Wellness and Villas: Bali with as Little Scheduled as You Want

Tour itinerary · By Frank Adam Burns · Updated 5 September 2026

Bali is the wellness island of Asia, and this route is the trip built around it: five nights in the Ubud hills at a retreat or a private-pool villa with a cook, with yoga, the ridge walk, the springs, a healer and a spa afternoon each day; then a cliff resort or a coast villa for the water, the surf if wanted, and the sunset. The days above are a shape; the itinerary is what you leave out.

Ubud has been a place people come to stop since the painters and the anthropologists arrived in the 1930s, and it has become the wellness capital of Asia by degrees: the yoga studios and the retreats, the spas under the trees, the healers, the raw-food cafes, the water temples where the Balinese have been purifying themselves for a thousand years. The coast has the other half — the water, the surf, the cliff spas, the sunset — and a trip that gives each its due is the one we build for people who arrive tired. It is deliberately underscheduled. A villa with a pool and a cook in the hills, or a retreat with a programme if a programme is wanted; the ridge, the springs, a cooking class and a healer as the things worth leaving the pool for; then the coast with the spa and the sea. Nothing before nine, one thing a day, and the driver on the days that need one. The things to do in Bali page has the island for the days you want more.

Why this route

Because Bali has been curing people of themselves for ninety years and has got good at it. The Ubud hills are cool, green and quiet, the yoga and the spas are the best in the region, the water temples offer a purification the Balinese have practised for a thousand years and will share with a visitor in a sarong, and a villa with a pool and a cook removes every decision from the day. The coast is the other medicine — the water, the surf, the cliff, the sunset — and three nights of it after the hills is the right dose. The route is underscheduled on purpose: it is the trip for people who arrive tired and leave with a resting heart rate the watch will notice, and it is the one we build for our guests who are on their third Bali trip and have finally worked out what the island is for.

At a glance

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive, up to Ubud

The direct flight lands in the afternoon; a private car with a name board and the hour north to the Ubud hills, to a villa with a pool and a cook or a retreat in the rice fields. A light dinner cooked in, an early night with the doors open to the paddies, and the sound of the village gamelan practising for a ceremony nobody told you about. Nothing is scheduled tomorrow before nine.

Day 2: Settling in

A yoga class at the retreat or at the Yoga Barn in the town at nine, a walk through the paddies behind the villa, a long lunch, and the first spa afternoon — a Balinese massage under the trees, the flower bath, the sound of the river. Dinner at the villa, cooked in by someone who shopped for it at seven, or at one of UbudDinner at the villa, cooked in, or at one of Ubud’s plant-based restaurants.rsquo;s plant-based restaurants. The point of the day is that it has no point, and the villa staff understand that better than most guests do on day two.

Day 3: The ridge and the water

The Campuhan Ridge walk at seven, two kilometres of grass spine between river valleys, coffee at the far end; then Tirta Empul’s holy springs, where a melukat purification under the spouts in a sarong is the Balinese version of what the retreat is for, done with the village rather than the tour group. The afternoon at the pool. A sound-healing or meditation session in the evening if the retreat runs one.

Day 4: Ubud, lightly

The rice terraces at Tegallalang at seven for the walk down to the river and the coffee on the way back; the Neka museum for the painting; a cooking class at a family compound for the spice pastes and the lawar, which is the day’s activity; and the afternoon free. A massage at six and dinner at nine.

Day 5: The loose day

Nothing. Or a second yoga class, or a Balinese healer (a balian) by introduction, or a water-blessing at a village temple, or the pool and a book. The day the week has been building toward, and the one that decides whether the party goes home rested or merely away.

Day 6: Down to the coast

A late morning — a last class, a last walk — and the driver to the coast by lunch: a cliff resort on the Bukit with a spa and the surf below, a Canggu villa with a pool for a yoga-and-surf party, or a Sanur beachfront hotel for calm water and a slower town. The afternoon in the water or the spa; the sunset from the cliff or the sand.

Day 7: The coast: the water

A surf lesson at Canggu or a morning at Bingin for those who want it; a swim; a beach club for the afternoon, or the resort’s own; a spa session; Uluwatu’s temple at sunset without the dance if the crowd is the wrong medicine. Dinner at Jimbaran on the sand or at the cliff restaurant with the surf below, whichever the day has earned.

Day 8: The coast: the loose day

The pool, a walk on the sand at seven before the heat, a class if the resort runs one, a long lunch, the water, the sunset. The last dinner.

Day 9: Depart

A late checkout, the last swim, and the private car to Denpasar for the evening flight, six hours home. Nine days, two bases, and a resting heart rate the watch will notice. The flight is six hours and lands before midnight; the transfer to Denpasar is timed for a last long lunch rather than an early check-out.

Variations and extensions

A week, Ubud only: seven nights in the hills at a retreat or a villa, no coast, for the party that wants one place and no packing. A fortnight: Ubud eight, the coast six, with the retreat’s full programme and a second coast base. The residential programme: Como Shambhala or Fivelements for the whole stay, with the doctors, the nutrition, the treatments and the schedule — the upper tier, and the version for a specific goal. Yoga and surf: a Canggu villa for the whole trip, morning surf and evening yoga, for the party that finds Ubud too quiet. The Sidemen valley: a villa or a small retreat in the terraces under Mount Agung instead of Ubud, for the party that finds Ubud too busy; the quietest wellness base on the island. Amed: a night or two on the black-sand east coast for the snorkelling, the freediving and the silence, before the Bukit. Nusa Lembongan: the small island by fast boat from Sanur, with a cliff villa, a reef and no traffic, as the coast base. With a friend’s wedding or a family trip: this route as one couple’s or one traveller’s week before the group arrives, joined to the family or Ubud and the coast shapes.

What a day looks like. Nothing before nine unless it is the ridge or a sunrise class chosen the night before. One thing in the morning — a class, a walk, the springs — and a long lunch. The afternoon is the pool, a treatment or a book, and the hour before dinner is the one when the light goes and the frogs start. Dinner is late and unhurried. The driver is on call and mostly not called. The loose days are the point and we resist filling them, because the party that books a wellness week and then asks for the volcano and the temples and the Penida boat has booked the wrong route, and we say so before the deposit.

Eating on this route

The villa cook is the meal plan in the hills: the market at seven, breakfast of fruit and eggs and Balinese coffee on the terrace, lunch and dinner Balinese or Western as asked, with the spice pastes made from scratch and the fish from the morning’s market. The retreats are plant-forward, mostly organic, some alcohol-free and all excellent; Fivelements and the Como estate serve some of the best vegetarian food in Asia. Ubud’s cafes and restaurants are the other half — the raw and plant-based places that made the town’s name, the warungs for nasi campur and gado-gado, the Indonesian fine-dining that has arrived, and a cooking class at a family compound on day four that begins at the market and ends with the lawar and the satay. The coast: the resort’s spa cuisine, Jimbaran’s fish on the sand, Canggu’s cafes, and the warung a street back where the food is honest. Balinese food is coconut, peanut, spice paste and sambal rather than chilli heat; vegetarians and vegans do better here than anywhere in South-East Asia; and the cook, the retreat and the restaurants we book all take dietary needs seriously. Alcohol: beer and wine from the villa or a reputable bar, never a cheap cocktail from a beach shack, for the reason in the practical notes.

What is included

• Return economy airfare from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth to Denpasar direct; premium economy and business on request
• Private airport transfers with a name board, and a car and English-speaking driver for every touring day
• Accommodation as described with breakfast; villas with a cook and daily housekeeping where named
• The fast boats, entries and experiences named in the itinerary, booked before departure
• e-VOA and Bali levy guidance and entry checks for every traveller
• A day-by-day document with the driver’s plan, timings and warung recommendations
• Australian consumer-law protection and a Cooee contact in Brisbane throughout
• Five nights in the Ubud hills at a wellness retreat (with its programme) or a private-pool villa with a cook and daily yoga arranged
• Three nights on the coast at a spa resort or a villa as described
• Daily yoga classes at the retreat or the Yoga Barn, and two spa sessions per person at each base
• The Campuhan Ridge walk, Tirta Empul with a melukat purification, and Tegallalang, with the driver
• A Balinese cooking class at a family compound
• A balian (healer) consultation by introduction, if wanted
• A driver on the touring days and on call on the loose days

Not included

• Lunches and most dinners (breakfast is cooked in at villas)
• Travel insurance (required)
• The Indonesian e-VOA fee (about AUD 50) and the Bali tourist levy (IDR 150,000), paid on arrival or online
• Personal spending, optional experiences not named, and tips (modest and appreciated: 10 per cent at restaurants without a service charge, a daily amount for the driver at the end)
• Additional spa treatments, private yoga instruction and retreat upgrades, booked on request
• The surf lessons and beach clubs on the coast

Where you stay

Ubud, as a retreat: Fivelements on the Ayung for the plant-based and the healing programme, Como Shambhala Estate for the full residential version with its own doctors, the Bagus Jati or Bisma Eight for a gentler programme with a spa, or one of the smaller yoga retreats at Penestanan and Nyuh Kuning for a week with a schedule. Ubud, as a villa: a two- or three-bedroom private-pool villa in the Sayan, Penestanan or Sidemen hills with a cook, a cleaner and a daily yoga teacher arranged, ten minutes from the town by the driver — for a couple, a solo traveller who wants the quiet, or a small group of friends. The coast: the Bukit for a cliff resort with a spa and the surf below (the Alila Uluwatu, Six Senses Uluwatu, or the mid-range at Bingin); Canggu for a villa with a pool near the yoga studios and the surf; Sanur for a beachfront hotel (the Tandjung Sari, the Andaz) on calm water with a slower town. Every base has a spa, a pool and a quiet hour, and the villa licence and the retreat’s inclusions are confirmed before we take a deposit.

The retreat question is the one we ask first, because the two versions of this route are different holidays. A residential retreat is a programme: classes at set hours, meals at set hours, a community of other guests, and a structure that does the work for a person who has none left. A villa is the opposite: a pool, a cook, a yoga teacher who comes at the hour you name, and no other guests. Solo travellers and couples who want to be looked after choose the retreat; couples and groups who want to be left alone choose the villa; and a surprising number of parties choose the villa in Ubud and a spa resort on the coast, which gives both.

What it costs

Nine days for two in a private-pool villa with a cook and a cliff resort, with the classes and the spa sessions, in June or October, is the version most people book; the residential retreats with a medical programme are the upper tier and priced by the programme; July and September add a third on flights and villas. We do not publish a from-price because two factors move it by thousands: the season (the July and September school holidays and Christmas–New Year cost 30–50 per cent more than May, June or October on flights and villas combined) and the accommodation tier (a good three-bedroom villa against a cliff resort or a rice-field hotel at the top). We quote every departure individually in Australian dollars with everything above included. The Indonesia guide and the South-East Asia guide set out the daily numbers. A villa for a group of four or six friends brings the cost per head below a retreat room and keeps the cook.

Practical notes

Entry: Australians use the Indonesian e-Visa on Arrival (online before departure or at the airport, about AUD 50 for 30 days) plus the Bali tourist levy and the All Indonesia arrival card; rules have changed several times since 2022 and we confirm the current requirement on every itinerary. Passports need six months’ validity. Health: dengue is present year-round and repellent morning and dusk is the defence; tap water is not for drinking or tooth-brushing; the rule of bottled water and busy warungs covers most of the rest; hepatitis A and typhoid vaccinations are recommended; BIMC and Siloam hospitals are good and insurance is required. Swimming: the west coast (Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu) has rips and drownings every year; the east and south (Sanur, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran) are reef-protected and calm; we place the accommodation for who is in the water. Money: rupiah; divide by 10,000 for a rough AUD; cards at hotels and larger restaurants, cash at warungs, temples, markets and for the driver; ATMs everywhere on the main island. Temples: sarong and sash, lent at the gate; shoulders covered; menstruating women are asked not to enter. Motorbikes: the leading cause of Australian injuries in Bali and not hired on our itineraries. Spirits: methanol poisoning from counterfeit arak is real; drink beer, wine or spirits from a reputable bar and never a cheap cocktail from a beach shack. Nyepi: the day of silence in March or April closes the island, including the airport, for 24 hours; the itinerary checks the date. Apps: Gojek and Grab for rides, Google Maps, WhatsApp for the driver. Retreat or villa: a retreat has a programme, a community and a schedule and suits a solo traveller or a couple who want structure; a villa has a pool, a cook, a yoga teacher who comes to you and no schedule at all, and suits a couple or a group who want the quiet. We ask which before we book. Yoga: the Yoga Barn in Ubud runs classes from 7 am to the evening at every level; the retreats run their own; a private teacher at the villa is arranged for those who prefer it. Healers: a balian is a traditional Balinese healer and a consultation is an experience rather than a treatment; we introduce by arrangement with the ones we know and say what to expect. Tirta Empul: the melukat purification is open to visitors in a sarong, done with the Balinese in the queue, and is the hour many guests name afterwards. Spas: Ubud’s are among the best in Asia and the two sessions included are a start; a two-hour treatment at a good spa is AUD 60–150 and the resort spas on the coast are dearer. Food: the villa cook shops at the market and cooks Balinese or Western as asked; the retreats are plant-forward and some are alcohol-free; Ubud’s cafes suit every diet on earth. Phones: the villas have Wi-Fi; the retreats often ask you not to use it, which is the point. Solo travellers: Ubud is the best solo destination in the region and the retreats are built for it; a villa alone is quiet and safe and the staff are company if wanted.

How to book

Send us your preferred dates, your departure city and the names and ages of the party through the enquiry form or on 0409 661 342. We check the season against the route, confirm availability at the hotels and inns that matter, and send an itinerary and a quote in Australian dollars within two working days. A deposit holds the booking; the balance is due before departure under our booking conditions. Travel insurance is required and we can recommend a policy.

Frequently asked questions