Map of Bali

Map of Bali

You will find Bali located three miles off the west coast of Java with a comparatively tiny land area of just over 5,000km; Bali could fit into Australia over 1,200 times. From the tip of Bali in the north to the end of the island in the south is only 55miles and east to west it's only ninety miles, so getting around the island is reasonably easy and the longest drive that you would need to do in order to get to any resort would be 2 hours at the most.

The most popular Bali hotel resorts are situated in the south of the island with a couple of others along the east and west coast. Nusa Dua is the most southern resort that's popular with visitors, although you will find other less known ones a bit further south. The roads round the coast of Bali are typically in good shape, it is when you leave the main stretch that you'll find that the roads are very seldom maintained to any standard and are typically just mud tracks regularly impassible by 2 vehicles and you want to be cautious about folk and animals that use not only these side roads but the main roads to walk on.

Heading along the west coast from Nusa Dua you will come to Jimbaran another very popular and busy tourist resort. Perhaps 10 minutes further along you will go by Ngurah Rai International airport that's used as a gateway for the rest of Indonesia. Kuta and South Kuta are maybe another twenty minutes drive from here and this is where you'll find the most commercialized area of Bali. Not only are the hotels built to accommodate many tourists, but the leisure facilities and the shopping areas very tourist orientated.

The drive from here to the tip of the west coast will take you past some of the more up market visitor destinations of Bali. Legian and Seminyak are situated along the west coast and offer more luxurious accommodation including private beaches, gardens and swimming pools. The rest of the drive up the west coast will take you past many places to remain, but they don't seem to be the best known or well-liked resorts or hotels. For the holiday maker who favors secluded areas there will be plenty of places to remain along this western section of Bali without all the trappings and crowds of the big tourist places.

From here you could head inland in an easterly direction and you will come to Ubud which is situated in the mountainous region of Bali. The landscape is worlds apart compared to the seaside resorts. Here you will be encircled by lush tropical rain forests with stunning views of the mountains and volcanoes. Driving further east you'll shortly come to the eastern shore, where there are some popular resorts. As with the resorts further up the west coast you'll find these are far more expensive than the southern areas because of the wonderful diving locations around this area. The widely recognized resorts on the east coast are Candi Dasa and Sanur. After you get to Sanur you can take a detour inland and come to Denspanar, the capital of Bali. Though this is not actually a well-liked tourist destination due to its lack of beaches, night life and shopping malls, it is still worth taking time out to explore.

From Denspanar you would drive south again and before you get to Nusa Dua where you started from, you'll pass Tanjung Benoa an an incredibly well liked, but very up market area. Tanjung Benoa is situated on the tip of the peninsula and has stunning views of the sea.

As far as the most visited and popular places in Bali go, those are the better known ones, but Bali offers so very much more. There are such a lot of more Bali hotels situated all round the island and on some of the smaller islands just round the coast. Bali is definitely an island to be explored and visiting one of the smaller know towns will give you a miles better comprehension of the genuine Balinese lifestyle.