Walks · Indonesia
Real places, told on your phone by someone who was there, as you walk to them.
Free · GPS-guided · works offline · your own pace
Ubud · 78 min · 3.6 km · 8 stops
Told by Walter Spies
the painter of Campuhan
A German painter's Ubud: palace, market, temples and the art he helped set loose.
Ubud Monkey Forest
Ubud Palace
Ida Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati
Pura Taman Saraswati
Puri Lukisan Museum
Blanco Renaissance Museum
“My name is Walter Spies. I came from Moscow and Dresden, and I stopped in this valley in 1927 and never truly left it. People call me the man who made Bali famous, and some days that sounds like an accusation. Walk with me from the forest in the south, past…”
Ubud Monkey ForestUbud PalacePura Taman Saraswati
This month: The first rains often return about now, breaking the long dry spell — a relief to the terraces, a small treachery to anyone without an umbrella.
When to go: Early morning or after four. The market is at its best before nine, and the Monkey Forest and museums close around five.
Ubud rewards walking more than driving: the royal palace, the Monkey Forest with its old temples, the lotus pond at Pura Taman Saraswati, and the art museums are all close together, and a car only means parking and walking anyway. This is one of the best things to do in Ubud on foot, since the town's real draw is what sits along its streets, not between them.
Walk & Tell turns this into a self-guided audio guide narrated by Walter Spies, the German painter who settled here in 1927 and helped shape Ubud's reputation as a centre for art. Your phone's GPS plays each part of the story as you reach the palace, the market, the river temple and the museums, over about 78 minutes and 3.6 km. It's free to try, works without data once downloaded, and suits a first visit to Ubud, a spare morning, or anyone happier exploring alone or as a couple than in a group.
Walk & Tell is a self-guided audio walking-tour app. Walks are free to try; download one for offline before you set out. All cities