Seminyak & Ubud, 5 Nights

The drive from the airport runs north past Kuta and Legian to Seminyak, a stretch of beach lined with villas, restaurants and boutiques. Check in, and walk down to the sand for the first sunset; Petitenget and Double Six are the popular stretches, with beanbags set out as the light goes. Dinner is easy here: Seminyak has some of the island's best restaurants, and several Indian ones.

A morning on the water at Tanjung Benoa, protected by the reef and calm when the west coast is rough: a banana-boat ride, a jet-ski session and a turn parasailing over the lagoon are included. Back to the hotel to rest through the heat of the afternoon, then out to Tanah Lot, a temple built on a rock in the surf that becomes an island at high tide. The sun sets directly behind it, and the clifftop path has the best view.

A free day. Seminyak rewards idling: a long breakfast, the shops on Jalan Kayu Aya and Jalan Petitenget, a spa treatment, and an afternoon at a beach club with a pool above the sand. For something more active, Canggu's surf beaches are twenty minutes north and its rice-field paths are good for a bicycle. We can book a surf lesson for beginners on the gentler breaks.

Check out and head north into the hills to Kintamani, on the rim of the great caldera around Mount Batur, an active volcano that last erupted around the turn of the century. The view takes in the black lava fields and the crescent lake below. Drop down to the lakeshore for the hot springs, warm pools filled from the volcano, then continue to Ubud. Walk through the art market opposite the palace before checking in.

A free day in Ubud. Early morning is best for the Tegallalang rice terraces north of town, before the heat and the crowds. Tirta Empul, where Balinese bathe in the holy spring pools, is a little further on. In town, the Sacred Monkey Forest shelters three temples under huge banyan trees, and the Campuhan ridge walk takes an hour along a grassy spine between two rivers. A Balinese cooking class is a good alternative.

Breakfast and check-out. Ubud is about ninety minutes from the airport, more at busy times, so the driver leaves with plenty of margin before your flight. With a late departure, the morning can go on a short walk through the rice fields behind the town centre, or a coffee in one of the cafés on Jalan Raya Ubud.