Why I love Ubud | Gap Year Travel

Out of all the places we happened to visit in Bali, Ubud was by far our favourite city. It’s rich in culture, arts, beautiful landscapes and incredible food. We planned to stay only four days but in the end extended it to a full week. Here are the reasons why I love Ubud…

1. FOOD FOR THE SOUL

When you think of Bali, some think of the amazing villas and resorts they’ve seen plastered all over social media, and some think of the health retreat it offers. Well, as far as I’m aware, Ubud is exactly this. If you want your health retreat, Ubud is the place to go on this small Indonesian island. As soon as we arrived in Ubud, we were greeted by streets full of vegan, vegetarian and health cafés and restaurants. Bali Buda was one of our favourites, as was Warung Little India.

2. YOGA

Alice and I both knew that Ubud was a Yogi’s dream. Ubud is home to world-famous yoga studios: The Yoga Barn and Radiantly Alive. I hadn’t done a lot of yoga before back home but had decided that if there was any place to do it, it was in Ubud. We signed up for an aerial yoga class for just over £5 and it was absolutely incredible.

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3. MOUNT BATUR

Though Mount Batur isn’t actually situated in Ubud, it is offered as a tour which departs from Ubud. We were lucky enough to get a good deal on it and paid just £20 to be picked up, transported two hours away, led up the mountain by guides and provided with a breakfast. What a bargain. And how incredible is the view?! It’s 100% worth the 2am wake-up call.

4. MONKEY FOREST

One of the main tourist attractions in Ubud is the monkey forest. Wander around the sacred grounds and admire the stunning Hindu temples whilst being accompanied by some very cheeky (though some very cute) monkeys. The forest is a conservation area and the monkeys live there naturally. You’ll find many tourists attempting to feed the monkeys bananas in the hope they get a picture of themselves with a monkey perched on them but beware: the monkeys can be very vicious and their bites could lead to rabies!

5. CULTURE

We chose to live with an authentic Balinese family in a homestay residence. We had our own little house and were served banana pancakes every morning – it was a really enjoyable experience. Our stay overlapped with the huge religious festival in Bali: Galungan. Streets get filled with beautiful decorations and villagers wear delicate ceremonial clothes. As guests, we were invited to take part in the celebrations and walked to the temple with our host family, participating in all of the prayers and listening to the ceremony. Ubud is full of such culture with many art galleries and museums to visit.

6. UBUD MARKETS

There are streets upon streets upon streets filled with markets and street vendors selling numerous authentic objects. We really enjoyed just strolling around and enjoying the busy and bustling atmosphere around the markets. Everything is so vibrant and colourful and you can really get a bargain if you haggle well!

7. RICE FIELDS

We spent our last day walking along the Campuhan rice fields on a gloriously sunny day. The heat was actually almost unbearable but the walk was beautiful. We walked across the rice fields and saw many residents working in the fields. It’s really nice to get away from the centre and explore more of the countryside area.

Have you visited Ubud before?

Peace and love,

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