Bali

Bali is the complete tropical island; lush, culturally unique and exotic, yet with all forms of creature comforts. It pretty much invented tropical luxury, with a signature style of pavilion-like hotels with teak daybeds and handcrafted interiors that is plagiarised in boutique hotels from Anjuna to Zanzibar.

An island of Hindu offerings, incense wafts through the air from the second you step off the plane, and colourful, eccentric-looking gods poke their head out of every taxi mirror, shop door and hotel lobby.

Most visitors focus their stay on the southern shores – Seminyak for couples seeking luxury, and Kuta for raucous merriment and markets. These well-trodden, southern beaches are vast, yawning swathes of surf-crashed sand, alive with neon-hued après-surf nightclubs.

The party crowd is easy to avoid, however. Escapists make for the hidden coves of Bingin, where fierce waves have carved out a parade of cliff-skirted, white sand coves, with frothy shallows created by peeling barrels of surf on the horizon.

Things get wild on the tempestuous northern shore as inky black volcanic sands line the coast at beaches such as Lovina. For sunset, surf and swinging in hammocks, the tiny island of Nusa Lembongan, just off the east coast, is the beachy postcard many come to Bali expecting.

Others leave the coast all together to explore the verdant waves of rice paddies that undulate between the island’s inland volcanoes and the slow beating heart of the island, sleepy Ubud. Here, craft-selling villages, Hindu temples and monkey-filled rainforests surround the spiritual soul of Bali.

Where to stay?

Bali Uma Ubud. This boutique hotel lies on the outskirts of Ubud, surrounded by gardens of banyan trees and coconut palms. It is furnished with huge pieces of Balinese furniture: antique carvings and giant sized, intricately carved teak sofas. Colonial-style, straw-thatched rooms look out onto the volcanic valley of Mount Batur. A popular activity involves a dawn hike up to the crater. Doubles from £243.

Bali Uma Ubud	Nusa Dua Bay Resort

Nusa Bay Resort. Roomy bamboo-thatched and pastel-brushed concrete villas overlook the silky white sarong of sand that is Mushroom Bay on Bali’s cheery offshoot isle, Nusa Lembongan. In keeping with the friendly vibe of the island, Nusa Bay is a place for mingling with fellow holidaymakers. Diners all squidge in together on the grand communal tables under the Indonesian village-style long house where Bintang and Arak (local beer and firewater respectively) flow into the early hours. Doubles from £78.

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