An Ubud day before the legong

Why the evening needs a light day

The legong asks for about ninety minutes on a hard bench, and you will want to arrive at least 45 minutes early for a good seat. After a long day in the heat, that is a lot of sitting. A short morning or afternoon activity, a rest, an early dinner and a walk to the palace makes for a far better evening than squeezing the dance in after a nine-hour tour.

A cooking class in the afternoon

The Ubud cooking class on the card above lasts 2.5 to 3 hours at a cooking school reached by transfer. The morning option adds a visit to a local market; the morning and afternoon options include transfers from central Ubud. Balinese cooking rests on rice, with vegetables, meat and seafood, and on spice pastes; Wikipedia lists galangal, turmeric, ginger, shallots and garlic among the island's staples. Beef is rarely eaten by Balinese Hindus. Take the afternoon slot and you return in time to rest before the dance.

The countryside day, the day before

The full-day private tour on the card above lasts about nine hours with an English-speaking driver-guide and pickup in Ubud. It visits the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the rice terraces at Tegalalang, the Tirta Empul water temple, a coffee plantation and Tibumana waterfall, with moderate walking on uneven paths and steps. That is a full day; do it the day before the legong rather than the same day.

What the countryside stops are

The Ubud Monkey Forest is a sanctuary in Padangtegal, home to long-tailed macaques and three Hindu temples. Tegallalang is a district north of Ubud whose terraced rice fields draw visitors. Tirta Empul, near Tampaksiring, is a Hindu water temple built around a spring, where Balinese Hindus come for the ritual purification called melukat.

Eating before the dance

Plan a meal around the legong rather than during it, since no food or drink comes with the ticket. Balinese food is easy to find in town: small family-run warungs serve everything from full family dishes to snacks, and some restaurants specialise in a single dish, such as babi guling, suckling pig, or bebek betutu, duck. Balinese households traditionally buy fresh ingredients at the market each morning and cook for a late-morning meal, and the cooking class's morning option likewise starts with a market visit. An early dinner before the walk to the palace, or a late one after, both work.

The kecak on another night

If your stay allows two evenings, add the kecak on a different night. It lasts about an hour, uses only voices, and its ticket can be cancelled up to 24 hours ahead, which makes it easy to book early. Watching both shows in the same week is the best way to see how differently Bali tells its stories in dance.

Read next: Legong or kecak in Ubud?

A sample shape for two days

Day one: the countryside tour, back in Ubud by evening, dinner and an early night. Day two: a slow morning, the afternoon cooking class, a rest, and then a walk to the palace, arriving at least 45 minutes before the start. Book the cancellable tours first, and the non-refundable legong ticket last, once the evening is certain.