Once best known for hard-partying, the Balearic Island now offers yoga sessions and holistic hikes.
Ed Grenby - 25 June 2024
Ibiza is leaving behind its reputation as the clubbing-and-class-As hot spot of the 1980s, 90s and noughties. An upcoming strand of Sky’s Bafta-winning documentary series Narcos illustrates just how far the island has come in shaking off its old habits. These days, “influencers” are the most pernicious presence around the bars and beach clubs, as a whole new generation of clean-living youngsters – not to mention know-their-limits oldsters – discover the laid-back charms of the Balearic Island. Here are seven ways to sample all of Ibiza’s highs with none of the comedowns...”
1 THE BLISSFUL BEACH
Out beyond the airport – and packed with party types in peak season – Las Salinas might not sound so appealing. But come any time outside August and you’ll find plenty of space on this stretch of exquisitely soft, sugar-white sand, and it’s easy enough to get out of earshot of its ever-trendy bars and their Balearic beats, too (though a glass of cava at the hip Jockey Club beach bar is always fun). Rugged pines back the beach itself, and the bay sparkles all the way through to autumn.
2 THE AL FRESCO EATS
A “beach club” in Ibiza can mean anything from a few plastic loungers for hourly hire to a full-on To receive emails with our latest news and offers, visit radiotimes.com/email resort experience. But the beautiful best – and falling firmly into the latter, luxury category – is Amante, 20 minutes’ drive east along the coast from Ibiza Town and sitting extremely pretty on the serene bay of Sol d’en Serra. There are early-morning yoga sessions, candlelit dinners and, in between, sensational food and drink in one of the most enviably island-chic spots in the Mediterranean. (amanteibiza.com)
3 THE SUNSHINE SIGHTSEEING
You can’t spend every day at the beach. And you won’t want to, either, once you’ve discovered Ibiza Town’s lovely historic centre. It’s a pretty, pastel-washed warren of winding cobbled alleys and shady, bougainvillea-fringed squares, with a seagull’s-eye view of the picturesque marina from its summit at Catedral de Eivissa. The Old Town has plenty of touristy tat-shops and ice-cream joints, of course, but there are good places, too: try the authentic Basque tapas at Bai Bai, for instance (no website; +34 971 19 15 92).
4 THE ALWAYS-COOL CLUB
Ibiza’s nightclubbing legacy stretches back as far as 1953 when Errol Flynn partied here with pals from the Swedish royal family, as well as enticing Hollywood aristocracy including Liz Taylor and Ursula Andress. The history of superclub Pacha is almost as storied – its first guests, back in 1973, were known to dance naked – but half a century later it remains unquestionably the number one nightclub on an island world-famous for them. With a capacity for 3,000 revellers – though still frequently selling out way in advance – it’s effortlessly cool but refreshingly unintimidating. Elsewhere, people come to pose; here, they come to have fun. (pacha.com)
Image: Catedral de Eivissa in Ibiza's Old Town
5 THE OUTDOORSY ADVENTURE
Maybe “adventure” is overstating it a bit, but on this hedonists’ headquarters of an island, taking even the gentlest of hikes marks you out as some kind of Balearic Bear Grylls. One of the island’s most rewarding walks is around Es Broll, a one-time Moorish settlement where ruined mills and bits of houses still (just about) stand. It’s never lovelier than in autumn, when wildflowers carpet the ground, but it’s worth a visit all year round – and you can do it independently or with a guide from Walking Ibiza (walkingibiza.com).
6 THE CELEB-MAGNET SCENE
Welcome to Pikes. Wham filmed their Club Tropicana video at the hotel pool in 1983, Freddie Mercury hosted a legendarily decadent birthday weekend here in 1987, and since then guests have included everyone from Julio Iglesias to Grace Jones (via Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, naturally). It’s technically a boutique hotel, but it throws open its doors to the boho and beautiful seven nights a week with gigs, club nights, par ties and unpredictable happenings of every hue. Book a table for dinner or grab a free spot on the guestlist via the website – and dress up. (pikesibiza.com)
7 THE HOT HOTEL
It’s the perfect spot: on quiet Talamanca bay – just near enough Ibiza Town to walk, just far enough away to ensure perfect peace. But Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay doesn’t rest on its locational laurels. Food and drink is as fantastic as you’d expect given the Nobu group’s restaurant heritage, rooms are light and airy, and the two pools (plus associated loungers, cabanas and private beaches) are an aesthete’s dream. It’s the lifestyle that really beguiles though: sociable mixers on the rooftop terrace, group “holistic hikes” into the hills, cliff-jumping and kayaking trips, staff who feel like old friends within a weekend… a stay here feels like the ultimate natural high.
1 THE BLISSFUL BEACH
Out beyond the airport – and packed with party types in peak season – Las Salinas might not sound so appealing. But come any time outside August and you’ll find plenty of space on this stretch of exquisitely soft, sugar-white sand, and it’s easy enough to get out of earshot of its ever-trendy bars and their Balearic beats, too (though a glass of cava at the hip Jockey Club beach bar is always fun). Rugged pines back the beach itself, and the bay sparkles all the way through to autumn.
2 THE AL FRESCO EATS
A “beach club” in Ibiza can mean anything from a few plastic loungers for hourly hire to a full-on To receive emails with our latest news and offers, visit radiotimes.com/email resort experience. But the beautiful best – and falling firmly into the latter, luxury category – is Amante, 20 minutes’ drive east along the coast from Ibiza Town and sitting extremely pretty on the serene bay of Sol d’en Serra. There are early-morning yoga sessions, candlelit dinners and, in between, sensational food and drink in one of the most enviably island-chic spots in the Mediterranean. (amanteibiza.com)
3 THE SUNSHINE SIGHTSEEING
You can’t spend every day at the beach. And you won’t want to, either, once you’ve discovered Ibiza Town’s lovely historic centre. It’s a pretty, pastel-washed warren of winding cobbled alleys and shady, bougainvillea-fringed squares, with a seagull’s-eye view of the picturesque marina from its summit at Catedral de Eivissa. The Old Town has plenty of touristy tat-shops and ice-cream joints, of course, but there are good places, too: try the authentic Basque tapas at Bai Bai, for instance (no website; +34 971 19 15 92).
4 THE ALWAYS-COOL CLUB
Ibiza’s nightclubbing legacy stretches back as far as 1953 when Errol Flynn partied here with pals from the Swedish royal family, as well as enticing Hollywood aristocracy including Liz Taylor and Ursula Andress. The history of superclub Pacha is almost as storied – its first guests, back in 1973, were known to dance naked – but half a century later it remains unquestionably the number one nightclub on an island world-famous for them. With a capacity for 3,000 revellers – though still frequently selling out way in advance – it’s effortlessly cool but refreshingly unintimidating. Elsewhere, people come to pose; here, they come to have fun. (pacha.com)
Image: Catedral de Eivissa in Ibiza's Old Town
5 THE OUTDOORSY ADVENTURE
Maybe “adventure” is overstating it a bit, but on this hedonists’ headquarters of an island, taking even the gentlest of hikes marks you out as some kind of Balearic Bear Grylls. One of the island’s most rewarding walks is around Es Broll, a one-time Moorish settlement where ruined mills and bits of houses still (just about) stand. It’s never lovelier than in autumn, when wildflowers carpet the ground, but it’s worth a visit all year round – and you can do it independently or with a guide from Walking Ibiza (walkingibiza.com).
6 THE CELEB-MAGNET SCENE
Welcome to Pikes. Wham filmed their Club Tropicana video at the hotel pool in 1983, Freddie Mercury hosted a legendarily decadent birthday weekend here in 1987, and since then guests have included everyone from Julio Iglesias to Grace Jones (via Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, naturally). It’s technically a boutique hotel, but it throws open its doors to the boho and beautiful seven nights a week with gigs, club nights, par ties and unpredictable happenings of every hue. Book a table for dinner or grab a free spot on the guestlist via the website – and dress up. (pikesibiza.com)
7 THE HOT HOTEL
It’s the perfect spot: on quiet Talamanca bay – just near enough Ibiza Town to walk, just far enough away to ensure perfect peace. But Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay doesn’t rest on its locational laurels. Food and drink is as fantastic as you’d expect given the Nobu group’s restaurant heritage, rooms are light and airy, and the two pools (plus associated loungers, cabanas and private beaches) are an aesthete’s dream. It’s the lifestyle that really beguiles though: sociable mixers on the rooftop terrace, group “holistic hikes” into the hills, cliff-jumping and kayaking trips, staff who feel like old friends within a weekend… a stay here feels like the ultimate natural high.