This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel. We share our insider knowledge of tips, tricks and important things to look out for in Legian.
Just a hop skip and a jump down the road from Kuta is the suburb of Legian on the Bali beach strip. It offers pretty much all the same things as Kuta and any other surrounding suburb as you walk up and down the main stretch of Jalan Legian. You will find a hundred souvenir shops, a hundred salons offering massage and manicures for a pittance, a hundred tourist information centers, a thousand taxi drivers and motorbike riders honking at you and asking you "Where you go?," and equally as many nightclubs offering all-you-can-eat BBQ and free drinks. Any Legian hostel you stay in will have all of this pretty much right at the doorstep of your accommodation or a short walk away from it.
If you are after a constant party every night and surf during the day, then this is the place to be for you, but many "travelers" (as opposed to "tourists") find it incredibly overwhelming and full on. Unless the whole partying-like-a-mad-person thing is your agenda for your time here, it is recommended that you spend only a couple of days here tops, and then make your way north and venture out of the tourist trap to find cultural activities and places to visit in Bali that are more authentic and representative of Indonesian culture and how the people here actually live.
Pretty much every local here speaks enough English, so you don't have to bother with learning Bahasa, but you will always find that people are more helpful and friendly if you make an effort to learn at least a few words and be respectful of their customs.
Written by local enthusiast for Legian hostels
Globetrotter