Is Bali overhyped? Or is it everything people say it is and more???? The truth may be somewhere in the middle. I know you’ve probably seen hundreds of Instagram posts with people in flower baths, spas, and of course you can’t forget the Bali swing! For this post, I wanted to provide my perspective of Bali, the good and the bad. When I traveled to Bali, I visited Ubud and Seminyak so those are the only places I’ll discuss in this post. My personal experience was great and I called it paradise in my other post about my entire trip (here) but Instagram and social media don’t show you everything so I wanted to point out both.

Airfare

Let’s first talk about getting there. I need everyone to know what they’re signing up for. Depending on where you’re coming from it can be a daunting flight. It took me 27+ hours to get there (with quick connections). So unless you’re in first class fully spread out, be prepared. The upside to this is that if you’re patient and don’t have a set time you need to go, you can find cheap flights to Bali. I found flights for myself and a few of my friends between $600-$800. With the right planning you can definitely save on the flights! There is a common misconception from Americans that because its such a long trip that it has to be expensive. This is not true! What you don’t want to do is take this long trip and only stay for a few days. You need to plan your vacation days because I wouldn’t recommend staying any less than a week. I went over the Thanksgiving holiday so that I could maximize my time without using as many vacation days. I keep stressing this but you have to be strategic!

Lodging

When it comes to lodging in Bali, it’s what you want it to be. If you’re the luxury type of vacationer you can find plenty of great resorts. Of course you’ll be spending a bit more money for luxury accommodations. Me personally, I like staying in the town as opposed to with the other tourists and I’m typically a budget traveler myself so I prefer staying in Airbnb’s. My Airbnb in Ubud was called Lebah Villa and splitting it between 4 other ladies for 3 nights, my total was a whomping $132 ($33/night). It had a great pool overlooking some green lush forest, the hosts were very nice and communicated quite often to make sure we were alright. They even provided some history! I would highly recommend it. Bali is literally in the jungle so you may see a bug or two during your stay. I think I saw some ants on the wall one night and our host immediately came and sprayed and I didn’t see anything else for the entire time. It was definitely not a thing, at least for my trip.

In Seminayk, the beach town of Bali, we decided to stay in one of their resorts, Mutiara Bali Boutique Resort & Villas. Like I mentioned above we payed a bit more for the resort, the total being closer to $230 ($77/person for 3 nights). But it was also very nice. We had separate villas with an adjoining pool and common area where the staff brought us snacks everyday. Because we were in the resort, we didn’t feel the need to search for other places to get our spa treatments. We just walked over to the spa at the resort. I still say that spa was the best spa experience I have ever had (and the cheapest!).

What to Do

There are some things that you must do while in Bali. I’ll list them here but if you want to read more about them, please look at the more detailed post. As always, I love to explore and you should too. These are some things I did but there is so much more to do and see!

• The Rice Terraces – people insist that you go to Tegallalang Rice Terrace but there are plenty to choose from that give you the same views and understanding of Balinese culture. Now if you’re doing it for the gram you may want to go to Tegallalang as that’s the one most tourists go to and I believe that one allows you to rent dresses to take pictures on the Bali swing. Oh that’s cute, you thought people were wearing those long, flowy dresses out there to the muddy rice terraces. Nope.
• Temples – There are a lot of Hindu temples all over Bali to choose from. My group went to Goa Gojah also know as the Elephant Cave. I’ll let you know now, before you get to the entrances there will be people trying to sell you sarongs (you have to wear these to enter the temple). Unless you want one to keep, don’t buy it. They provide you with sarongs when you enter as a part of the entrance fee. Also, when you get inside there will be a lot of people asking you if want a guide. It honestly got pretty annoying. They are asking you not just because they want to be helpful. There is an additional fee for you getting a guide. In USD, it was about $10 extra. I ended up paying it because to me, just looking at something isn’t enough. I like to understand the backstory. But just thought that I would warn you.
• Cooking Class – One of my favorite parts of the trip, we booked a cooking class through Airbnb experiences ($25/person). We got to go to the market to pick up food for the class and we actually did it in someone’s home or what they call a compound. Before the class, our instructor told us about her family living in the compound and their story. I learned so much about the culture and got to cook and eat very good food. I would highly recommend.
• Coffee Tastings – Coffee is big in Bali as this is one of their many exports. We had some delicious sweet coffee and some very strong bitter coffee (not my forte) but it was nice learning about the poop coffee! I don’t want to spoil what it is but give it a try!
• Mount Batur – The sunrise hike was everything! I also found this one through Airbnb experiences ($39/person). Yes you have to wake up at like 3 am. Yes you’re hiking in the dark. But the view at sunrise was worth it. Just so you’re aware, this isn’t a stroll in the park. At one point, when it got steep near the top I was crawling up on all fours. Be prepared. My friends hated me after that one!
• Spa – Must do! You get so much for little money! I paid $60 and got a facial, foot bath, ear wax and head massage, full body 90 min Swedish massage, and bath/shower. Yes you heard that right! And it was the best massage I’ve ever received in my life!
• Beach Clubs – In Seminyak, which is the beach town, there are a lot of beach clubs. Potato Head Beach Club is a popular one we visited. Good drinks and food! Just stay away from Seminyak beach that it’s on. The water was horrible looking and the beach was filled with trash. I know there are beautiful beaches all over Bali but this was not one of them!

Getting Around

Everyone talks about getting a driver while you’re in Bali. I agree if you’re moving between cities/towns it’s handy having one. If you’re staying in a particular city, I didn’t find it necessary. When I went to Bali I arranged for a driver for all 6/7 days I was there. It was great for the drive from the airport to Ubud and for the drive from Ubud to Seminyak but if I’m being real, it was a bit of a headache in between. What the driver was requesting from me was an itinerary for everyday I was there so he could be waiting for us in the morning and at every stop. Now y’all know I am not a locked itinerary type of traveler. I like to keep an open schedule and have freedom so this was stressing me out. He didn’t live in the cities we were in and was driving a long way to get there so I was also feeling bad that he would just be waiting all day. I eventually told him his services weren’t needed and sent him on his way until we needed to go to the next city. There were so many taxis where we were. It was pretty easy to just flag them down when we needed them. Also saw a lot of tourists on motorbikes. If you’re comfortable you can rent a motorbike for about $5/day. So my advice is dependent on what type of traveler you are. If you are a itinerary type of traveler and have everything planned out to the T, hire a driver for your entire stay. If you are more of an explorer and keep an open schedule, I would only secure the driver for when you are going longer distances. If you want more information, check out my full day to day post on Bali!

Let me know how your trip was in the comments! Anything that you feel people don’t talk about enough when mentioning Bali?? Let us know!

Connect with us @WorldCitizensTravel !!