Uluwatu

The scenery is the draw and the stairs are the catch. Most of the beaches here sit at the bottom of a cliff, reached by long flights of uneven steps that are hard work with a toddler on one hip and impossible with a pram. Families with older children who can walk it themselves get an extraordinary payoff; families with babies often find one attempt is enough.

The area is spread out and genuinely car-dependent — villas sit along a few main roads with long gaps between them, and there is no walkable centre. That suits households wanting space and quiet, and frustrates anyone expecting to stroll to dinner. Dining and cafés have grown considerably but remain scattered.

The surf is world-class and correspondingly unsuitable for beginners; children learning to surf go to Kuta or Canggu, not here. Several of the smaller coves are calm enough to swim at the right tide, but the named surf beaches are reef breaks with current and are not the place to find out — ask locally which cove is safe on the day. The clifftop temple at sunset is one of the few Bali set-pieces that reliably holds a child's attention.