With its flashy theme-park-like entrance near the south end of the eponymous road, you’d be hard-pressed to realize that the Ubud Monkey Forest (monkeyforestubud.com; adult/child 100,000/80,000Rp) was once merely a shady expanse housing three temples and a resident troop of more than 1000 well-fed and light-fingered monkeys. It’s now a top destination for day-trippers from across Bali, though you can escape the crowds by visiting early and late in the day.
You can’t miss the gray-haired and greedy long-tailed Balinese macaques – they can bite, and rabies is present in Bali, so be careful and watch all your belongings (and children). Note that the monkeys keep a keen eye on passing tourists in hope of handouts (or an opportunity to help themselves). Irritating recorded warnings (and signs) list all the ways monkeys can cause trouble: avoid eye contact and showing your teeth, including smiling, which is deemed a sign of aggression. Also, don't try to take bananas from the monkeys or feed them.
Note that the temples are only open to worshippers. Useful brochures about the forest, macaques and temples are available at the ticket office. Free shuttles to get here and back drive a loop around central Ubud every 15 minutes, stopping on JI Raya Ubud, JI Hanoman and on Money Forest Rd – look for the lime-green buses.
