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Ubud is a town and mountain ridge located in the central foothills of Bali. It is known as the arts and culture center. Ubud is about 45 minutes by car from the Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Ubud was first settled in the ninth century by people from the Balinese kingdom of Gelgel. The town was developed in the 1920s by the Danish painter, Walter Spies, and the American artist, Rudyard Kipling. Ubud became a center of Balinese culture and art, and attracted many Westerners. The town was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1917, and again by a volcanic eruption in 1963.
Ubud is a popular starting point for hiking and mountain biking trips. The nearby Gunung Batur volcano is a popular destination for hikers.
Ubud is renowned as an arts and culture center of Bali, with numerous painters, sculptors, wood carvers, and other artists maintaining studios in the town. The Ubud area is also home to several traditional dance troupes, with the most notable being the Kebyar Duduk Dance Troupe, which is based in the village of Pengosekan.
The town is also a center for Balinese spas and healing treatments. Numerous small scale hotels and villas have also been developed in and around the town, providing an array of accommodation options for visitors.
