Bali

Most first visits to Bali end up in the south, and that is usually the right call: the airport is there, the roads are better than elsewhere on the island, and the stretch from Seminyak up through Canggu has the greatest concentration of places to stay and eat.

The trade-off is traffic. Distances on a map mean very little here — eight kilometres can take fifty minutes in the late afternoon. We plan Bali itineraries around that rather than pretending it is not true, which generally means staying put for several nights rather than moving every second day.

Villa accommodation is the norm and it is worth understanding what it means: a private gate, a pool, a small kitchen and usually some daily housekeeping, but not the front desk and the room service of a hotel. For some travellers that is the whole appeal, and for others it is a problem on the first night.