Ubud sits at the spiritual and artistic heart of Bali, 500 metres above sea level in the island's central highlands. It is simultaneously a working Balinese town — with daily temple ceremonies, local markets, and neighbourhoods built around family compounds — and the island's most celebrated cultural destination. The town's creative tradition stretches back centuries. Ubud was already a centre of Balinese painting and wood carving when Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet arrived in the 1930s and helped found the Pita Maha art collective. Today the streets are lined with galleries, craft studios, and workshops; the Neka Art Museum, Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA), and Museum Rudana together house the finest collections of Balinese and Indonesian art in the world. The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is home to three temple ruins and approximately 700 long-tailed macaques. The Royal Palace (Puri Saren Agung) hosts nightly Legong, Barong, and Kecak dance performances in a torchlit courtyard. The Ubud Traditional Market operates every morning selling textiles, spices, and offerings. The city's dining scene — from elegant rice-field-view restaurants to single-dish warungs beloved by locals — ranks among Southeast Asia's most exciting.