We have 3 weeks planned in Bali starting next week.

I though we'd spend a couple of nights in Kuta to get our feet, then head away from that. Maybe we should stay in Seminyak. I can't tell!

We are sort of flashpackers, early 40's, travelled, and have a max budget of about 50/day/person for this trip.

Prefer places that aren't heavily affected by tourism, so not entirly sure we've made the right choice. Or maybe we have. It's hard to tell from a distance.

We plan to then go to Ubud for a few days, do some walks. Take some bike rides.

After that we'd like to get a car and just wander and stay whereever looked good, but the dire warnings about driving have me a bit concerned. I have driven in third world many times, and it was fine. Is Bali worse?

After that, we'd go over to Gili (Air?) for a few days to do some snorkeling.

I guess I need some input and guidance on how this all sounds, and what areas of Bali we should try, and maybe some kind of loose intinerary.

ANY help much apprciated. We leave next week!!

I'm not sure you get anything by staying in Kuta for a few days. I'd head for Seminyak - Putu Bali Villas should fit your budget and your requirements. With that amount of time, you might consider adding Lovina on the north side of the island to your plans. It would give you a very different experience from the south, without the cost of a flight.

If you prefer places not heavily affected by tourism you will want to avoid Kuta like the plague.

If you decide you want to be even more off the tourist trail, you could head to Lombok for a time. Lombok is less expensive than Bali for lodging and food. There are homestays on the island that are quite inexpensive and will give you a different perspective.

We arrive just before midnight, so will only really have one full day in Kuta. Some lively bars and late night eating the first night would be good..

Is Legian/Seminyak a better choice?
We just need a fairly basic place to stay, but semi lively area preferred and my concenr is that it's too quite there. No?

It sounds to me like you are asking for contradictory things. On one hand, you want "places that aren't heavily affected by tourism" which would eliminate Kuta. On the other hand, you want a "semi lively area." Kuta is full of backpackers, bars and touts. If you want a party scene with young (late teens/early twenties) people, it's the place for you. But given what you've said, I'm not sure you'd be happy there.

I'm sorry, I should have been clearer. First night we'd like to arive in a lively area, but the rest of the three weeks we'll leave there and generally prefer nature and smaller towns.

Kathies advice of homestays is what you want most of the time .Use your search engine and see what you can find. Always very cheap , simple but nice .Take insect repellant for mossies .Use wotif.com to hunt for a hotel in your price for the first 1 or 2 nights . Legian and Seminyak are heavily developed but nice .Canngu a little further along is nice .

I used to drive in Bali and hired an open topped VW but these days it is chaotic . Hiring a driver and car is easy and cheap .The drivers are everywhere touting and you can seriously haggle.Metered taxis are also available and cheap .I do not recommend motor bikes either .Seen the injuries and a family member was a foolish 18 year old who crashed and is lucky to be alive .Hospitals are not great in Bali .Get good travel insurance

Much better to be a passenger as then you can both look , enjoy and get them to stop whenever you want to do so .

Buy a good guide book.Lonely Planet should fit the bill in terms of what you want to do .

The nightclub that is biggest and fun is Double Six on the beach at Legian /Seminyak .The street to it ( called double six from memory and which runs off Jalan Legian which is the main arterial street between Kuta and Seminyak and where bars are at the Kuta end ) has many bars as does Jalan Laksmana which is also a restaurant/bar strip .see www.balieats.com and www.balidiscovery.com for added information .

In Kuta there is or was 4 years ago when we were last there a terrifically good restaurant that becomes a bar called Maccaroni.Owned by Italians it serves breakfast , lunch and dinner , smart surrounds , fabulous well priced food and at about 9pm lovely groovy lounge music is played by a DJ. They used to have an oxygen bar for those wanting extra stamina ! Did not try it so cannot vouch for its effect or safety.

After all the trouble there we do not frequent bars etc now and I never liked the average Kuta bars which had no appeal to me at all .But each to their own as they say .

Watch money changing.Always double count and do not let changers distract you by chat whilst they count it out . sisters which is an unhappy by product of tourism that once was never present in Bali . Cafe Hu'u and Ku de Ta are up market rrestaurants that become bars and the latter has dancing to great DJ's who play good vocal house music .But likely to break your budget .But I recall that the cocktails were really good at both .I can still taste the lychee / ginger martinis and frozen daiquiris .

Also the street that runs behind Jln Legian on the beach side of the street - Poppies Lane ?? -- is full of backpacker places , internet cafes and I recall a wonderful cafe making wood fired pizzas which is perhaps not great if you want authentic Indonesian / Balinese food but it was good .The guidebook will fill you in.

Sorry I did not check and edit so the penultimate para has an unintelligle sentence .It was a warning about touts for all sorts of things and how foolish people are to accept and sometimes end in gaol .

Drbarton,

I was in Gili Air last summer and really enjoyed it. It's a nice mix of "laid back" with several good restaurants and bars (all open air, of course). We rented bicycles and rode around the island. Unfortunately, the beaches have lots of dead coral, but there is one side with soft sand. You can also go snorkling or take a boat to one of the other islands. Don't forget sunset at the Legend's Bar (I think that's the name). I have some wonderful pictures from there. It seemed like each sunset was prettier than the last.