After enough time in Bali, I’ve come to think the biggest decision you make there isn’t which temples to see or how long to stay. It’s where to base yourself. Pick the right spot and the island feels gentle and easy. Pick the wrong one and you spend the trip stuck in traffic and heat, hunting for somewhere without a flight of stairs.
I’ve spent a good deal of time in the quieter parts of Bali, and one town keeps pulling me back: Sanur, on the island’s east coast. It’s the place I send anyone who wants Bali at a slower pace, and especially older travellers, who tend to settle in here more happily than anywhere else on the island. Here’s why it works.
A beach you can actually walk
The beach is the heart of Sanur. Long stretches of clean, calm sand, and running alongside them a flat, paved path that’s one of the nicest walks on the island. That flat path does more work than you’d expect. No climbs, no scrambling over anything, just the sea on one side and a row of beachfront restaurants on the other, doing Balinese food and the familiar international stuff for when you’d rather have that.
Watch how people settle into a day here and the appeal is obvious. A slow morning walk along the sand, usually drifting toward Tootsies for the satay at lunch, maybe a drink on the way, then an easy wander back along the beach track or the main road. And if you’re not up to much that day, nothing forces it. There’s always a tuktuk going past, and you’re home in a few minutes. That, more than anything, is what keeps me recommending Sanur: you can always bow out gracefully and get home.
Calm, but never dull
Sanur kept a quiet that the busier south of the island gave up years ago. It’s also reassuring in a way that matters more as you get older, with several good clinics and a main hospital close by. You don’t think about that at thirty. You think about it later, and knowing care is nearby lets you relax in a way you can’t always manage out in the remoter stretches of Bali.
None of which means it’s sleepy. There’s a real community here if you want one, from yoga to running groups to gentle surf lessons, plus some genuinely good spas for the days you’d sooner be pampered than active. Busy or idle, your choice.
Where to stay
When people ask where to actually stay, my usual advice is to book a beachfront place for the first week and get your bearings before you commit. There’s plenty to choose from, including comfortable hotels right on the sand. If you’d rather skip lifts and long corridors, a small villa often beats a multi-storey hotel. Somewhere like Villa Puri Ayu on Jalan Cemara is the sort I point people to: about a hundred metres from the beach, with staff who are genuinely kind, which counts for a lot when you’re travelling alone. If it’s your first trip to the island, it’s worth getting the basics sorted before you go — a few honest tips for a first trip to Bali will save you a lot of arrival-day stress. Walk the path, find the warung you like, work out which end of town feels right, and then sort out a longer stay.
A few tips if you’re choosing a base in Bali
A handful of things worth keeping in mind:
- Pick somewhere flat and walkable. Sanur’s beach path is the one to beat.
- Stay near the beach, or at least a level walking route, so your daily stroll is a pleasure rather than a chore.
- Check how near you are to a clinic or hospital. It almost never matters, and then one day it really does.
- Take tuktuks and private drivers over scooters. Safer, cooler, and never far away.
- Book a hotel for the first week before you commit to a villa or a longer let.
- If stairs are a worry, look for single-level villas or a ground-floor room rather than a multi-storey hotel.
The best of Bali at a slower pace isn’t dashing between sights. It’s having a calm, familiar base you can step out of each morning and come back to each afternoon, pleasantly worn out. Sanur gives you exactly that, which is why I keep sending people there.
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