Going to Bali for a long weekend. Never been before, anybody got good tips for restaurants and good things to do?

Um, where are you staying?

Ok I've stayed in Tangung Benoa and Seminyak so could dredge my memory but here's a general recommendation from my Indonesian friend who spends half her life in Bali.

Places to visit:

Uluwatu Temple (about 1 hour by car), the hotel should have some information. The best time to go is around 3pm, so you can catch the sunset and kecak dance. http://wikitravel.org/en/Uluwatu
Dreamland for the surfing babes and beautiful beach. This is not far from Uluwatu so both can be done in a day.
GWK park http://www.baliblog.com/guide/002946.shtml or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda_Wisnu_Kencana (this is also near Uluwatu)
Tanah Lot Temple (about 1.5 hours by car) http://wikitravel.org/en/Tanah_Lot
Kintamani (Lake Batur), about 1.5 hours by car. http://wikitravel.org/en/Kintamani
Ubud (1 hour by car) http://wikitravel.org/en/Ubud. Make time to visit the Antonio Blanco museum http://www.blancobali.com if you go to Ubud, it's an absolute must-do!!

For food:


Sanur area:

D'Corner, the diver's hangout - Jalan Danau Poso
Kafe Batujimbar - Jalan Danau Tamblingan 75A, Sanur, Phone +62-361 287374
Ming's Le Resto - Jalan Danau Tamblingan http://www.restoming-bali.com/EN/welcome.php

Kuta/Seminyak area:

Loloan http://www.bhimaswarung.com/loloan.htm
KuDeTa, beachfront bar/cafe/restaurant (very expensive) http://www.kudeta.net/
Warung Made (there are two, ask around, everyone knows this place) http://www.madeswarung.com/
Kafe Warisan http://www.kafewarisan.com/

Ubud:

"Naughty Nuri's" - Jalan Raya Sanggingan, Ubud (opposite Museum Neka, the museum is worth visiting) +62-361 977547 (best BBQ in town) http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides ... etail.html
Bebek Bengil - Padang Tegal, Ubud +62-361 975489 http://www.agungraka.com/bebekbengil/
Kafe Wayan, Monkey Forest Road http://www.alamindahbali.com/cafe_wayan.htm
Babi Guling- BU OKA. Diagonally opposite Ubud market. Opens at 11am. http://www.travel-betty.com/was-ibu-oka ... t-to-bali/
Murni's Warung http://www.murnis.com/warung/warung.htm


I would second Uluwatu - if you can go there mid-afternoon and then head to Jimbaran for seafood on the beach at sunset, that's fab. Touristy, but fab.

From another friend:

Dive sites:
Tulamben: USS Liberty wreck, coral garden and drop off all off the beach, and a couple of dive sites around the headland by boat.
Menjangan: Lots of little stuff, pigmy sea horses, beautiful white sand beaches in one of Bali's nature reserves.
Candi Dasa: few dive sites in and around the bay, then also out into the strait where there's a bit more of swell and current
Nusa Penida: some strong currents, some large walls, and if you're lucky, the Mola Mola!


And I've found more from the first one:

Driver + car:
Made Wira Mobile +62-8123967403 - He speaks some English
Komang Ariana Mobile +6285935191404 - He speaks English

Car + driver should be about USD60-80 for 8 hours not including petrol/tips.

Local tour guide:
I Gusti Ketut Artha (Ketut) Mobile +628123957976 [email protected]

Car rental (will deliver to airport at a small fee):

Ketut Kusdiantara Mobile +62 8123 98 5056 P : +62 361 288 803 F : +62 361 285 067 www.sindhumertha.com [email protected] (He can also provide a driver, just ask him. I would also highly recommend their inexpensive hotel in Sanur.)
Ketut Kartala Mobile +628174704016
Ketut Suartana Mobile +628123810968 or P: +623617878825

Dive centers (they all provide pick up from your hotel):

Bali Scuba (Sanur) http://www.baliscuba.com/
Waterworx (Padangbai) http://www.waterworxbali.com/

Learn to surf:
Odyssey Kuta - Michael Mobile +628123851028

(I'm nicking all this from another forum, could you tell? )

Thanks, these are great!

Geordie@oz has just got back, send him a PM. He has done a youtube vid review.

Seminyak

Lovely - it's the place to be these days!

I've just found this in my folders - I must have put it together for somebody a few years back. Have hacked it about a bit so hope it makes at least a little sense.


Definitely pick up the Luxe Guide...at the opposite end of the scale, South East Asia on a Shoestring will have useful information.

As per the Luxe guide, only venture to Kuta if you are an Australian surf dude/lager lout. It's a real hole and makes Tenerife look classy.

Nusa Dua is the upmarket "hotel belt", no soul but I guess good for families and people who don't want to have to think about a thing.

Tanjung Benoa is on the edge of Nusa Dua - we stayed there when we went from the UK in 2001 and it was fine for what we wanted at the time (last minute, no brainer, hotel) but these days I'd chose my accommodation very carefully. The Conrad is an option and one we were recommended, although we do prefer tiny, no-chain places. We went to the spa and lunched there the other week and it is very nice but it could be any number of hotels in Asia.

The in-places these days are Seminyak and Ubud. Get there before we spoil them...oh, that's how they're getting spoiled...

Ubud is the arty place - we visited it in 2001 but I don't know much about it. Seems to be a lot of small but upmarket get-away-from-it-all hotels and villas.

Most of my friends have been to Seminyak lately, and that's where we stayed although we were maybe 20 minutes walk from the beach. To be honest, most Bali beaches are not very nice unless you want to surf.

Seminyak is only 15 minutes from the airport and has a lot of villa accommodation. We did have dinner at a couple of hotels on the coast - The Legian has a great fine-dining restaurant named, strangely, The Restaurant; the Sofitel has a surprisingly good Thai/Asian fusion restaurant called Husk. Don't know about the hotels as accommodation choices.

We stayed at Villa Kubu, www.villakubu.com which is a lovely litte development seemingly in the middle of nowhere, up a dirt track. However when you explore you realise you can be in civilisation within ten minutes' walk - shops, supermarket, cafes, etc. Within ten minutes' taxi ride you can be on any of Seminyak's bar/restaurant strips, of which there are several. Villa Kubu - specifically the one-bedroomed one we stayed in, number 10 - gets a mention in the Luxe Guide (we didn't know that when we booked!). I think it's spoiled me as I will now forevermore demand a private pool and secluded garden where I can skinnydip at will! I won't tell you more unless you take a look at the website and fancy it - but bear in mind you can get a better price by calling them. (Western owned and service is impeccable.)

3 friends have recently stayed (separately) at Uma Sapna villa, ww.coconuthomes.com Looks good but we couldn't get in when we tried.

Others recommended on the Forum:

http://www.villa-kresna.com/hotel/su...lla_batur.html

http://www.balispirit.com/resorts/ba...ue_hotels.html

For a different kind of holiday, I fancied this - www.ubudsari.com

There is accommodation out of these main areas but they can take some getting to. We discounted them because of our flight times, as much as anything.

If you want to sight-see, employ a driver and guide. Of course, despite your requests to the contrary, they will take you to at least one factory/shop so they can make some commission from you. It's all part of the game.

Temples - very tourist but I guess it has to be done! Try to get to Uluwatu just before sunset - despite the crowds (and thieving monkeys) I found it quite magical. If you do this, you can then speed down to Jimbaran to eat seafood on the beach as the sun goes down.


Some useful sites:

www.zuji.com.sg

www.balismile.com

www.asiarooms.com

www.balitravelforum.com

www.balivillas.com


(I'll leave this next bit in in case it's useful to anybody)

www.fridae.com/cityguides/bali/ba-intro.php

www.utopia-asia.com/indobali.htm

www.bali-rainbows.com

www.balifriendlyhotels.com

I've just read that Seminyak is the most gay resort. Bali's always seemed very gay to me anyway - such beautiful boys, and the ones waiting on tables with flowers behind their ears even more so!


I have stuff on Lombok too.

Thanks Seasider. Off in the morning, I will report back