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Im currently putting together a trip for a couple of weeks in Asia in Nov, is Bali worth visiting for a few days and which part of the island is best? Is the Conrad a decent option or better in the North of the island?
Traffic is pretty terrible on Bali (as with most of Indonesia), so you don’t want to be moving around too much. Getting all the way round to the north of the island will be slow, so I’d say only go if you have a reason to be up that end (eg some of the diving sites)
In terms of what part of the island is best, it’ll depend what you want to do. Party? Scuba dive? Chill? Eat fancy food? Drink hipster coffee? Sit on a fancy beach? Sit on a quiet beach?
Not sure, main reason I thought of it was as Ive not been there before, main things would be a nice hotel near a beach but also preferably near some stuff to go see, but not scuba or coffee 🙂 Would south bali generally be considered the ‘main’ part for visitors?
Rhys recently reviewed a hotel in the south-east of the Island, which looked very nice if that’s in your budget
The main party area is in the south west, just north of the airport. If you like getting drunk with 20-something aussies, go there. If not, go 1-2km further away for a quieter time!
We went last month. Had a few days near Canggu for the beach bit, lots of shops / restaurants / cafes, quite nice and not too much drunkenness. Day trip over to Padangbai for some diving, not sure I’d want to stay in the town but some lovely spots nearby. Then up to Ubud for a bit, which seemed to have more of a hippie vibe, but also some excellent food and coffee. Short taxi ride from Ubud to the rice terraces.
On a longer trip you might want to escape the south of the island, but for only a few days you probably don’t want to go much further than Ubud / Padangbai / a bit beyond Canggu
but also preferably near some stuff to go see,
Ubud is the cultural center. Up the hills in the centre of the island.
There are a few temples in the south as well.About 8 years ago, we hired a driver for a few days – it cost pennies – and said take us to the temples etc other people don’t get taken to.
We stayed a night here: http://tirtaganggavillas.com/
Simply fantastic, walking around the water temple at sunset and in the early morning. And watching the staff at the various shrines going about their daily rituals while we had breakfast.
Our guide also took us a Japanese patrol boat wreck about 20m off the shore, great snorkle.
I stayed 2 months ago.
The Hilton was much better than the Conrad. Better grounds and facilities, nicer rooms, better views, better exec lounge, better food, and much better service.
Likewise the Intercontinental Bali is much better than the Intercontinental Sanur. Far nicer grounds, facilities, service, food, rooms. Different leagues.
However, if you’re only there for a few days, I would find an independent boutique hotel in Ubud, somewhere near Monkey Forest or Ubud Palace. Great location as a base for sightseeing.
Taxi to get there from the airport will take a couple of hours but once there you’ll be able to walk and take guided tours.
Use the MyBluebird app to book taxis. Very easy, cheap fares, Bluebird taxis are reliable and won’t rip you off. Other services like Grab are prohibited from some areas so use MyBluebird.
And if you have enough time for it, the hike up Mount Batur to see the sunrise was utterly brilliant. You’d have to stay somewhere close, such as the Caldera hotel.
Hi everyone,
Looking to go to Bali in summer ’25.
What’s the best way to get there by using Avios? HKG or SIN?
I can see reward availability to DPS from both SIN and HKG on SQ and CX on similar dates for this year.
Would it be best to sign up to their FF program and transfer HSBC points instead of trying to book CX with Avios?
Thanks.
Hi everyone,
Looking to go to Bali in summer ’25.
What’s the best way to get there by using Avios? HKG or SIN?
I can see reward availability to DPS from both SIN and HKG on SQ and CX on similar dates for this year.
Would it be best to sign up to their FF program and transfer HSBC points instead of trying to book CX with Avios?
Thanks.
From SIN, its 2.5 hours and from HKG, its 5 hours. Pretty clear which one i’d prefer. You also have more choice from SIN. Cash prices must be competitive, but if you’d prefer to use points, Krisflyer is the best choice and has the most availability. Scoot premium economy is pretty good too.
From UK, I’d again prefer SIN, but it’ll come down to availability as SIN seats get snapped up within seconds.Hi everyone,
Looking to go to Bali in summer ’25.
What’s the best way to get there by using Avios? HKG or SIN?
I can see reward availability to DPS from both SIN and HKG on SQ and CX on similar dates for this year.
Would it be best to sign up to their FF program and transfer HSBC points instead of trying to book CX with Avios?
Thanks.
From SIN, its 2.5 hours and from HKG, its 5 hours. Pretty clear which one i’d prefer. You also have more choice from SIN. Cash prices must be competitive, but if you’d prefer to use points, Krisflyer is the best choice and has the most availability. Scoot premium economy is pretty good too.
From UK, I’d again prefer SIN, but it’ll come down to availability as SIN seats get snapped up within seconds.Thanks, in that case I’ll try to use an Amex 2-4-1 for SIN.
Hi everyone,
Looking to go to Bali in summer ’25.
What’s the best way to get there by using Avios? HKG or SIN?
I can see reward availability to DPS from both SIN and HKG on SQ and CX on similar dates for this year.
Would it be best to sign up to their FF program and transfer HSBC points instead of trying to book CX with Avios?
Thanks.
From SIN, its 2.5 hours and from HKG, its 5 hours. Pretty clear which one i’d prefer. You also have more choice from SIN. Cash prices must be competitive, but if you’d prefer to use points, Krisflyer is the best choice and has the most availability. Scoot premium economy is pretty good too.
From UK, I’d again prefer SIN, but it’ll come down to availability as SIN seats get snapped up within seconds.Thanks, in that case I’ll try to use an Amex 2-4-1 for SIN.
That is what we have done for this summer, and I have booked Scoot from SIN to Bali. Scoot has 3 flights a day on that route, with premium economy available on two of those flights but unfortunately not on the flight that we want as it is a smaller plane but a more convenient time of day!
Hi everyone,
Looking to go to Bali in summer ’25.
What’s the best way to get there by using Avios? HKG or SIN?
I can see reward availability to DPS from both SIN and HKG on SQ and CX on similar dates for this year.
Would it be best to sign up to their FF program and transfer HSBC points instead of trying to book CX with Avios?
Thanks.
From SIN, its 2.5 hours and from HKG, its 5 hours. Pretty clear which one i’d prefer. You also have more choice from SIN. Cash prices must be competitive, but if you’d prefer to use points, Krisflyer is the best choice and has the most availability. Scoot premium economy is pretty good too.
From UK, I’d again prefer SIN, but it’ll come down to availability as SIN seats get snapped up within seconds.Thanks, in that case I’ll try to use an Amex 2-4-1 for SIN.
That is what we have done for this summer, and I have booked Scoot from SIN to Bali. Scoot has 3 flights a day on that route, with premium economy available on two of those flights but unfortunately not on the flight that we want as it is a smaller plane but a more convenient time of day!
Thanks for the tip. I don’t know what to do with my HSBC points since we have enough Avios already, so I may use them to book SQ business. I know it’s just 2.5 hours but I don’t think we’ll ever have a chance to try SQ business class anyway…
I don’t know what to do with my HSBC points since we have enough Avios already, so I may use them to book SQ business. I know it’s just 2.5 hours but I don’t think we’ll ever have a chance to try SQ business class anyway…
Are they expiring? Even if you transfer to SQ now, you have 3 years to use them, plus one year as tickets can be booked a year in advance. You can use them for your next trip to SE Asia, or one of SQ’s fifth freedom flights.
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