I am leaving most of the details blank as I like to not plan too much in advance. While in Ubud, I plan on doing a lot of walking, seeing plenty of temples, watching a few dance performances and, of course, eating. In Candidasa, I want to venture to a traditional village and make my way to some of the temples on the eastern and northern coasts as well as view a few of the volcanoes in the region. I don't plan on trying to do too much during any of the days as I really want to experience the culture and beauty of Bali and its people.

first 5 nights in Ubud
3 nights in Gili Trawangan
4 nights in Candidasa
1 final night in Ubud

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

One suggestion, since you have a lone night after Candidasa, consider staying somewhere closer to the airport, like Sanur. Sanur is a small town with a nice beach and is quiet and relaxing.

I agree with Katie. the trip from sanur to the airport based on the time you travel is 30-40 minutes. when you are going for a plane especially with international travel you need to leave a minimum of 1.5 hours even in Denpasar. It's better to leave 2 hours prior to flight time just to be safe.

only necessary to be near the airport if you have a morning flight, imo... although i really like sanur too...

food is excellent everywhere... and moderate... in ubud try siam sallys... nomad... cinta... ary's warung is fantastic too---best chicken sandwich i have ever had---daily special...

hire putu for a day in ubud to take you around---www.MyBaliFriend.com.....

I just got back last week. I had just 9 nights in Bali. So, I shortened by stay in Kuta to 2 nights (1 day of surfing was enough to humble me). I lengthened my stay in Ubud to 5 nights. Everything you want to sign up for i.e. Balinese dancing girls in the temple, you can do on Monkey Forest Road. The 25K downhill biking was excelect, as well as the whitewater rafting (worth it for the beauty). The rice field walks were a highlight. And if you just keep walking (7K, like I did), you'll want to find a ride back to town. You can track down restaurants, or just see which ones are popular. Skip the duck. Finding a driver is very challenging. Go with a recommendation of someone reliable. their English is not good - they drive only. You need to know where you want to go. The drive via Sideman to Amed (1 nite) was beautiful. If I had known that George's wife, owner of Eka-Purnama, where I stayed in Amed, could arrange a driver, I would have gone to her first. Eka Purnama offers you your own bungalow with a view. Tirtagangga is great. I ended in Sanur, quieter, older tourist crowd. Kuta was just too hectic. I hope this helps.

I would avoid the Monkey Reserve. It is very unlpleasent with moneys trying to get into your pockets and hawkers all around so much so on weekends at the entrance it's hard to get past them. Once inside it was not very pleasant either. I consider it one of the oly blights on our 3 visits to Bali. The other is the rows and rows of shops that now surround Ubad that were not there 7-8 years ago.
If you are will to pay a reasonable amount for a furst rate licenced guide/driver with a car with A/C that really works well I used a firm in Central Java that coordinates with a firm in Bali for folks doing an all Indonesia trip. If the Bali organization is anywhere as good as the Java firm you will get behind the tourist view and really into the true culture. I would recommend 2 10 hour days. It may cost $85/day and others on this Forum will say you can get it for $60 or less but I believe in most cases, not all, you get what you pay for. Keep in mind your plane ticket cost over $1000.The firm is [email protected] and the owner is Wiedy.

Knowing what I know now, I would gladly have paid $85 for 10 hrs with someone who knew what they were doing. I paid $66 for someone who couldn't understand me very well. We spent about 8hrs, I guess to go to Tanah Lot, Munduk, Kintamani, etc.