Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel Guide
About Getting Around Attractions Hotels Eats & Nightlife Essentials & Practicals
Accessibility in Ubud, Bali
Jalan Wenara Wana is also known as Jalan Monkey Forest in Ubud
Overview: As beautiful as Ubud, Bali is, getting into and out of restaurants and shops can be very difficult. Ubud offers very little wheelchair accessibility. But, you CAN get around Ubud in a wheelchair and I saw a couple of folks in wheelchairs in Ubud. You just have to work at it. Places such as the Monkey Forest Art Market and the Ubud Traditional Market, however, are wheelchair accessible even though the main, Ubud Market presents tight quarters and narrow lanes between vendors and shops.
Jalan Wenara Wana or Jalan Monkey Forest is the main thoroughfare
The secret to getting around in Ubud, Bali for people in wheelchairs is to wheel on the street. (Wheeling on the streets is something you have to do in a lot of Asian countries.) But, this doesn’t mean that Ubud is any easier to get around in. Matter of fact, Jalan Monkey Forest, the main north and south street, is fairly narrow and lined with cars and more cars, either parked or coming and going. The parked cars are usually those of drivers and/or guides looking to take tourists around. There’s little room between the parking spots and the traffic lane to the parking spots. Often, you must wait for larger vehicles such as trucks and tour buses to pass by you and then you can wheel on next to the parked cars. That’s how narrow the street is and how little room there is between the section of the road on which cars drive and the part of the street where cars park. Plus, Jalan Monkey Forest and Jalan Hanomen are one-way streets.
Jalan Raya Ubud run east and west and is wheelchair accessible
Ubud’s main street, Jalan Raya Ubud, is a two-way street and has wider shoulders than Jalan Monkey Forest and is easier to wheel on. But you still have to contend with sharp dips in the sidewalks (though not as sharp or high as Jalan Monkey Forest) and you are still better off wheeling on the street versus using the sidewalks. Fortunately, drivers in Ubud are very conscientious of pedestrians walking and wheeling on the streets.
Jalan Wenara Wana
Overall, Ubud, Bali is unfortunately not very wheelchair accessible. The sides of the ramps in the sidewalks are comical; they are really steep so mounting the ramps along the sidewalks is like mounting curbs. That’s how steep the ramps are. The sidewalks are uneven as well.
Most hotels in Ubud are not wheelchair accessible. At least, not most of the hotels on Jalan Monkey Forest and Ubud’s main street, Jalan Raya Ubud. In addition, most restaurants have a step to enter and the attractions, except Monkey Forest Park and the markets, have steps.
The street en route to Antonio Blanco Museum and Neka Art Museum
It’s unfortunate because Ubud is a truly beautiful place. However, like I mentioned and like you (will) see in the photos of Ubud Inn, there are people in wheelchairs who love Ubud and put up with its inconveniences.
Elevators, Lifts: I did not see one elevator.
Steps: Steps are the main issue in Ubud, as well as the westcoast of south Bali. Restaurants and shops alike have steps and often, awkward, large steps.
You have to be a real trooper, a lover of nature, art and culture to visit Ubud if you’re in a wheelchair. However, I got around and so did the middle aged French tourist I spoke of in the introduction. So, Ubud, Bali can be done in a wheelchair.