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Writer's pictureJW

Ubud - hustle and bustle and relaxation combined

Updated: Oct 17, 2023

At the latest after the film "Eat, Pray, Love", the town of Ubud is on everyone's lips. This town in the highlands of Bali is very diverse due to its proximity to the rainforest and rice fields and is considered a cultural centre for art and dance. Due to its geographical location, Ubud is also a perfect starting point for various day trips in Bali.


Here is a summary of some of the activities you can experience in Ubud.




A visit to the Midas Spa Ubud

We chose this spa because of the incredibly good reviews online. The spa is very big and when you choose manicure/pedicure you sit in a comfortable chair next to many other clients lined up next to each other in a very big air-conditioned room. I had a very good time there as the staff were very friendly and fun. The treatment was great and I was very happy with the result of my manicure and pedicure.


My highlight in communicating with the staff came at the end - they asked me what shoes I was wearing and where I put them (I think they wanted to help me put them on so I wouldn't ruin the nail polish on my toes). I answered "orange sport shoes". Motivated, the employee went to the entrance area and lifted up all the pairs of sandals he could find through the glass window and asked if they were my shoes. After what felt like 10 attempts, he gave up. When I showed him my running shoes at the entrance, he was quite irritated that I was wearing such shoes and laughed with me about the whole situation. So apart from the great service, I would definitely recommend this place because of the good atmosphere!


When I talked to other travellers about yoga and Bali, the question "Have you been to the Yoga Barn" often came up? The Yoga Barn seems to be THE yoga studio in Bali for many travellers. Since I was in Ubud anyway, I wanted to take the chance and see this yoga studio for myself. The area is incredibly large and divided into different areas. Besides yoga, there is also a hotel, a spa and two different restaurants on the premises. There are nice places to stay on the grassy areas and despite the unbelievably high number of tourists, you feel a sense of peace and a very relaxed atmosphere in general.


First we sat there in the café and then comfortably enjoyed our coffee on the beanbags while we watched the hustle and bustle all around. Afterwards, I attended a yoga session in the late afternoon.


It was a vinyasa flow for all levels. The room was beautifully located with large windows right next to a river. However, there were a lot of participants at the yoga session. There were about 40 people in the room and they got in each other's way during some of the exercises. The yoga trainer was very nice (she had a golden retriever that walked around and greeted people during yoga), but I found it generally very impersonal to do yoga in such a large group and it is understandably impossible for the trainer to respond to individual needs or correct postures.


Overall, it was a nice stay in the whole area. However, based on my experience, I would not attend any more yoga sessions here.


Floating Breakfast

One of the things you often see in online Bali vacation photos is a floating breakfast in an infinity pool with a beautiful view of nature. Since our hotel in Ubud also offered this service, we wanted to try it.


It was fun to be in or next to the pool having breakfast, but not very comfortable. The sun can be very intense even in the morning, but the pool was super cooling. Anyway, it has been a fun experience 😊


From other experiences in or around Ubud like the Campuhan Ridge Walk, the Suwat Waterfall and the Tegallalang Rice Terraces I will tell you in extra posts.


Restaurant recommendations

I got to know this café through a recommendation. Another traveler, which I met on the Gili Islands, I met here again. From the outside, the café is very inconspicuous. Then when you go up the stairs to the second floor, a very spacious place opens up. The interior is fancy, fun and cozy at the same time.


The names of the coffees are based on the cat theme, and you can also buy fun postcards with wild motifs.


The menu is very diverse. I had only one coffee here and this I can highly recommend! 😊 I wanted to return here again to try the food as well, because the offer on the menu sounded very interesting, but that unfortunately did not work out in time.


I would never have expected a place like Merlin's in Indonesia. Based on a personal recommendation, I booked a table there in advance online. Since the restaurant is very well booked, we have already visited it in the early afternoon. As the name suggests, the establishment is very mystical/magical in terms of decor. On the first floor there is a small store with accessories and on the 1st floor you enter a very large beautifully decorated restaurant.


The selection of dishes is very colorful. You can either order à la carte or let yourself be surprised.


In this restaurant there is the possibility to be surprised with a 3-course menu. For this you draw one card per course (kind of tarot cards). On each card there is a saying - the card for the starter represents the past, the card for the main course the present and the card for the dessert should reflect the future. And in addition, behind each card is a specific dish, with which one is then surprised.


As a vegetarian, I was allowed to cheat a little and pull my main course card again, so that all my courses were really vegetarian. The food was unbelievably good and also beautifully arranged with a lot of detail.


All in all, the 3-course menu (after which you are really well satiated) costs the equivalent of about 25€ per person - that's a lot by Indonesian standards, but the quality of the food and the performance are well worth it. We enjoyed our visit here very much and would definitely come again.


We visited this establishment when we were on the Ridge Walk. The reviews were good and we wanted to stop in for a quick coffee. It is one of two eateries which belongs to the Chapung Se Bali hotel. The hotel grounds are incredibly large and the garden is beautifully landscaped. On the way to the restaurant you also pass a large water pool with many fish.


You sit on a large covered terrace with a view of nature. Further down you can see the large hotel pool. The view is great and due to the somewhat hidden location, hardly any tourists from outside pass by here. We ordered coffee and a dessert here and were very satisfied with the quality. Price-wise, this place is already a bit more expensive, rather European standards - a good coffee was worth it to us. 😊


Ubud Warung

We went to this little place for dinner. We ate a vegan nasi goreng here. The portions were large and the food was very good and extremely cheap. The place is nicely decorated, there are great painted pictures on the walls and the staff is very friendly.


If you are looking for nice souvenirs, you can buy there small hand-carved figures made of bone or wood. As I understand it, you can also wish for a motif, which is then specially made.


Eating a delicious pizza in Indonesia? This restaurant is the right address for that. We became aware of Casa Luna through the incredibly good online reviews. After a massage right next door, we then treated ourselves to a good dinner here.


Although the restaurant is located directly on the main street, you don't really notice anything of the hustle and bustle, because the restaurant extends far to the back. On top of that, they also serve lemon radishes - a perfect complement to the pizza. 😊


This small restaurant is located on one of the main streets in Ubud. However, this street is traffic-calmed because cars are prohibited here and therefore only individual motorcycles cross again and again. We were in the mood for dessert and enjoyed very good sweet crepes with fruit and chocolate cream here.


What I find particularly good is that you can put together his crêpe from a wide range of options completely independently. 😊


Overall, the stay in Ubud was very nice and varied. If you want to escape the hustle and bustle, it is good to look for a hotel a little outside. You can then either rent a scooter or reach the center by grave for little money within a few minutes.


My hotel tip: For a quiet relaxed stay a little outside I can recommend the Hotel Doni House & Villas. It is a small hotel with a few rooms or bungalows. The facility as well as the view into the nature are great, the staff is extremely friendly and the breakfast is super good (also the coffee, which is not self-evident here on the island).

Have you ever visited Ubud? What did you like most about the town? 😊

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