We spent a full month in Bali, combining remote work with slow travel — not trying to see everything, but settling into three very different bases and exploring from each. We visited many more places during the month than are listed here; these are the ones worth prioritizing if your time is shorter than ours, or if you’d rather focus on the best rather than the most.

At a glance

  • The route: Landed at DPS (Denpasar) → Ubud (~2 weeks) → Amed (~10 nights) → Kuta (~1 week) → flew out from DPS. Nusa Penida and the Gili Islands are worth considering as further additions if you have more time.
  • How long you need: A full month, as above, for genuine slow travel. This route compresses if needed, but the pace here was deliberate.
  • Best time to go: We visited in December, during Bali’s wet season — worth researching current seasonal patterns for your own dates, since Bali’s dry season (roughly April to October) generally offers more reliable weather for outdoor day trips.
  • Budget: We spent an average of ₹4,500 per person per day (roughly $54-55 at December 2022 exchange rates) — this covered flights, visa, stay, food and drinks, travel within the island, and entry tickets, essentially everything included.
  • Getting around: Airport to Ubud by cab. In and around Ubud we rented a scooter, which we also used for the ride out to Amed and back. Ubud to Kuta was another cab; in Kuta we rented a scooter again for all our days there. From Kuta, a final cab back to the airport.

The route

Ubud was our base for around two weeks, and from here we did a wide range of half-day trips — waterfalls, temples, and rice terraces. Of everything we saw, Nungnung Waterfall was the standout — genuinely the best of the waterfalls we visited, and worth prioritizing over the others if you’re short on time. Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Besakih Great Temple (Bali’s largest and holiest temple complex), the classic Tegallalang Rice Terrace, and Tirta Empul Temple, known for its ritual purification pools, rounded out our favorites from this base.

Amed got the longest single stretch outside Ubud — around 10 nights — chosen deliberately for its black-sand beaches, noticeably fewer tourists than the more popular parts of the island, and as the base for a night trek up Mount Agung, timed to arrive by sunset.

Kuta closed out the month with about a week, focused on beach-hopping and a couple of the island’s more iconic sites. Padang Padang Beach is well known and easy to reach; Nyang Nyang Beach was the more memorable of the two, mainly because of the steep hike required to reach it. Uluwatu Temple, dramatically perched on a clifftop, and GWK Cultural Park, home to one of the tallest statues in the world, both made for good half-day additions.

Also worth exploring

Two places we didn’t get to on this trip, but that are genuinely worth considering if your timeline allows: Nusa Penida, a short boat ride away and known for dramatic cliffs and beaches, and the Gili Islands, a small, car-free group off Lombok popular for diving and an even slower pace.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a full month to do this route? Not necessarily — this was deliberately slow travel combined with remote work. The same route compresses reasonably well if you’re short on time, especially by trimming the day-trip list to just the standouts noted above.

What’s the single most important stop from the Ubud day trips? Nungnung Waterfall — the clear standout of everything we saw from that base.

Is Bali budget-friendly? Yes — we spent roughly ₹4,500/person/day (about $54-55 at the time), covering literally everything: flights, visa, stay, food, local travel, and entry tickets.

Should I add Nusa Penida or the Gili Islands? Worth it if you have the extra time — we didn’t get to either on this trip, but both come up consistently as worthwhile additions.

Want this route adjusted for your dates or pace — or built out as a fully custom trip? Tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll put together a real plan.