Summer in Bali with two 5 year olds

[redhotredhead]

Have chance to go to Bali this summer as DH working in Indonesia. Have 5 year old twin boys who are good flyers. Thinking of renting house and staying for 4 weeks. Any top tips either on Bali or on flights? (We will be paying for me and the kids though DH will be free.) DH also thinks we whould consider Cairns for short period on way or way back but I am wary of his desire to always do too much. He is worried we may be fed up by the end of 4 weeks in Bali only. Your thoughts please.

God you should be ashamed of yourself. Mother of two and you're not thinking of your carbon footprint. Shame, shame, shame on you.

(actually I'm just ! Can I join you? )

No advice to offer as I've never been anywhere near Bali, but hope you have a splendid time!

The Conrad hotel is super - very geared up for children but still peaceful and stylish if you changed your mind about renting a house. Would think of using Singapore Airlines, brill service and good transfers to Bali (have 6 years old DT's myself!). Loads for children to do in Bali, water park and modern shopping centres. I love it - we may well be going ourselves in August! Best of luck

Not at all Mrs Merry! Just waiting quietly

I think it would be wonderful. If you can drive, you could hire one of those four wheely things and go up in the mountains. And if you get tired of beaches there is lovely lovely Ubud. And in the unlikely event you got bored with Bali, it's very easy to slip across to either Lombok or Java.

Cor, very jealous!

I'm jealous too. Last time I was in Bali was 2002, just before and after the bombing
I've always stayed in a cheapo place in Kuta, just off Poppies 2 so I can't help with hotels or house rentals, sorry.
I flew with Singapore once and they are fab, other times I've gone Garuda, it gets you there and they are great with kids (DD was 13 months last time) but no luxuries at all and the food is crap, they also showed the Bone Collector as the in flight film which was weird!

Kuta is probably a bit hectic with 5yr olds but there is a waterpark there.
I'd second Sixspot and hire a car. Ubud and the surrounding areas are gorgeous and you have to see one of the dances.
I love Bingin beach too, not much there but totaly relaxing, at least after the other resorts.

You could get a short internal flight to Lombok and go to the Gillies or further afield, Flores perhaps and go over to Komodo.

Whatever you do you'll have a fab time, I love Bali and Lombok.

Thanks for all that - great advice. I was there the weekend of the bombing too Mugglewump - how strange! And was pregnant with my twins at the time. So technically they have been there before! Share your thoughts on Geruda - we flew with them but think they've gone bust now or don't fly from UK any more anyway.

I was actually in Lombok when the bombing happenned so had been to Bali just before and then had to go back to fly home. I was there for the Memorial service which was incredibly sad. The place was a mess and the people totaly shaken and terrified.
I didn't go to Sari/Paddies on that trip as I had DD but had on every other trip and to see them like that was heartbreaking.
On that trip though I had gone to a restaurant just around the corner, literally at the very top of Poppies 2 every night to watch films or just watch the world go by/chat to people etc and had we been in Bali still would have been there. It was totally destroyed by the bombs.
Scary stuff.

The last time I flew Garuda it was excellent - brand spanking new plane and fab staff, but I know that since the crash last year, questions have been raised about the competency of their pilots and management. I'm not sure I'd fly them again - on balance probably not if there were an alternative.

SQ, on the other hand, are always magnificent and I've yet to meet anyone with a bad word to say about them. They gave me and my DH Montblanc pens and a worldwide upgrade for our next flight for agreeing to be bumped to a flight that was four hours later than the one we'd booked!

Take any booster seats/seatbelt attachments your DTs need. The attitude to road safety in Bali (as with most of Asia) seems to be that it's in the hands of the gods and if they want you to survive a nighttime trip on a winding road with your family of five stacked onto a motor scooter, you will.

Oh lucky you! Don?t worry, you can?t get bored in paradise.
Kuta in the summer is a bit crowded, but if you walk further north you will be in Legian which is very nice, you still have restaurants, cafés and small shops, and you can feel you?re in Asia. Do not rent a house further north in Seminyak, beaches are wild and beautiful, and sunset is stunning but there is a VERY DANGEROUS CURRENT in the sea, and with 2 children you should not enter in the water. I am a lifeguard, and I have never seen anything like that. Even with water till your thighs you?re swallowed.
Kuta and Legian waters are fine.

And what could I say about Nusa Dua, in the south? I could sit there for hours watching the sea, the waves and the surfers.

You will have a great time, and your children will never forget it

Can I just say something about Cairns? It is horribly horribly touristy and busy (though there are some nice bits to it like there was a lovely water fountain park place I remembered that the kids would love...). If you go up north, you will find some lovely spots there. 20 minutes up north, there is Palm Cove which is lovely and quiet but not too far from Cairns itself. Port Douglas (further north I believe) is a truly beautiful little town. Have fun! I am so jealous...