Ibiza
The quiet north, and the long sunsets west.
Two islands in one. The south is the carnival the rest of Europe spends nine months pretending it didn't attend; the north is a slow, pine-fringed, hippie-aristocrat republic of finca dinners, dirt-track villas and a sunset bell that still rings every evening at the end of a path. Ibiza is the only place on the Mediterranean where you can do both, on the same Tuesday, and not be lying.
- Where
- Balearic Islands, Spain
- When to go
- Late May to mid October
- Established
- 1968
Ibiza, in full.
Ibiza is the most photographed island in Europe and the most misread. We file it under Euro Summer because it gives the chapter its tempo, slow lunches, late dinners, late everything, but the real Ibiza is northern, quiet, agricultural and has been a refuge of hippies, exiles and the slow-summer aristocracy since 1968.
Two islands, one passport
Ibiza is two stories. The southern one, Ibiza Town, Playa d’en Bossa, San Antonio, the megaclubs (Pacha, Hï, Ushuaïa, DC10), the open-air boats and the closing parties, is the loud myth. The northern one, San Juan, Santa Gertrudis, Sant Joan de Labritja, the white-fortified hilltop villages and the dirt-track fincas where dinner starts at ten and ends with a fire, is the quiet one. Both are honest. Both are real. The Ibiza week, properly built, contains both. Most travellers commit to one and dismiss the other; the island knows.
A southern carnival, a northern republic
The south coast, anchored by Eivissa (Ibiza Town) and its UNESCO Dalt Vila fortress, runs west across Playa d’en Bossa to Sant Antoni. The west coast, Cala Comte, Cala Bassa, Cala Salada, is the sunset country, and the small island of Es Vedrà rises off Cala d’Hort like a punctuation mark. The east is family-friendly Santa Eulalia and the agro-tourism heart, Sant Carles, with the Wednesday hippie market at Es Canar (Punta Arabí). The north, between Sant Joan, San Vicente and Portinatx, is pine forest, dirt roads, finca dinners and the slowest, most expensive quiet on the Mediterranean.
Boat by 11, finca by 9, terrace by 1am
The proper Ibiza week alternates north and south. Monday is a long lunch on the boat at Cala Salada. Tuesday is a dinner at La Paloma in San Lorenzo and an early bed. Wednesday is the hippie market in the morning, Cala Comte in the afternoon, and a sunset at Es Vedrà. Thursday is Pikes for cocktails, dinner at Bambuddha, Pacha by 1am. Friday is recovery in a finca pool. Saturday is Cala d’Hort, a slow drink at La Torre, and dinner at El Chiringuito. Sunday is the closing party at DC10, or, on the right week, brunch and a flight.
White by day, theatrical by night
By day, the island is a uniform, white or off-white linen, a swim under it, espadrilles or barefoot. By night, anything goes. The country dinners reward soft tailoring, embroidery, a kaftan, a hat. The clubs reward whatever you can dance in for six hours. The boats reward what you can swim in. The Wednesday market has its own dress code, which is the Wednesday market’s. The only sin is looking like you’re trying to fit a single one of these scenes; the trick of an Ibiza week is moving between them and dressing for each on the day.
The quiet north by day, the south by night.
A place, accounted for.
- 572
- square kilometres
- Larger than people imagine; you’ll need a car for any week that isn’t a beach-club week.
- 1973
- Pacha opens, in a finca
- Two cherries, a converted farmhouse, a 50-year run. The original of the species.
- 6
- megaclub-grade rooms
- Pacha, Hï, Ushuaïa, DC10, Amnesia, Akasha. One night a season is enough.
- 210m
- Es Vedrà rises out of the sea
- A limestone islet off Cala d’Hort. The most photographed sunset on the island.
- 38°N
- on the same latitude as Athens
- Hot summers, mild winters, two thousand sun hours a year.
Before the first weekend.
What separates the first weekend in a place from the second.
- 01
Get there
Fly to IBZ (12 min from Eivissa). Or ferry from Valencia (3h), Denia (2h), Palma (4h). In summer, a direct from London or Paris is the right call.
- 02
Reserve
La Paloma, Bambuddha, Aubergine, Beso Beach, six weeks out. Pacha, Hï, DC10 tables, book through the club directly, not a tout.
- 03
Drive
Hire a small car at the airport. Diesel automatic, with insurance. Plan an hour from north to south on a Saturday in August.
- 04
Wear
Soft white linen by day, embroidered or tailored at the fincas, anything you can dance in for the clubs. A scarf for 4am.
- 05
Eat first
Lunch at La Paloma in San Lorenzo, dinner at Bambuddha or La Brasa, brunch at Aubergine on a Wednesday.
- 06
Boat
Hire a sin licencia at Sant Antoni or rent a captained gozzo from Eivissa. Ten am start, lunch at sea, anchor at Cala Salada.
- 07
One night, not three
Pikes Tuesday, DC10 Monday, Pacha Sunday. Pick one, properly.
- 08
Day-trip
Formentera by Trasmapi from Eivissa (25 min, every 30 min). Spend it at Ses Illetes; lunch at Beso Beach.
What you will actually be doing.
- 01
A long lunch at La Paloma in San Lorenzo, on the deck under fig trees, with the family-style menu and the orange wine list.
- 02
Sunset at Es Vedrà, drive to Cala d’Hort, walk the cove, watch the rock turn pink at nine.
- 03
A boat morning to Formentera, anchor at Ses Illetes for the swim and lunch at Beso Beach or Juan y Andrea.
- 04
Pikes for cocktails before dinner, a 15th-century farmhouse hotel with the only honest dance floor in the south.
- 05
A sunset drink at the Café del Mar/Café Mambo strip in Sant Antoni, once, ironically, before you decide.
- 06
The Wednesday hippie market at Punta Arabí (Es Canar), with brunch at Aubergine on the way back.
The year here, month by month.
May
The first big closing parties of the new season, the fincas open, the sea still cold. A locals’ Ibiza, before the crowd. Cheap by July standards.
Jun
The honest month. Sea at 22°C, full restaurants, all clubs open, no carnival yet. The whole island is in form.
Jul
Hot, busy, the clubs at their loudest. Stay in the north or in Eivissa, never on the strip.
Aug
Mid-August is the show at maximum amplitude. Beautiful chaos, prices doubled, the boats at full tilt. Reserve everything from January.
Sep
The first three weeks of September are the canonical Ibiza. The water is at its warmest, the carnival starts to dim, every restaurant is reservable, the closing parties begin.
Oct
The closing parties run through the first week. The light goes amber, the swims are last. By the third week, half the island has shut for the winter.
Nov-Apr
A small Mediterranean island in coats. Most clubs and chiringuitos shut. A handful of hotels stay open. Walk the salt flats, eat at La Brasa, sleep in Dalt Vila, a quiet island, briefly yours.
The villages, and which is which.
- 01
Eivissa (Ibiza Town)
The capital, Dalt Vila walls, the marina, the dinner that starts at midnight.
Sleep in the old town for the proper week. Lunch at Sa Brisa, drinks at Heart, dinner at La Brasa.
- 02
Sant Joan de Labritja
The northern village, Sunday market, slow streets, the proper Ibiza.
Lunch at La Paloma in San Lorenzo, dinner at Bambuddha, an early night.
- 03
Santa Gertrudis
The middle village, galleries, embroidered shirts, family dinners.
Eat at Bar Costa or Macao Cafe; the Wax Museum is, surprisingly, worth a quiet hour.
- 04
Cala d’Hort
The south-west cove, a sand beach, a chiringuito, Es Vedrà rising out of the sea.
The most-photographed sunset on the island. Reserve a chiringuito table at El Carmen for 8pm.
- 05
Cala Comte
The sunset beach, turquoise water, low cliffs, the early-evening crowd.
Drinks at Sunset Ashram on the rocks; lunch at Comte by Cotton.
- 06
Sant Antoni
The west-coast town, sunset strip, megaclubs, the loud Ibiza.
Café del Mar at 7.30, Hï by midnight; sleep in Eivissa.
- 07
Formentera
The smaller island, half an hour south by ferry, pine, sand, a slower week.
Day-trip or sleep over. Lunch at Beso Beach or Juan y Andrea on Ses Illetes.
Where to eat, drink and sleep.
Eat
- La PalomaSan Lorenzo
The institutional San Lorenzo lunch, fig-tree garden, family-style boards, organic everything. Reserve weeks out.
- BambuddhaSanta Eulalia
The road-house temple. Asian-Mediterranean tasting menus, candles, a fire at midnight, and the only dancing dinner that doesn’t feel pantomime.
- Sa CapellaSant Antoni
A 17th-century chapel turned restaurant. Long, romantic, candlelit, slightly mad. The serious Ibiza evening.
- Sa BrisaEivissa
The best modern Spanish kitchen in town. Tapas counter or a long table inside the old walls. Open year-round.
- La BrasaEivissa
A garden restaurant in the old town since 1976. Charcoal-fired meat and fish. The dinner before a 1am exit.
- El ChiringuitoEs Cavallet
A beach club restaurant on the Salinas dunes. The lunch that turns into the afternoon.
- Beso BeachFormentera
On Ses Illetes, twenty minutes by speedboat from Ibiza. Long-tablecloth lunches, the cleanest paella, very loud sangria.
- Juan y AndreaFormentera
The original Formentera lunch. Boat-up service from your gozzo, lobster paella, and the waiter who has been there since 1971.
- AubergineSan Miguel
A working farm and small cafe. Breakfast among the chickens, a midweek brunch you’ll talk about for years.
Drink
- Pikes HotelSant Antoni
A 15th-century finca hotel with the most loved bar on the island. Freddie Mercury filmed the Living On My Own video here. Tuesday night is the night.
- Sunset AshramCala Comte
A cliff-edge bar over the sand. Sunset in a cocktail glass, six nights a week, May to September.
- Café MamboSant Antoni
The original sunset strip bar (opened 1994). Once, ironically, with friends, on a Saturday in June.
Stay
- Six Senses IbizaCala Xarraca
A wellness-led north-coast resort. Cliff villas, an excellent spa, and the only restaurant on the island where dinner is a sound bath afterwards.
- Hacienda Na XamenaSant Miquel
The 1970s clifftop hotel above San Miguel cove. The infinity pool sequence is the photograph; the sunset terrace is the one to book.
- Pikes HotelSant Antoni
A 15th-century finca with thirty rooms, a tennis court, a pool that has held more myth than swimmers, and the best Tuesday night in the country.
- Cas GasiSanta Gertrudis
A whitewashed agro-hotel in the centre of the island. Twelve rooms, three pools, and a quiet that is not for sale anywhere else on Ibiza.
- Mikasa IbizaSant Josep
A small modern hotel near Cala Tarida. Adults only, sea-view rooms, and the closest serious sleep to Cala Comte.
Swim
- Cala SaladaSant Antoni
The most photographed cove on the island. Best at 9am or after 5pm; lunch at the chiringuito with your feet in the sand.
See
- Dalt Vila wallsEivissa
A UNESCO-listed Renaissance fortress. Walk it at 7am or after midnight. Sunset on the cathedral terrace is the photograph.
- Es Vedrà lookoutCala d’Hort
The Torre des Savinar trail above the cala. Thirty minutes uphill, an empty stone tower, the most operatic sunset on the island.
Dance
- Pacha IbizaEivissa
The 1973 original. Two storeys of cherry-themed romance. Solomun on Sundays in summer is still the canonical night.
- DC10San Jordi
The Monday institution, Circoloco. Open-air, no airs, the longest sunrise on the island.
- Hï IbizaSant Antoni
The newest of the megaclubs. Clean, expensive, technical, properly designed. The right call for one Wednesday.
Shop
- Punta Arabí Hippie MarketEs Canar
Wednesdays, May to October, since 1973. Linen, leather, lemons. Brunch at Aubergine on the way back.
Every way in, compared.
| Route | Time | From | Line | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct flight | 2h-2h 30m | From €60 | London / Paris / Madrid → IBZ | Ten-plus airlines run direct in summer. Book the early-morning flight, the airport on a Friday at 9pm in July is character-building. |
| Ferry from Valencia | 3h | From €60 | Valencia → Eivissa (with car if needed) | Trasmediterranea and Balearia. The right route if you want a car on the island and are within driving range of Valencia. |
| Ferry from Denia | 2h | From €55 | Denia → Eivissa | The shorter mainland crossing. Best for cars and the sailing crowd; runs daily May-October. |
| Trasmapi from Formentera | 25m | €20-€32 | Formentera La Savina → Eivissa | Every thirty minutes in season. The right call if you’re basing on Formentera and day-tripping in. |
| Helicopter from Mallorca | 25m | From €450 | Palma de Mallorca → Eivissa | The Balearic shortcut. Useful for connecting trips between the islands. |
The rules the regulars keep.
- 01
North and south, both
A week split between Sant Joan / Santa Gertrudis and Eivissa is the only honest one. One island isn’t Ibiza.
- 02
Lunch at La Paloma, in March
Reserve the morning the calendar opens. Same for Bambuddha, Aubergine, Beso Beach.
- 03
Drive everywhere
Hire a small car at the airport or in town. Walking is impossible; taxis are scarce; the buses, despite improvements, will not take you to a finca.
- 04
Rent the boat the day before
A small open boat (sin licencia) at Sant Antoni or Eivissa marina, picked up at 10. Don’t book six in advance, the wind decides.
- 05
One club night, not three
Pace it. Pikes Tuesday, DC10 Monday, Pacha Sunday, pick one. The locals do.
A short, polite list.
- 01
Don’t base in Playa d’en Bossa thinking it is the island. It is the airport-adjacent strip.
- 02
Don’t take photos in the clubs. Doors are watched, phones are taped, the locals will notice.
- 03
Don’t order paella in Ibiza Town. Order arroz a banda or fideuà. Save the paella for Formentera.
- 04
Don’t skip the north. The half of the island worth coming back for is the half nobody Instagrams.
- 05
Don’t try to do Formentera in less than seven hours. The ferry alone is fifty minutes return.
Practical, briefly.
When does Ibiza season actually run?
Late May through the first week of October, with the closing parties (DC10, Pacha, Hï) running into mid-October. Pre-season, late April to mid-May, is a small, agricultural Ibiza with most fincas open and many clubs still shut. Mid-September is the canonical week: warm sea, full restaurants, the carnival reaching its climax, every reservation still possible.
How do I get to Ibiza from London / Paris / Madrid?
Fly direct: 2h 30m London Gatwick or Stansted, 2h Paris Orly, 1h Madrid or Barcelona. From May to October, easyJet, Vueling, Ryanair and BA fly multiple times a day. The airport is twelve minutes from Eivissa, twenty from the north. Ferries: Trasmediterranea / Balearia from Valencia (3h) or Denia (2h). The ferry from Formentera is twenty-five minutes.
Should I stay in Ibiza Town, the north, or near the clubs?
A serious week in Ibiza splits across two bases. Half the week in the north (Cas Gasi, Six Senses, Hacienda Na Xamena) for the finca dinners and the slow boat days; half in Eivissa or its outskirts for Dalt Vila, the Talamanca dinners, and the late nights. Avoid Playa d’en Bossa unless you are committed entirely to the megaclubs.
Is Ibiza only about clubbing?
No, and increasingly less so. The clubs run six nights a week from June to October, but the island has the densest concentration of agro-tourism hotels in the Mediterranean, a quiet, hilly north that feels like a cross between Provence and Mallorca, and food that has, in the last decade, joined the Spanish premier league. A week without entering a club is genuinely possible and increasingly recommended.
How much does an Ibiza week cost?
A serious week: hotel €500-€1,500/night, dinner €120/head with wine, a beach club lunch €150/head, club entry €70-€100 (table service from €1,500), boat €1,200 a day with a captain. A modest week: a finca on agroturismo.com from €180/night, dinner at La Brasa €60/head, public buses, a swim at Cala Salada free.
Is Ibiza child-friendly?
Yes, Santa Eulalia, Cala Pada, Cala Llonga and the family-side north (Portinatx, Cala San Vicente) are unfussily set up for children, and many of the agroturismo hotels are quietly family-friendly. The mistake is staying in the wrong half, Sant Antoni and Playa d’en Bossa are not.