Have you been to Ubud Bali? A small town located in the heart of Bali in the district of Gianyar. A town was once a very important place for medicinal herbs and plants in Bali. A town that got it named from Balinese word ‘Ubad’ which mean medicine.
If you haven’t been there, well, this town is recommended for you to visit.
Surrounded by rice paddies, small farms and agro-forestry plantations make Ubud looks green and beautiful.
Ubud is also well-known as the center of art and culture in Bali. So, if you want to know what Bali is, you can find it here.
There are many things to see in Ubud. Starting from woodcraft, paintings, traditional dances, photographic view of rice terraces, royal palace, ancient temples, green hillsides, mountains and also waterfalls.
I found 18 interesting things to see in Ubud and I share them all with you below.
1. Waterfalls
There are many waterfalls which are located secretly in Ubud Bali, but some of the waterfalls are not clean and murky to swim in.
However, I will recommend 3 waterfalls for you, due to its accessibility and the beauty of it. And they are Tegenungan Waterfall, Kanto Lampo Waterfall and Rang-reng Cave Waterfall.
Tegenungan Waterfall
This is the highest waterfall in the district of Gianyar, and located at Tegenungan Kemenuh Village about 20 minutes driving from Ubud center.
This waterfall is getting more popular in Ubud.
To get to the waterfall, from the entrance, you need to walk about 15 minutes down through winding stairs.
Along the stairs you will find souvenir shops and small restaurants with a rice paddies view.
Kanto Lampo Waterfall
Kanto Lampo is unique. It has a stunning view of water cascading down at steps of rock formation and surrounded by green trees.
The location of Kanto Lampo is hidden deep at Beng Village’s Jungle in Gianyar, but it is easy to find, there are many signs that direct you to it.
Do not miss this waterfall if you are around Ubud.
Rang-reng Cave Waterfall
This waterfall is located only 15 minutes away from Kanto Lampo. So, do not miss this waterfall as well.
2. Mount Batur
Mount Batur is an active volcano located 1720 meters high above the sea level at Kintamani Village.
Beside its stunning sunrise, from top of the mountain you will also see the landscape of Lake Batur with its crystal clear water.
And at the back of the lake you will see the view of Mount Abang with its distant view of Mount Agung as the background.
This panoramic view is something that you won’t miss while you are in Bali.
Do not miss hiking this mountain too. It takes only one hour and half to reach the top but it’s so worth it.
3. Kintamani View Point
If you aren’t up to hiking Mount Batur, you still can enjoy the view of Mount Batur and Lake Batur by visiting Kintamani Village.
You can relax by having lunch at one of the buffet restaurants around the Kintamani, and enjoy the view of Mount Batur and Lake Batur from far.
4. Petulu White Herons
About 3 Km from the center of Ubud Bali, there is a village called Petulu where you can see every afternoon thousands of herons arriving, circling over the village before settling into one of fig trees where they spend the night.
5. Subak Sok Wayan
It is a narrow pathway from Ubud town center out to the unspoiled rice terrace fields.
The pathway is less touristy compared to the town center and you can loop around the pathway too. You can enter and out from the opposite side.
Take a walk or rent a bike to travel the pathway, which cuts between the vibrant, green terraced rice fields.
6. Tegallalang Rice Terrace
Tegallang is famous for its scenic irrigation landscape.
The irrigation system known as Subak has created the most beautiful terraced landscape around Bali and this valley is a great example of it.
The area is cool and breezy, and you can walk down and walk up along the rice terrace.
7. Cempuhan Ridge-walk
This is another ridge walk that you can find beside the Subak Cok Wayan in Ubud Bali.
The view is different compared to Subak Cok Wayan, where you can enjoy the view of greenery and hills along the pavement.
If you are looking for a place to see the sunset in Ubud, you can come to this place, and the track is also good for jogging.
8. Museum
For those who are keen to embrace the artistic side of Ubud Bali, you should see some museums that are located around Ubud.
If you want to see paintings from the most influential painter from 1930 in Ubud, you can visit Agung Rai Museum of Art.
If you want to see some erotica, scenes from traditional Balinese life, and illustrated poetry, you can come to Blanco Renaissance Museum.
And if you want to see paintings and sculptures from different eras, styles, and schools in Bali you can come to Puri Lukisan Museum.
9. Traditional Trunyan Village
Trunyan Village is a mystical village, one of Bali Aga’s villages located on shore of Lake Batur.
The mystical side of this place is its peculiar treatment of dead bodies, in which they are placed openly on the ground under a tree, simply covered with cloth and bamboo canopies, and left to decompose. And the tree is said to remove the putrid smell of the corpses.
10. Traditional Art Market
There are two traditional art markets in Ubud Bali.
The one that is located opposite of Puri Saren Royal Ubud and the other one is in Sukawati village.
11. Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuaries
There are two Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuaries in Ubud Bali.
The one that is located on Monkey Forest Street and the other one is located about 30 minutes drive outside the town at Sangeh Village.
Both places are natural habitats of long-tailed Macaca Fascicularis monkeys.
12. King Palaces
There are two royal palaces in Ubud. The one that is located opposite of the Traditional Art Market in the center of Ubud which is called Puri Saren Royal Palace, and the other one is in Peliatan Village near Sukawati which is called Peliatan Royal Palace. Both are official residences of the royal family.
13. Traditional Dances
Balinese dance is a beautiful and ancient art form highly regarded by the Balinese, and so emblematic of Bali.
As the center of art and culture, communities in Bali create and hold traditional dances and perform in temples, banjars, museums, and the palace.
You can find many dance performances nearly every night around Ubud.
Traditional Fire War Dance in Ubud
14. Tampak Siring or Tirta Empul
It is an important temple and a holy mountain spring in Bali.
It has been visited by Balinese to purify their soul, and also been visited by people from all over the world to enjoy the majesty of this place.
There are purification baths, pools and fish ponds around the area. And at the central courtyard houses a purification bath lined with 13 sculpted spouts.
15. Gunung Kawi
Gunung Kawi is a complex of an 11th-century Hindu temple and located in a valley only 15 minutes away from Tampak Siring.
From the entrance you need to walk through a 300-step stone stairway leading to the location where you will find 10 memorials carved of the king’s concubines and his family into the rock face.
The memorial tower is 7 meters high. And you will find 4 of the memorials on the west side and another 5 on the east side of the river, while to the south across the valley lies the 10th memorial.
16. Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave
Goa Gajah is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Bali. Located in Bedulu village 5 km on the southeast of central Ubud.
The entrance to the cave features a carving of a wide-eyed figure, while inside are rock-wall carvings and a meditation site, and also an impressive communal pool with stone sculptures and fountains.
17. The Moon of Pejeng
Pejeng Moon is the largest single-cast bronze kettle drum in the world, a sacred relic of early rice cultivation rituals in Bali and made by Dong Son people around 300 BC.
Pejeng Moon is kept at Pura Penataran Sasih Temple in Pejeng, about 15 minutes drive from the center of Ubud.
18. Yeh Pulu
Located in the central highland village of Bedulu, Yeh Pulu is an archaeological site in Bali. It is an impressive 25 meters-long array of carvings etched into a rock face.
The carving is about the depiction mythological of Wayang or Shadow Puppet characters, Hindu Gods, and people in their normal village life.