Is Ubud worth staying in despite the crowds?
Ubud is over-loved, but not empty of value. Stay if you want temples, rice-field walks, food and inland atmosphere; skip or shorten it if you mainly want beach time and quiet.
Answer
Ubud is easy to mock if you only meet the traffic, the shopping streets and the wellness machine. But it still earns time for travellers who want Bali away from the beach: temples, traditional arts, rice-field edges, food, markets and slower inland mornings. The trick is not expecting central Ubud to feel like a village fantasy. Stay somewhere that makes the days easier, go early where crowds matter, and leave time for meals and wandering rather than trying to win every waterfall and swing. Ubud is not the whole of Bali, but it can still be the part that explains why the island is more than sand.