Kuta, Nusa Penida & Ubud, 6 Nights

The shortest transfer in Bali: Kuta is just north of the airport. Check in, and spend the evening on the beach, which faces west and fills at sunset. Pack tonight with the island in mind: for the two Nusa Penida nights a small bag is much easier on the fast boat, and the Kuta hotel can store the rest until you return to the mainland.

A morning on the reef-sheltered water at Tanjung Benoa, with the banana boat included and jet skis, parasailing or a glass-bottomed boat to the turtle island available to add on the beach. The afternoon is free. Kuta Beach and Legian are good for a lazy walk and a surf lesson on the gentle beach break, and Beachwalk mall has shade and air-conditioning when the heat builds.

Early to Sanur harbour for the fast boat across the Badung Strait. On the island a private driver takes you around the west coast: Kelingking's cliff shaped like a T. rex above a white beach; Broken Beach, where the sea enters a round bay through a stone arch; Angel's Billabong, a rock pool that fills with each wave, dangerous when the swell is up; and Crystal Bay to swim. Lunch is included. Once the day-trip boats leave in the late afternoon, the island goes quiet.

A free day on the island, with two good choices. The east coast has Diamond Beach, reached down steps cut into the cliff, and the Thousand Islands viewpoint over a scatter of rocky islets; a driver can be booked locally. Or take a snorkelling boat to Manta Point off the south coast, where reef manta rays gather at a cleaning station most of the year. Calm seas are needed for both, and the roads are rough.

The morning boat back to Sanur, where the driver is waiting with your stored luggage. The road inland passes Celuk, the silversmiths' village, and the woodcarving workshops of Mas, then climbs to Kintamani on the rim of the Batur caldera for lunch with a view over the volcano and its lake. It is a long day but a natural one, and it ends at your Ubud hotel for the evening.

A free day to recover from the island. Walk the Campuhan ridge early, then the Tegallalang terraces, or keep it to the centre: the palace, the art market, the Monkey Forest and a massage in the afternoon. In the evening, one of the dance performances in the palace or a temple courtyard, accompanied by a gamelan orchestra, is the right way to end a Bali trip.

Breakfast and check-out, then the drive down to the airport, which takes an hour and a half or more depending on traffic. If the flight is late, there is time for a coffee on Jalan Raya Ubud or a last walk through the rice fields at the edge of town.