Indonesia // Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud, Bali

Ubud, Bali

Ubud is a bustling little town in central Bali, and very popular with tourists. It’s known to be the art centre of Bali, but it’s also a popular area for outdoor activities. One of our favorite activities was the Campuhan Ridge Walk. This stunning walk runs between the Wos River (Sungai Wos) and Cerik River (Sungai Cerik). It basically starts off in the jungle and takes you to some of Ubud’s prettiest rice fields. Along the way you’ll also pass a few tiny villages where local artists are selling their beautiful work.

The walk is about 2 km one way, which took us about 1,5 hours to complete as we do like to stop often and enjoy the scenery (and of course, take tons of pictures! :) )

Directions to the start of the Campuhan Ridge Walk

From Ubud Palace, head west along Jalan Raya Ubud for about 1 km until you reach the Warwick IBAH Luxury Villas & Spa. Turn right as if you would enter the IBAH hotel and immediately take the road downhill on your left. There’s a sign here just below the IBAH sign that reads “Going to the hill”.

A quick glance at the Pura Gunung Lebah

About 100 m down the road there’s a bridge that takes you to the Pura Gunung Lebah temple, but instead of crossing it take the steps to the right of the bridge to cross the pedestrian bridge. There’s a sign at the bridge showing you the way to the Campuan Ridge Walk . After crossing the pedestrian bridge, continue along the walls of the Pura Gunung Lebah, but don’t forget to peek inside because it is a beautiful temple! :-)

Strolling in between the gorgeous grass fields

As the path curls left around the northeastern corner of the temple it immediately turns right again away from the temple and into the jungle! From here, it’s basically a straight line all the way to the end of the walk.

The path runs slightly uphill and continues along the Campuhan Ridge as you head further north. This is definitely one of the prettiest sights of the walk. Beautiful grassy fields on the rolling hills left and right and an occasional palm tree sure make this a treat for the eye!

After about a kilometer we couldn’t be happier to pass a few houses and shops where we could buy some water. Although we hadn’t walked much the scorching sun had already taken its toll! :)

Discovering local artwork

Most of the houses along the road are home to local artists selling their work. We spoke to Wayan Raya, an older man who had lived in Ubud his entire life and still paints every day. He was even featured in a travel book, which he proudly showed us. He was soooo lovely! We obviously couldn’t resist buying one of his detailed artworks! :)

Time for a break!

From the first houses of the village it’s about 700 m to the Karsa Café, which many (including ourselves) consider as the perfect place to take a break. The Karsa Café has an awesome terrace on the first floor overlooking some of Ubud’s finest rice fields!

From the Karsa Café you can either choose to make your way back towards Ubud, or explore a little further and make the full circle towards Ubud centre. This part of the hike is less tranquil as it’s no longer a hiking trail, but you just walk along the “main” road. Nevertheless still very interesting!