On my trip to Bali, Ubud was my favorite place—no contest.
Bali is big enough to hold everything. The parties in Kuta and Seminyak, the resorts of Nusa Dua, the cliffs, surf, and ultra-luxury hotels of Uluwatu, the dive sites of Sanur, the dolphins of Lovina, and the volcanoes in the east...
But for me, only Ubud feels like the soul of the entire island.
SPOTS
Ubud is small. A few crisscrossing narrow streets make up the core area, and a short walk farther out takes you straight into fields and countryside—about the scale of a small town back in China.
The town is small, and so are its sights. The best-known ones—the Ubud Palace, the water palace, and Ubud Market—are all packed together on the main street. The palace feels more like the residence of a prominent family, the water palace is basically a pocket park with ponds, and Ubud Market probably isn’t much bigger than a night market in China.
Then there are the classic day-trip stops: waterfalls, swings, monkeys, rafting, and Tirta Empul Temple.
There’s plenty to do, but it would be a shame to rush through it all on an assembly-line checklist. Ubud may be small, but it’s packed with countless interesting galleries, craft shops, restaurants, and cafes.
The best way to get close to Ubud is to wander aimlessly through its streets and alleys. Maybe around some corner you’ll instantly fall for a little object in a shop. Maybe you’ll pass a village temple in the middle of a ceremony. Or maybe you’ll stumble into a slice of local life and start solving the version of Ubud that belongs only to you.
RICE FIELD
Ubud is also famous for its rice fields. We Chinese travelers have already seen terraced fields like Longji and Yuanyang, so we’re not exactly the type to gasp at every rice terrace—but Ubud’s rice fields have a beauty all their own.
Indonesia is a major rice-growing country, and the island’s active volcanoes create mineral-rich soil that’s especially well suited for rice cultivation. So when you’re in Ubud, there’s no need to make a special detour to the famous terraced fields that have become tourist attractions.
Along country lanes, beside restaurants, at the end of hiking paths—even by simply wandering at random—you can find a little patch of rice field that feels like your own.
Ours was on a hidden path leading toward Alila. The hotel organizes a morning rice-field walk every week, and along the way the guide basically gives you a local botany lesson: mimosa, pandan leaves, banana trees—and then suddenly, there it is, the stretch of rice field that steals your heart.
Ubud grows three rice crops a year; this was probably the first harvest of the year. Farmers were hard at work tending the fields.
On the way back after taking photos, I suddenly wondered whether he’d start charging photographers from now on.
ARTS
Ubud is crowded—so crowded that on the main street, locals seem to make up less than 10 percent of the people you see. Faces and languages from everywhere mix together.
And it’s not just tourists. There are also plenty of new long-term residents. Ubud has long been a paradise for digital nomads, and even more so after covid, as countless freelancers priced out by the high cost of living back home flocked here.
Among them are plenty of artists in search of inspiration. In fact, outstanding artists from all walks had already come to Ubud decades ago. The flourishing of Hindu culture and the rise of local handicrafts made Ubud the undisputed cultural wellspring of Bali.
Galleries of every size are scattered throughout Ubud, and as you walk around town, you can stumble onto small exhibitions of painting, photography, or sculpture at any moment.
On a hot afternoon, we visited the Neka Art Museum—a garden-like space with a blend of local Balinese style and British touches.
Its separate buildings house ancient Balinese carvings, paintings, modern art, photography, and more—a sweeping cross-section of Bali. There are works by local artists, along with pieces inspired by Bali from artists who came from elsewhere.
Compared with the bustling streets outside, it was surprisingly quiet here—a wonderful place to find a little peace in Ubud.
The museum has been around for years. Its old sign is covered in moss, to the point that it feels like part of the art itself.
TREKKING
Campuhan Ridge Walk was a small hiking trail we discovered by accident, even though it’s already heavily featured in other travel guides.
In Balinese, Campuhan means the meeting point of two rivers, and locals consider it the source of holy water. The entrance is along the outer wall of a temple.
The trail climbs gradually uphill, with lush elephant grass on both sides, and beyond that, a deep river valley and tropical rainforest. Surrounded by all that greenery—and all those beautiful bodies—it’s hard not to feel your heart race.
The path is short, less than two kilometers in total, and not difficult at all—you could handle it in flip-flops. Lots of people come here for a morning run, and some even meditate by the side of the trail.
We even ran into a Spider-Man having lunch.
At the end, maybe it’s not exactly a hidden paradise—but it does feel like a sudden, delightful opening after the trail. A very charming village, and one broad, irresistible stretch of rice field.
If you make it here, you’ll fall for it too. We met an older couple on the way who said they had deliberately moved here to stay for a few days.
FOOD
In Ubud, you never have to worry about food variety. At one intersection, I was genuinely surprised to see Sichuan food and hot pot. You can probably find a decent version of just about every major cuisine here.
But of course, the first thing to eat is crispy duck rice. In Ubud, the full experience is really “rice-field crispy duck rice,” because any sensible crispy duck restaurant chooses to open beside a beautiful rice field.
It’s a little like Cantonese-style roast squab, but not in the “crispy outside, juicy inside” kind of way. This is crispy outside and crispy inside—fragrant, crackly, and deeply satisfying. After just a few bites, it feels as if the scent of Ubud’s rice fields has melted into your stomach.
Ubud also has quite a few Michelin-level chef-driven restaurants, and they’re not cheap. But my favorite was a family-run place tucked into a small lane called In Da Compound. It practically became my canteen.
The food is very traditional Indonesian fare—and not just good, but seriously good. You walk through a narrow courtyard to get there, and it feels both like visiting someone’s home and like the kind of thing a fine-dining restaurant would stage as a concept.
If you want to sample Indonesia in one meal, order the Nasi Campur. It’s a bit like a mixed platter.
I’m pretty sure it’ll become your go-to spot too.
HOTEL
The first episode of Netflix’s travel series World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, two years ago, featured an Eco House in Ubud—a bamboo bird’s-nest house.
In Ubud, you can find places to stay ranging from 10 bucks to 10,000. Not only have big hotel brands like Ritz-Carlton, Capella, and Alila set up camp here, but many boutique stays hidden in the valleys on Airbnb are even better than the major luxury brands.
You can do what Luiz and Megan did on the show and switch between budget and luxury for different stays.
I chose to stay at Alila because of its reputation as the original home of the iconic infinity pool. As a hotel alone, Alila Ubud deserves a separate article of its own.
The morning mist over the valley, the yoga class by the infinity pool, and even the uninvited monkeys—those alone make it worth the price.
And as for the hostel, I only need to say one thing and you’ll get it. In all my years of teaching myself Spanish, I’ve never before had such a concentrated group of native speakers around to practice with.
After a few days in Ubud, I understood why it stands out so distinctly among Southeast Asia’s many destinations—because I didn’t want to leave either.