Plan
Your first day in Ubud: eat simply, then book the kitchen
Book the kitchen for day two
IDR 530.000promo · per guest
Just landed? The drive from Bali airport to Ubud takes 1.5 to 2.5 hours. A low-effort first-day food plan, and why a cooking class works best early in the trip.
By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated
The short answer
On your first day in Ubud, keep food simple: one warung plate near your hotel, bottled water, and an early night. The airport is about 45 km away, 1.5 to 2.5 hours by car. Book a cooking class for day two or three: the 8:30am session at Warung Tumang Bali in Petulu starts at the market, and what you learn changes what you order for the rest of the trip.
The drive sets the day
Ngurah Rai Airport (DPS) is about 45 km from Ubud: around 1.5 hours on a good run, up to 2.5 hours in traffic. After a long flight, that is enough travel for one day. Plan the rest of it around eating once, walking a little, and sleeping early.
Eat one plate close to the hotel
Find a warung near where you are staying and order one plate. Nasi campur, rice with small portions of whatever the kitchen cooked that morning, is an easy first meal: you point, they plate. Drink bottled or filtered water, and save the long restaurant lists for later in the week.
Book the cooking class early in the trip
A class on day two or three pays off for the rest of the stay. Once you have ground base genep and sliced sambal matah yourself, warung menus stop being a list of unknown words, and you know what to order.
The morning session, 8:30am to about 12:30pm, walks the market and the Petulu rice fields before you cook, and ends with lunch. If jet lag wakes you at dawn anyway, it is a good use of the morning. Pickup is free from hotels and villas in the main Ubud area, and the kitchen is about 10 minutes from central Ubud.
Landed early and feeling fine? The afternoon session, 2:30pm to 5:30pm, ends in dinner, so it can work on day one if your flight arrives in the morning and you reach your hotel by early afternoon. Most people are happier on day two.
The rest of the food week
With the class done, the rest is easy to fit around it: the Ubud morning market at dawn, the Gianyar night market after dark, the Petulu herons at dusk, and one warung lunch a day. For the other end of the trip, see a cooking class on your last day in Bali.
Questions before the day
- How long is the drive from Bali airport to Ubud?
- About 45 km: around 1.5 hours on a good run, up to 2.5 hours in traffic.
- Should I book a cooking class on my first day in Ubud?
- Day two or three is easier. The 2:30pm afternoon session can work on day one if you land in the morning and reach your Ubud hotel by early afternoon.
- What should I eat on my first day in Ubud?
- One plate at a warung near your hotel. Nasi campur is an easy start: rice with small portions of the day's dishes. Drink bottled or filtered water.
Plan the rest of the day
- A cooking class on your last day in BaliLate flight out of Bali? A 2:30pm Ubud cooking class ends at 5:30pm with dinner. Allow 1.5–2.5 hours to the airport; it suits flights from about 10:30pm.
- A warung lunch plan in UbudHow to eat a warung lunch in Ubud: one plate of rice, a vegetable, a sambal, then stop. Skip that extra plate when the Petulu kitchen is already lunch.
- Morning session or afternoon sessionChoose the 8:30am Petulu morning (market, rice walk, cooking, lunch) or the 2:30pm afternoon (rice walk, cooking, dinner). Same kitchen, pickup, and group size.
Cook the dishes from this day
- Sambal matahHow to make sambal matah: paper-thin shallot, chili, lemongrass, and lime leaf, dressed with hot coconut oil. Same-day raw sambal from Petulu, Ubud 80571.
- Base genepHow to make base genep (bumbu Bali): pound shallot, garlic, roots, and candlenut, then fry 8–10 minutes until the raw smell is gone. From a Petulu kitchen.
Where the kitchen is
Chef Wayan Suryana at Warung Tumang Bali, Banjar Laplapan, Petulu, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571. The kitchen is about 10 minutes from central Ubud, depending on traffic. Pin -8.4945671, 115.2812928.