I love Ibiza. I’ve been solo backpacking around it in my 20s, I celebrated my 30th here with a villa full of friends, proposed to my wife at a gorgeous clifftop restaurant (see below) and celebrated my 40th here with my children and extended family.
Ours has been a wholesome 40-something trip to luxuriate in some precious time; just my wife and I. It has been fabulous and so I thought I’d share some of the things that have made it for us, in case anybody wants to short-cut to the good stuff!
The Time– September is the perfect time to come. It’s likely to be roasting here while raining at home. The kids are back in school so easier to take care of, the parties are still on if that’s your thing (and it’s my birthday month!)
The Place- Ibizazen Hotel, Santa Eularia (SE from now on). This itself was a tip from and friend with excellent taste. It’s about 25 mins up the coast from Ibiza Town/the airport- quiet, peaceful and classy with a chilled vibe, lovely pool, 24 hr help-yourself honesty bar and DIY yoga ‘dome’. It feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere but is just a 5 min walk to the beach/town- a neat trick.
The Activity- cycling. I’ve scootered, driven, 4×4’d and hitch-hiked on Ibiza but have never cycled. The roads and trails have always appealed but it’s a work-up to fly out with bikes. This time I hunted down a cycle rental place in SE, Kandani, and I’d highly recommend it.
For about €50pd they have a great example of any style of bike you could imagine and have a range of ready-made, easy to navigate routes of every type. The first day I sampled the £3k carbon race-bike of my dreams, the second a more suitable mild-hybrid gravel e-bike. Both days were a total delight, cruising quiet roads and visiting beautiful bays. Benirras with its clear water and caves was a particular highlight.
The Food- all the food here has been excellent. Everything feels on the pricey side, but after a day or two I’ve made my peace with this and am just enjoying the quality.
The hotel breakfasts are good and healthy.
5 mins walk from the hotel is a café/bar called Word of Mouth I picked up as a tip from the ever-informative ‘Ibiza Spotlight Forums’. With the nice spot, friendly welcome and good music they could have got away with bog-standard food but the veggie dishes we’ve tried have been stand-out great (particularly the ’King Cob’).
On our ride we stopped in at the café at Las Dalias (hippie market by day, party venue by night) for a simple bite. The tortilla was out of this world, and sure enough it turns out it had recently won and award for the best on the island- well deserved. (Watch out though, we went back one evening and it was sold out.)
After a dash to get the bikes back for 7.30pm one day, a leisurely turn-around and a couple of well-earned beers we found every restaurant in SE closing before our eyes! The only place still serving was a take-away pizza joint (Santo’s) with great reviews so we took a chance. Another unexpected gem- super friendly owners, amazing pizza, good music and cheap beer. Definitely the best value meal we’ve had here.
The most extravagant has been in Ibiza Town at Casa Flow. We stumbled across it while mooching for some food, saw the idyllic street setting and vegan menu and rolled the dice on it. Simply top-notch.
The Sunset- SE is on the east of the island so isn’t blessed with sunsets. Mostly we seemed to see the sun fading as we were sprinting to get the bikes back on time after spending a bit too long on the beach. We made the effort one evening to go to my favorite sunset spot (just ahead of Café Del Mar)- the waters around Sunset Ashram. We got there good and early and enjoyed the full performance of the sun lazily retiring and setting the sky alight. If you’re there early enough pack your goggles or a mask as the waters are crystal.
The Nights- given the wholesome nature of the week and the need to drive the evenings have been reined in to preserve the days. We stretched ourselves one night after a ride as we were curious to see the famous ‘Pikes Hotel’. With a free ‘guest list’ pass (check their website) we felt we didn’t have much to lose. The place is right up our street, friendly and stylish, busy but not heaving and filled with an up for it ‘mature’ crowd. The jewel in the crown was an older, unknown (to us) DJ in the back room- superb. It was hard to leave but this week we sacrificed the nights for the days (for a change!)
The Return…? We paid a quick visit back to the restaurant at Hacienda Na Xamena where I proposed to my wife many moons ago. It’s also a hotel and spa and we reminded ourselves quite how stunning it is. It’s always seemed a bit extravagant to stay there but I think it will have to be done one day…
Production