Love”)
Ikat Batik
FOLK Pool + Cafe
Gaya Ceramics
Acai Queen
Completely vegan acai bowls and that coconut whip (I think made with coconut milk – or something?) is what dreams are made out of – truly! It was coconut with a bit of cinnamon and oh my gosh – while I normally wouldn’t want something like that on my bowl, it was divine! And that granola? It’s made of popcorn!
DaLa Spa
So this spa experience has sort of a funny start. We had been walking all around Ubud, popping in various shops, temples and restaurants..kind of just meandering around the city. Aren’t those afternoons the best? Well, before too long, we found ourselves on an unfamiliar road. We tried to retrace our steps and only found ourselves to get further and further away from where we wanted/needed to be. Now, for anyone who has ever traveled out of the country where cell service is zero, you know the slight panic that starts to set in. So, we pulled out the hand-drawn map we had created for ourselves and really started to use our natural navigation skills. THREE HOURS LATER, we were able to navigate ourselves to the main road based on doors, shops and cut throughs we had both recognized at some point. The first place we saw was this spa and even me (who is usually a please-don’t-touch-me-thanks type of person when it comes to spas), was like “Sign us up for one of everything, thanks!” We enjoyed the couple’s experience of a Balinese massage, essential oils, coconut mask, sugar scrub and flower bath. It was AMAZING!
Le Moulin
Okay, so I just realized I have ZERO photos of this amazing crêperie that’s located in Ubud’s town center. Sweet, savory and every crêpre in between….I absolutely loved this place. Dane enjoyed the banana split crêpe one night and said it was absolutely amazing!
And that’s kind of a wrap on Ubud! By kind of, I mean – if you are still reading by this point…bless you! Ubud is one of those places that I’m convinced you could visit for weeks and weeks and still not see it all, if that makes sense! Have you ever been?
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like The Top 12 Places To Eat In Bali or 10 Things You Can’t Miss In Seminyak Bali!