Ten days around the east of Bali

Ten days is where a Bali trip earns the right to move. This plan draws one arc eastward and never doubles back: each leg is under two hours, each base earns at least two nights, and the island's three faces, rice, reef and cliff, each get their due.

The shape

Three nights in Ubud, two in Sidemen, two in Amed, two around Uluwatu, plus the arrival night wherever the flight dictates. Four bases, three moves, none over two hours.

Ubud, days 1 to 3

The standard opening played fully: terraces early, town and dance, and the third day for the ridge or a cooking class. Resist adding day trips east; you are about to live there.

Sidemen, days 4 and 5

An hour's drive and a different century. Walks out of the guesthouse door, weaving workshops, Agung on the skyline. This is the stage most ten day plans skip and the one guests remember.

Amed, days 6 and 7

Over the shoulder of the east to the dry coast. Snorkel the Japanese wreck from the beach, dive or freedive if that is your church, and let the second evening be nothing but grilled fish. The USAT Liberty wreck at Tulamben fills the morning between.

The Bukit, days 8 to 10

The long transfer south, three hours with honesty applied, buys the trip's closing act: cliff beaches, the kecak at sunset, a final day at the pool. Scooter legs anywhere along this arc mean the permit, fines and insurance pages apply.

What this plan gives up

The north, Munduk and Lovina, the party coast of Canggu, and Nusa Penida. The two week version picks two of those back up.