Young dancers learn their craft daily at Ubud's Royal Palace

Ubud is a leisurely city of beautiful architecture, wonderful restaurants, terrific museums, and magnificent evening dance and culture shows. The city and her people have served as twin muses for several generations of painters, Balinese and expat alike. Walking around the city provides WoWasis visitors a seemingly endless series of interesting moments, and the outlying rice fields, walkable from the city itself, provide another memorable experience. In sum, Ubud is a city that tempts the visitor to stay more days than one had originally intended. It also is centrally located on the island, and serves as an easy return point for day excursions to outlying temples, museums, and nature vistas. 

WoWasis Ubud Top 6 

1) Ubud Palace & Pura Saren Agung. This palace in central Ubud is still inhabited by the resident royal family, and serves as a cultural center as well. On any given day, you’re liable to see groups of young dancers and musicians performing, while Ubud’s citizens sit by reading newspapers and generally enjoying life. Slightly to the north is Pura Saren Agung, the prívate temple for the royal family, with its ornate gate and lovely grounds. 

2) Ubud Water Palace (Pura Taman Saraswati). The water temple has beautiful gardens with loads of blooming lotuses, and is a lovely place to spend your day, 

3) Ubud’s museums are not to be missed. In addition to the ARMA, Meka, Puri Lakasan, and Blanco Renaissance museums in town, there are several others that are easily reached on day visits from Ubud.  

4) Evening dance and music programs. There is always something going on in Ubud, from gamelan music, to dance, to puppet shows. These are not to be missed.  

5) Temples in the Ubud vicinity. Bali is such a small island that many extraordinary temples are near to Ubud via day visits. Car and driver are easily arranged from your hotel. 

6) Restaurants in Ubud are the best in Bali, and many of them offer French as well as local cuisine. Not to be missed is the legendary Naughty Nuri’s, across the street from the Neka Art Museum.