Ubud

Ubud is the cultural capital of Bali, set 500 metres above sea level in the green hills of the central island, 25 km north of Denpasar. This small town of 30,000 holds the most iconic Balinese landscapes in a tight radius: the rice terraces of Tegalalang carved over centuries into the volcanic slopes, the Sangeh Monkey Forest, the water temples of Tirta Empul and Goa Gajah, and an artistic intensity that you feel from your first wander down Jalan Hanoman — galleries of traditional Balinese painting, woodcarving workshops, batik weavers and gamelan ensembles rehearsing in the village banjars after dark.

Ubud is also the global epicentre of Balinese yoga and wellness. The wake of the book and film 'Eat, Pray, Love' turned the town into a magnet for retreat seekers, and dozens of studios, ashrams and spas now line the main streets. The reputation sometimes attracts a slightly performative wellness crowd — but step away from central Ubud into the nearby villages of Penestanan, Peliatan or Nyuh Kuning and the town's authentic core is right there, unchanged: morning offerings on every doorstep, gamelan music drifting through the rice fields, and warungs where three generations of the same family still cook the bebek betutu that has been on the menu since the 1970s. Two or three slow mornings in Ubud — temple, market, then a long lunch — and the town reveals what makes it the spiritual heart of Bali.