Welcome to Ubud, Bali's Cultural Center

What is Ubud ?

Ubud is located 35 km northeast of Bali's International Airport. It is attractive to tourists for a variety of reasons. On a relatively small island with a horde of attractions, Ubud is centrally located, and even the closest beach is only 15 minutes away.

The Ubud area is around two- to three hundred meters above sea level and surrounded by rice fields, which makes it noticeably cooler than then other tourist destinations in Bali. Neighbouring villages are well known for unique bamboo crafts and furniture, wood- and stone carving and many other crafts.

Ubud is famous for it's regularly nightly traditional dance performances, which are part of the traditional culture and are arranged for tourists on a regular schedule. Hindu-Balinese ceremonies take place on a nearly daily basis, especially in the European summer, which is the driest and coolest season here.

Ubud is popular in part today because it is the best place in Bali to break out of the tourist mode and get off the beaten path, although far from undiscovered. Hotels are plentiful; bungalows, home stays and Indonesian guesthouses (losmen) are easily available to the foreign tourist. Many tourists simply base their entire stay in the city and travel to other destinations from Ubud.

Accommodations in Ubud are also somewhat more reasonably priced than in the beach towns of Bali. But atmosphere is perhaps the major attractions. One visitor summed it up this way: Kuta is madness, Sanur is sterile, and Nusa Dua is culturally isolated; Ubud is the place to go.

Far removed from the drunken bikini scene in Kuta, Ubud can be described as a magical, wonderful, cultural centre -- if you're generous about coping with the burgeoning chaos in the centre, and the spread of workshops along the main roads in and out of town. Above all famous as a center of arts and crafts (half (if not more) of the town and nearby villages seem to consist of artists' workshops and galleries, mostly retailing cheap reproductions for tourists) there are some remarkable architectural sights, artistic gems to be found, and a general feeling of wellbeing to be enjoyed thanks to the spirit, surroundings and climate.

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