brons_marie

Hello,

My boyfriend and me are planning a holiday in July to Bali and Lombok

We have considered this itinerary:

- Relaxing at the Jeeva Beloam, Lombok 3 days
- Trekking the Rinjani Mountain - 3 days
- The Gili islands - 3 days
- Ubud - 4 days
- Legian Beach for surfing - 3 days
- Munduk: Relaxing at the Sanak Retreat Bali - 3 days

- We also heard well of The Qunci Villas on Sengeggi Beach. Is it worth adding to the trip?
Our budget is limited. We would like to have a little luxury in the beginning and end, but the rest has to be on budget.
My question is if these are the right choices in destinations or am I missing important places? Everything looks lovely so it is hard to judge which is a better choice. Fx is Munduk worth the visit?
In addition we are 24 years old, and we would like a good mix between idyllic scenery and a more young atmosphere (but not too much of a backpacker party).

Thank you

kmkrnn

Quince villas is a fabulous property. If you are looking for four seasons or Ritz type lux it is not, but it is a very unique self contained property. There is no reason to leave it once you arrive. The food on site is very good, prices reasonable for hotel food. The ambiance of the place is to die for. Sitting in one of their deck chairs, overlooking the infinity pool out to the ocean. My idea of lux. Ocean is swim able here also. Staff is very friendly, Spa is good and very reasonable, or you can go fifty feet and have a beach massage by the locals. Rooms are very nice and comfortable, but again not super lux. We loved it there and looking for an excuse to go back a 3rd time.

Smeagol

Absolutely agree ref Qunci , food, spa and relaxation... It really is fabulous and great value.i loved it.

Kathie

How much time do you have on the ground? I note you plan to stay at most places for three days - it takes four nights at a place to get three full days. If you have that much time, great! If not, I'd suggest you cut one stop so you can spend 4 nights in each place you stay. Since this looks like such a small area on the map, people often underestimate how much time moving from place to place takes. But if you consider checking out of one place until you are all checked in to the the next, it will take at least half a day, and, depending on transport, it may take much of a day.

marmot

I think you've put together a good itinerary, though I too would like to see one less stop. You might want to combine your Ubud and Munduk stay. If you stay in the countryside outside of Ubud, especially to the north and west, there's not a significant difference in environment and you can still take day trips to more remote areas.

I'd also put Legian at the end of your trip so it's easier to get to the airport. Legian has a lot of inexpensive places to stay and eat, but it's pretty low on charm. You should also look toward Seminyak/Petitenget/Batu Belig.

The surf schools tend to cluster at Double 6 beach in Legian, but you can surf all the way up and down the coast and the beaches are much nicer as you go north toward Petitenget.

You should be aware that there are major holidays happening in July. July 15 is Galungan in Bali which is a great time to observe ceremonies, processions and temple festivals, all over Bali.

July 17/18 is Lebaran, the holidays following Ramadan. This is not a good time to be traveling anywhere in Indonesia, but especially from Lombok to Bali as transportation will be jammed.

If you're climbing Rinjani earlier in the month during Ramadan (before July 17) you should try to find guides who are not fasting. In general, tourist facilities are not affected by Ramadan, but people are not at their best.

brons_marie

Thank you for all the good advise. It is really helpful.