Slow Bali: how to escape the crowds in 2026

Bali is having an identity crisis. Or rather, the parts of Bali on Instagram are. Move 30 km in any direction and you're back in the version of the island we fell in love with a decade ago.

Sidemen is to Ubud what Ubud was to Kuta in 2008 — quieter, greener, with rice terraces that aren't fenced off. Stay at a family-run villa near the Telaga Waja river and you'll have breakfast with the rooster, not with a tour group.

Munduk is the highland Bali. Pine-cool nights, twin lakes, and a coffee farm that opens its kitchen for a five-course tasting on Saturdays. Combine three nights here with three in Sidemen and you have the trip your friends will keep asking about.