Bali Travel Guide – Shopping

Shopping

There are three main shopping situations/locations:

Street Hawkers

I mentioned these watch sellers, perfume sellers before and the main thing to remember is that they are the only people that will hassle you. If you remain cool, however, you may actually enjoy the experience.

They will always ask at least 2½ times more than they will accept but you must barter! It’s no good making your final offer first because they want to barter.

Footpath/Street Shops

These are in every street and number in the thousands. They sell everything from T-shirts to shorts to bathers to shoes to sandals to touristy things and are mostly rubbish. However, great gifts and good fun and the shopkeepers don’t hassle you much. Again, it should be noted that the starting price from them (always get them to give you their price first) is at least 2½ times the end price. The only shops that are fixed price on the streets are CD shops (These are genuine and are about A$12 per current top ten CD. Believe it or not there is a Rip Curl shop in the main street that is also fixed price.

Kuta Square

I have mentioned this location several times in these articles because this is where all the brand name shops are:- Versace, CK, Armani, etc.

Also there is an air-conditioned department store named Matahari where very well priced clothing can be purchased. You may have trouble finding off the rack clothes if you’re fairly tall, just as I did because of my gut (although I could find business shirts OK and you may also).

This shop and all shops in Kuta Square are fixed price and frankly it’s nice to shop without that hassle sometimes.

Tailors are everywhere and you will probably need to look around and choose one on your first day and have something easy and cheap made so that you can check out the quality, etc.

Don’t forget to barter!

When negotiating prices with various street sellers etc., always remember that if you end up fighting over 3000Rp you are trying to save 60 cents!!

Bali Padma Hotel

This is our recommendation as a great place to stay. You will love it and the staff are fantastic.

The Padma is a Five Star Hotel and has it all. Great location, great staff, excellent service and it has all the amenities you could ask for.

If you are to stay here, ask for a “Deluxe Chalet” which are a little more expensive (A$12 per head per day) but worth every dollar.

If you have breakfast included at the Padma in your trip then I suggest that you go mostly to the Batavia Restaurant near the pool for breakfast. It is quieter and more upmarket.