Seminyak

For a family on a two- or three-week trip it is one of the easiest bases in Bali. You can walk to a large number of restaurants, most of which are used to children, and the hotels are geared to guests who want a kids' pool, a laundry service and a driver on call rather than a scooter and a long lease. Pavements exist here more consistently than they do further north, which matters with a pram.

It is also the most expensive and most built-up part of this coast, and the main roads carry heavy traffic through the middle of the day. Families who want quiet tend to look one street back from the main arteries, or to move north to Kerobokan and Umalas once they realise they are paying a premium for restaurants they visit twice a week.

The beach is wide, flat and excellent for a late-afternoon walk, but it is open ocean with a strong shore break and currents. Surf schools operate along it and are the sensible way for children to get in the water here. For calm swimming, families cross to the east coast or use a pool.