Bali will forever be memorable because my sister met me there for our shared irish twin Birthday. The warm people, the colors, the culture and food were beyond amazing particularly in the area where we stayed in Seminyak. If you are a foodie and appreciate fine shopping this is where you will want to stay. Some of the best food Ive ever eaten, very clean whole- foods- kinda eatin in some of the trendiest of restaurants. Truly food heaven.
That said, there were a few challenges we faced on our family trip to Bali that I would do differently. DO check the timing of your visit with the seasons, we neglected to verify the rainy season and it indeed rained everyday but worse over with rain comes mosquitoes. The mosquitos feasted on the kids daily resulting in big welts. That was tough. A little rain never bothered me, but we're talking torrential downpour so touring sites proved difficult! While Seminyak is a woman's dream I'm not so convinced its uber family friendly. Its well suited for a girl's trip that's for sure. If you are looking for true Bali culture, Ubud is probably a better fit where the monkey park and largest (and cheapest) markets are located. By the way, we opted out of monkey park due to all the biting the monkeys can possibly do resulting in free passes to the clinic for rabies shots. Our last trip to Tokyo my littlest ended up in the ER with stitches, so we are still hot off that experience!
To be honest, I purposely brought our children to experience a third world country and visited an orphanage to drive home the point. But even walking in the streets of Bali was physically difficult with children due to the traffic/motorbike congestion. I struggled with staying in a plushy villa while visiting a third world country. Leaving Bali I literally googled does "tourism hurt or help Bali?" I believe both. Go and contribute to their economy but you can give rather than take by supporting the small businesses there verses big box comapnies. Just food for thought.
Our top Picks in Seminyak. (the food- yogi heaven town)
STAY
Four on Drapadi. This villa hotel has 4 villas you can pick from all with pools and a staff that cooks breakfast for you every morning. Breakfast is my love language, so truly this was heaven and completely spoiled us. I picked a pretty modern all black and white villa, it was an aesthetic dream.
EAT
Eating is one of my greatest pleasures, I take it very seriously. Seminyak was a foodie dream. Our villa was on the strip of restaurants so we walked to everything and literally didn't come close to eating all the places on my list, but got in some of the best! (Note: Ive gone gluten-free recently for some GI issues and every restaurant listed here met that dietary restriction)
Where all the yogi's hang out: Nalu bowls/Shelter Cafe. This place was unreal. The design and the food. Downstairs are Nalu bowls serves smoothie bowls in coconut shells. Then upstairs is Shelter cafe with a full menu the is creative and extremely healthy. Looks good and feels good.
This restaurant had me at all the colors. This is where we ate for our Birthday and it fit the bill for everyone, my sister the vegan, I'm gluten-free, my husband loves meat and the kids eat kid food. Everyone ate happily here, miraculous.
This one had us at the name and also met all our special food needs! Burgers for meat lovers, vegetarians, and gluten free! Living in Japan, its been a long time since we had a good burger. We actually considered eating here again that's how good it was.
This place is a beloved staple in Seminyak and the coffee as well as the pretty shop lived up to the hype.
Finding a restaurant that is kid friendly yet creative with their food is challenging, but this place delivered. La Lucciola is beachfront so the kids can play right in front of you on the beach while you catch a relaxing moment to yourselves. Yes please.
TO DO
We live on a subtropical island in Okinawa Japan, so I didn't set my sights on Bali for its beaches. My intentions were to expose the kids to a third world country and experience the food and culture. Generally we walked to all the restaurants and shops in Seminyak. Including Seminyak's own flea market. We did one day trip to Ubud for the Tegalalang Rice terraces and big market there which proved to be a long ride with Bali's constant traffic and congestion. It was still worth the trip, despite the rain!
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