travel advice/tips to Bali with children
Apr 15th, 2005, 03:20 PM
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travel advice/tips to Bali with children
Hello, my husband and I along with our daughters (ages: 13 & 8) will be traveling to Vietnam this August and would like to check out Bali for about 3-4 days so will be needing advice of: where to stay that kids friendly, what to do, best way to get there from Vietnam.... We have been to Asia several times especially Vietnam but this will be the first time to Bali. We appreciate any help/advice on this!!!
Apr 15th, 2005, 05:15 PM
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My advice would be to plan on more than 3 or 4 days...though Bali is a relatively small island, travel time between places generally takes much longer than expected. It is a culturally rich island with a lot to offer. It's also nice to stay in a few different areas, for a few days each, as there is quite a big difference between areas.
Ubud is the cultural center, and the surrounding villages are lovely. The south coast areas are the popular tourist areas for beach activities. The north coast is quieter and there is excellent snorkelling/diving in the Amed area and in the Pemuteran area (there are others but these are the well known ones).
There are hotels and villas in every area, in every price range and to suit every style of traveller. We found that the Balinese were great with kids. Our daughter played a bit with some Balinese kids and had great fun. She also made holiday friends with a really diverse group of kids...Dutch living in Tanzania, American living in Beijing, Scottish/something South American living in Sri Lanka...the list goes on. We were lucky in that one of the places we stayed was loaded with families with interests that matched ours.
To find the place that suits you, I'd recommend browsing around some of the booking sites...search for bali hotels and loads of them come up. Pick out some places that seem good, and e-mail directly to the place about what you expect from your stay and asking about availability. We had very nice responses, and chose the places we stayed after several rounds of correspondence. It worked out perfectly for us.
To get there, you will almost surely need to take a connecting flight through Bangkok or Singapore. I didn't find any direct flights either Hanoi or Ho Chi Mihn City...doesn't mean they don't exist, just that they didn't pop up on my 15 second inquiry. Flights from Bangkok take just over 4 hours.
Ubud is the cultural center, and the surrounding villages are lovely. The south coast areas are the popular tourist areas for beach activities. The north coast is quieter and there is excellent snorkelling/diving in the Amed area and in the Pemuteran area (there are others but these are the well known ones).
There are hotels and villas in every area, in every price range and to suit every style of traveller. We found that the Balinese were great with kids. Our daughter played a bit with some Balinese kids and had great fun. She also made holiday friends with a really diverse group of kids...Dutch living in Tanzania, American living in Beijing, Scottish/something South American living in Sri Lanka...the list goes on. We were lucky in that one of the places we stayed was loaded with families with interests that matched ours.
To find the place that suits you, I'd recommend browsing around some of the booking sites...search for bali hotels and loads of them come up. Pick out some places that seem good, and e-mail directly to the place about what you expect from your stay and asking about availability. We had very nice responses, and chose the places we stayed after several rounds of correspondence. It worked out perfectly for us.
To get there, you will almost surely need to take a connecting flight through Bangkok or Singapore. I didn't find any direct flights either Hanoi or Ho Chi Mihn City...doesn't mean they don't exist, just that they didn't pop up on my 15 second inquiry. Flights from Bangkok take just over 4 hours.
Apr 16th, 2005, 05:26 PM
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Kids love Bali. They of course like the beach and shopping, but they also react favorably to the dances, music, mystical aspects as well as the outdoorsy adventure opportunities like rafting or treking. I certainly agree that you'd need more than 3-4 days, especially factoring in travel time.
If you decide to go ahead and get a taste of Bali after your Viet Nam trip and you really only have four days maximum, I'd spend two days in the Ubud area soaking up the culture and two days at the beach soaking up the sun and surf. Let us know your budget and we'll recommend places to stay.
If you decide to go ahead and get a taste of Bali after your Viet Nam trip and you really only have four days maximum, I'd spend two days in the Ubud area soaking up the culture and two days at the beach soaking up the sun and surf. Let us know your budget and we'll recommend places to stay.
Apr 17th, 2005, 08:48 AM
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Thank you to all the advices so far. I have been doing a little research in hotels in Bali and the 2 that fit our budget and look somewhat very nice are Bali Hilton and Conrad Bali resort. Anyone has any advices/info about these 2 hotels? The pool and its location to the beach is what attracted us especially for our daughters. What I'm not sure is the location of these hotels to the main town center??? Thank you!
Apr 17th, 2005, 11:41 AM
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Etwo, I just had to look to see if it was still up, our blog from traveling to Bali with our kids last summer. www.themurdochs.blogspot.com.
We stayed in Ubud at the Four Seasons for 5 days and Ritz in Jimbaran for 5 (wouldn't recommend it, to me it was much like any other Ritz but the FS in Ubud was amazing if in your budget). Many other really nice places in Ubud that were much more reasonable if that's too much (this board practically planned our trip for us so take their advice!!), but I would definitely stay in Ubud too as I enjoyed it much more than the beach as did the whole family. I have a 15 y.o. and twin 11 y.o.s, by the way so close in age to yours. Don't miss the driver Putu, who many on this board keep mentioning. He's terrific with kids I think he really enjoys them. We spent time at both his everyday home and his family compound and he is used to being surrounded by them, even though he doesn't have any himself. Enjoy!!
We stayed in Ubud at the Four Seasons for 5 days and Ritz in Jimbaran for 5 (wouldn't recommend it, to me it was much like any other Ritz but the FS in Ubud was amazing if in your budget). Many other really nice places in Ubud that were much more reasonable if that's too much (this board practically planned our trip for us so take their advice!!), but I would definitely stay in Ubud too as I enjoyed it much more than the beach as did the whole family. I have a 15 y.o. and twin 11 y.o.s, by the way so close in age to yours. Don't miss the driver Putu, who many on this board keep mentioning. He's terrific with kids I think he really enjoys them. We spent time at both his everyday home and his family compound and he is used to being surrounded by them, even though he doesn't have any himself. Enjoy!!
Apr 17th, 2005, 03:38 PM
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There are loads of places at the same price level as the Conrad and lower. We stayed in a place 10 minutes outside of Ubud that was $55.00/night with breakfast included that was no less than perfect for us. We participated in a village walk and met the locals, ate freshly picked fruit while visiting with a family, learned about rice farming and the changes government has imposed on local agriculture, met the local kids and enjoyed Goddess of Education with them, toured housing compounds of families of different castes and occupations. We also got to try batik, traditional dance, traditional music, wood carving, and learned a bit of Balinese language. I got to have a massage every afternoon in the spa...heaven. The food there was also excellent. We had the oppotunity to learn and experience so much during our stay. Very good people we met...other guests, owners, staff, locals...lovely people. Our 7 year old daughter loved every minute of our stay...cried when it was time to leave. www.alamsari.com
Apr 17th, 2005, 05:38 PM
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the murdoch blog is terrific...make sure you look at it....
the conrad is a wonderful hotel....we stayed there a few days last year just after it opened....one caution with kids....there is lots of water around the property....the 8 yo might need to be watched some unless she is a good swimmer....it is a fantastic hotel...they have a kids program i believe also...from our room we stepped out onto a terrace and from there onto the lawn and the laggoon pools were nearby...very nice....decent beach also...small beach at the ends of two loggoons as well for small kids...
food at conrad was excellent if a bit pricey....bumbu bali restaurant nearby was quite good and rustic...
the conrad is a wonderful hotel....we stayed there a few days last year just after it opened....one caution with kids....there is lots of water around the property....the 8 yo might need to be watched some unless she is a good swimmer....it is a fantastic hotel...they have a kids program i believe also...from our room we stepped out onto a terrace and from there onto the lawn and the laggoon pools were nearby...very nice....decent beach also...small beach at the ends of two loggoons as well for small kids...
food at conrad was excellent if a bit pricey....bumbu bali restaurant nearby was quite good and rustic...
Apr 18th, 2005, 11:15 AM
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Again, many thanks to all the advices so far. Are the Bali Hyatt, Bali Hilton and Conrad Hotels very close in proximity to each other? Which one has more restaurants within walking distance? We will certainly look into a Putu but for eating we would like to explore restaurants outside of the hotel compound if possible.
Apr 18th, 2005, 11:49 AM
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No, these hotels are not all in the same area. The Bali Hyatt is in Sanur, which is a nice village and is only 30-40 minutes from Ubud. There are little restaurants and shops that are walking distance.
Apr 18th, 2005, 06:52 PM
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the bali hyatt has the most restaurants nearby in the town of sanur, and many of them are very good and very reasonable....i booked through balidiscoverytours.com and saved quite a bit....they are very helpful....
you will love putu....
you will love putu....
