Ubud Guide: Rice Fields, the Palace and the Monkey Forest

Ubud's centre is not the calm artists' village of the old guidebooks. Jalan Monkey Forest is lined with smoothie bowls and yoga studios, and on weekend afternoons the traffic barely moves. Walk ten minutes out, though, and you're on a narrow path between rice fields, with ducks in the paddies and the sound of a gamelan rehearsal drifting from a banjar, the village hall. Ubud is both at once. Stay at least two nights so you see the early mornings and the evenings, which are its best hours.

A walking route

Start before 8am at the bottom of the Campuhan Ridge Walk, next to the Pura Gunung Lebah temple where two rivers meet. A paved path climbs gently along a grassy ridge with jungle ravines on each side. After about half an hour it reaches the village of Bangkiang Sidem, where the path carries on between rice fields, small shrines and one or two cafés. By 10am there's little shade left, so turn back.

Walk down Jalan Raya Ubud to the palace, Puri Saren Agung, at the main junction. The front courtyard, with its carved and gilded gates, is free to walk into and becomes the stage for dance performances at night. Opposite, the Ubud market is mostly souvenirs by day, but in the very early morning it's full of locals buying flowers and fruit for offerings.

Finish at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary at the southern end of Jalan Monkey Forest: giant banyan trees, moss-covered temple gates, a ravine with a stone bridge, and several hundred long-tailed macaques. They know bags hold food. Carry nothing loose, don't feed them, and avoid staring at the big males.

Evenings

Every night there's a performance somewhere in town: Legong, Barong, or Kecak by firelight. Tickets are sold at the door and by sellers on the street during the day. Afterwards, eat off the main road. Look for a warung serving babi guling at lunch (it's gone by mid-afternoon) or bebek betutu, spiced duck in banana leaf, at dinner.

Day trips from Ubud

Ubud is the natural base for the centre of the island. Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi, a row of 11th-century shrines carved into a river cliff, are each around 30 to 40 minutes north. Tegallalang's terraces are closer but crowded after early morning, and we'd rather walk the fields around Ubud itself. Mount Batur sunrise hikes usually collect you from your hotel in the middle of the night. What to expect at the water temples is in our temples guide, and the choice between central Ubud and the villages around it is covered in our where to stay guide.