If you've ever even considered visiting Bali you really need to just take the plunge and go! If it's not on your bucket list then why not!? We'll explain why it's one of our Top 5 places out of well over 100 places visited between us. Firstly the people - the Balinese people are some of the nicest and most welcoming people you will find (followed closely 2nd by the Filipino people) they are so warm and make you feel like family even within minutes of meeting them, they're kind, caring and so sweet. They are so proud of their heritage and culture and it's beautiful to see, they will want to show you all that Balinese history has to offer and maybe invite you in to see some of their holy rituals.

Secondly food - if you know us you'll know after our first love of travel our second love is food and Indonesian food is at the very top of that list!!! The flavours are so incredible but not too overpowering and every meal is presented so beautifully and after all you do eat with your eyes!! Keep reading to see some of our top food recommendations to visit while you're in Bali. It's also a great place to visit if you're Vegan/vegetarian as they have so many new restaurants catering to the plant based lifestyle. 

Lastly the beaches - we have travelled far and wide to find some of the best beaches around the world and Bali has a fair few of them to chose from and if you're into surfing Kuta beach is literally a surfers paradise!! So  much fun watching all the surfers catch a wave at sunset. 

Right so if you're a foodie like us it will be a big part of your trip so lets get into some of our favourite places to eat. If you're staying in or around Kuta you must go to Gabah restaurant for the most incredible Indonesian food, the decor is beautifully balinese in every way and theres a pool/pond - not for swimming but more of a decorative water feature as the restaurant is an indoor/outside vibe, the food comes in the most amazing baskets and it's so aesthetically pleasing you will have to take a picture before you even dare tuck in, it was so good we went 3 times in our 3 week stay!! Another great restaurant in Kuta is Bebek Tepi Sawah, this was not quite as good as Gabah but that's not to say it wasn't just as delicious and we loved it! We would also recommend visiting some of the local Indonesian restaurants which are usually called Warungs, they will have the most authentic food but are not usually Instagramable as they are usually family run and quite small! If you're in Seminyak or even Kuta as it's not far we would definitely say Potato Head Beach club is worth a visit even if just for the vibes! We went in the evening and had nibbles and small bites to eat - the food is more western but the location, view and atmosphere make it worth a visit and if you're staying in the Ubud area we  would really recommend Bebek Teba Sari - it's such a beautiful setting with views of rice fields and you eat in the cutest little huts near a beautiful pond/water stream and the food is delicious and it's a really great experience.

Before we go on further with things to do in Bali - We cannot stress this enough please do not plan a trip to Bali without including a visit to the Gili Islands it's a must visit!! The Gili islands are a group of 3 small islands located in between Bali and Lombok and are basically Bali 75 years ago before the tourists etc, there are no cars and the only form of transport is horse and cart or bikes which is fun! The beaches are untouched and so so beautiful and of course less crowds, it is more of a backpacker vibe because of the laid back pace but don't let it put you off - We are known for luxury travel and we loved it! You do need to be aware that as the islands come under Lombok it is considered a muslim territory rather than Bali which is Hindu so be mindful with alcohol consumption in the Gilis as it can sometimes be tampered with as it's not widely drank but it's not to deter you it's just to make you aware. Gili Trawangan is the biggest of the 3 islands with more hotels to chose from, this is the island we stayed on and it has the best sunsets - see swing photo!! The other 2 smaller islands Gili Air and Gili Meno are smaller and have less people and has in our opinion better beaches as the beaches on Gili T are not ideal for swimming as they are shallow for miles and have lots of coral. 

Another group of islands worth visiting is Nusa Penida's - we only had time to visit Nusa Lembongan but it was beautiful with really cute beach clubs which you can pay to use for the day. Just like the Gilis it has stunning white sand beaches and crystal blue waters! While visiting we did the sea walking excursion which was so much fun! It was such an amazing experience walking at the bottom of the sea bed seeing all the tropical fish and a very different experience to snorkelling, we would highly recommend.

Back to Bali!! While we're on the subject of beaches, the best beaches in Bali in our opinion are in Nusa Dua - we looked at staying here as it's home to the best beaches and all of the luxury hotel chains (so of course right up our street) but we decided against it as it's quite far from everything else so unless you plan on staying in your hotel and just relaxing the entire time then I would stay in the more reachable areas like Kuta or Seminyak, Ubud is further up the island and is nearer all the famous temples. While in Ubud we saw a lot of the popular tourist sites - we visited the famous Monkey forest which is as described, it's a huge open park with monkeys roaming all over and tour guides selling bananas to give to them for photo opportunities, if you're scared i wouldn't suggest buying the Bananas!! You can get great photos of them roaming freely but they can and will jump on you if you have bananas!! We visited the incredible Tegenungan Waterfall which was pretty amazing, we do love a waterfall though! Heads up there are over 200 steps to reach it and the water is freezing cold but it's so refreshing so not too bad once you acclimatise, we would recommend water shoes as it's very slippery in the waterfall and lot's of rocks but once you reach it you forget about all the steps you've just done to get there! We visited an elephant sanctuary or what we thought was a sanctuary (it's since been renamed!) It was a great experience as you got to spend time with the elephants and help wash them and you get to ride them which we thought as it was a sanctuary they are well looked after but while on the ride we soon realised they do not treat them well which was upsetting and at the end was an elephant show which is when we realised this isn't a sanctuary this is purely for money and entertainment so we were disappointed but we were young and naive and now know better! There is one actual elephant sanctuary which we have since found out about, so definitely try that and do your research. We also visited the well known Tanah Lot Temple at sunset - Absolutely beautiful, but beware of the crowds I would recommend arriving early as it's get busy, very busy. We went with a guide purely so we would get there at the correct time for sunset and to get there safely as we  didn't rent a car or moped and it was quite far from Kuta! You'll see when googling that some people find it hard to chose between Uluwata Temple and Tanah Lot but both are good choices just be prepared as they are tourist hotspots!

Personally we would say learn from our mistake and we would suggest you staying in a few different places to really experience the best out of Bali - so maybe start with a few days in Kuta/Seminyak then move up to Ubud/Uluwata for a few days exploring temples, rice fields and maybe some dolphin spotting, then spend a couple of days in Nusa dua for a bit of luxury and hop over the Gili islands for a couple of days enjoying the laid back island life by bicycle! This way you get to see all that Bali has to offer, we say this as we made the mistake of staying in one place our entire trip and ended up wasting money on our expensive Kuta hotel room when we went to stay in the Gili's for 4 nights! School boy error, so plan accordingly!

Overall Bali is an amazing place to visit and we're sure regardless of what you like to do when on holiday you'll find something here for you! The Balinese people will steal your hearts, you'll come back longing for the food like we did and on the hunt for Indonesian food back home and it will truly leave you with memories of a lifetime! And if after reading this it's still not on your bucket list then add it on now you won't regret it.