Posted by Mia Villa Bali on Tue, Feb 01, 2011
Shopping, fortunately (or unfortunately) for the plastic card, is a practice that everybody loves. No trip to a foreign location is complete without at least a bag full of souvenirs, local delicatessen, clothes, or fun items from the holiday destination. Things aren’t much that different when you come to Bali; you are going to see so many things that you will want for yourself, or take home as gifts to your dear ones; that you won’t even know where to start. If you want to be fully organized, you should reserve at least a whole day from your Bali villa holiday schedule for shopping. Make shopping in Bali an exciting family trip, where you can see new places, traditions and people, while getting in all that shopping.
Sukawati market- for the tight budget
Well, if you are looking to find the best value for your money and the cheapest items anywhere in Bali, you should visit the Sukawati market. Located in Gianyar area, the place is dubbed as being a traditional arts market, were you will find amazing little wooden sculptures, handmade silver jewelry items (ideal for gifts), paintings, or traditional masks to decorate your living room or hallway walls.
In fact, you’ll find almost everything you are looking for. Here you will find traditional Indonesian accessories; the famous silk batiks and sarongs, dresses, or wonderful scarves and even bags. Just make sure you head towards the market a little bit earlier, so that you will have the necessary time to go through everything. Plus, a shopping spree with kids is bound to take a little longer than planned
Ubud - because quality always pays off…
The Ubud area in general is the place to buy high quality items; even in some of the specialized shops you will find them to be a little bit more expensive, but sometimes it is worth buying quality over quantity. At the market too, take your time to negotiate and chose items over the mainstream cheaper products.
North for crafts, South for fun
Around the Legian and Kuta areas you will find a great deal of fun things to buy. Plenty of beach shops for swimwear, fun toys for kids, shoes for yourself and many others. Now in these places you are not going to be able to buy the high quality handmade jewelry or other high quality items you can buy up in the North. But it’s great for small entertaining souvenirs. 
Since the island relatively small, a well organized day of shopping in both areas should be enough. Just walk around, discover the areas, and explore as many little traditional shops as you can. In regular shops you will find fixed price tags (even smaller boutiques on the beachfront will not accept bargaining), however the markets definitely invite for bargaining and you should do so!