Original Travel

A stalwart on the luxury hotel scene is the town of Seminyak, which is home to some of the islands finest hotels and restaurants. It's also the expat home of choice, many of whom run fashion and interiors boutiques, or the latest organic-clean-food-clean-living café. Fronted by five miles of soft sand beach and rolling waves, Seminyak hosts some of seriously fiery sunsets, best enjoyed with a chilled Bintang or Mojito in hand. And if you're a 'long walks on the beach' kind of person you'll find plenty of roaming space here, though stray too far and you'll end up in the backpacker party scene of Kuta - you'll notice as the shorts get shorter and the singlet's sparser.

For a little more low-key beach break, the golden sand beaches of Jimbaran and Sanur are hard to beat. Jimbaran sits just south of the airport, meaning it's the quickest option for a flight to hotel flop, with some of our favourite hotels perched on the golden arc bay. The southern end of the beach hosts the famous Jimbaran pop up seafood restaurants each evening, for a fresh-off-the-line mahi mahi to be enjoyed with greasy fingers, a chilled beer and plastic seating. The beach at Sanur is protected by an offshore reef, so offers calm paddle-friendly water, as well as some charming boutique hotels.

At Bali's southern tip, you'll find the Bukit Peninsula, which is home to laid-back surf spots, and some of the islands most exclusive, cliff top hotels. This is the spot to lock yourself away in a luxury villa, but perhaps venture out to explore some of the picturesque surf spots and powdery sand beaches by day. Perhaps.

Some of Bali's most beautiful (and most visited) temples are tucked away in the South, including the cliff top Uluwatu temple, and the coastal temple of Tanah Lot, which is only accessible at low tide. It's also the spot to learn to surf, kite surf, or scuba dive with Mola Mola in our summer months.