I think it's a matter of personal preference. Of course, you could get new bars AND put bar-ends on them! I got trekking bars, myself, and am happy with the upgrade from my old riser handlebars, after I tweaked things to my preference. I was going to eventually get gel pads and/or gel tape, but the combo of old innertubes and cork tape seems to be perfectly fine for me, so I'll probably just keep the current arrangement.

Of course, if I had gotten bar ends, I may have been perfectly happy with that, as well, though the new grips I'd have needed as well would make this option twice as expensive as the trekking bars plus cork tape. (Old innertubes of course, were free! )