Winter Tourism

An easy 7km circular walk from the little north eastern village of San Carlos through the hills to the little known beach of Cala Mastella, home of the unique ‘El Bigote’ restaurant – famous for once refusing to serve the King of Spain because he hadn’t made a booking beforehand.

The return journey takes you through traditional, unspoilt, Ibiza farming countryside to a beautifully preserved and restored 17th century country farmhouse, as you return to your starting point.

This hike takes around 3 hours, while your altitude changes by 120 m en route.

Full description of the hike with photos on a google map is here

A short 2km tour of Dalt Vila, the fortress old town of Ibiza and one of the few cities in Europe to be declared a World Heritage Site. This walk follows the top of the wall that encircled and protected the old town from the many other jealous civilizations that wanted this beautiful island for themselves.

It can be rushed in less than a couple of hours, but the views from the top in every direction are riveting, so plan to take your time and enjoy every vista…

Full hike description with photos on a google map can be found here.

A circular hike to the defence tower overlooking the third most magnetic place in the world, whilst taking in the unique scenery and atmosphere that surrounds this mystical island of Es Vedra.

Don’t worry if your compass seems eratic, even GPS equipment does strange things in the vicinity (our blog: Es Vedra - weird stuff)…

This nearly 3 km hike takes two and a half hours and involves involves a change in altitude of 140 metres

Full description of this hike with photos on a google map is here

A beautiful 6km circular hike from Santa Ines around the huge almond tree groves, which create one of the iconic images of Ibiza when the trees are covered in blossom during late January and the whole of February.

The walk then follows the almost inaccessible rugged northern coastline from the aptly named ‘las puertas del cielo’ (doorway to heaven) before climbing back to return to the plateau of Santa Ines, ‘the Valley of the Crown’.

The hike takes four hours and involves a change in altitude of 140 metres.

The full description of the hike with photos on a google map is here

A circular hike of about 4.5 kms that follows the north-western Ibiza coast from Port de San Miguel, climbing to the Torre des Molar pirate tower with its spectacular views both along the coast and up into the valley crowned by the typical Ibiza fortified village of San Miguel. The path then descends back to Port de San Miguel through unspoilt countryside.

An easy walk ascending some 90 metres in total along its 3 hour duration, including a lazy picnic on top of the tower.

The full hike description with photos on a google map can be found here

A circular hike of about 7.5 kms that follows the beautiful valleys inland that skirt the area’s mountains to arrive at the imposing Portinatx lighthouse. From there we follow the craggy Ibiza coastline back to the Portinatx beaches of Sa Guarderia, Gran Arenal and Petit Arenal to arrive back at our starting point.

This is a gentle hike along which the altitude changes no more than 80 metres throughout its 4 hour duration.

The full description with photos on a google map can be found here.

A circular hike of about 4.5 kms following the rocky northern coastline of Ibiza between the beaches of Cala Xucla and Cala Xarraca. It then turns inland and follows the route of two beautiful, unspoilt valleys to return to Cala Xucla.

This is a gentle hike taking about 3 hours and involving one short, steep hill climb to reach a maximum altitude of 100 metres.

Full hike details with photos and markers on a google map here

The warm glow of achievement emanates from our site as we announce the first of the IbizaA-Z hikes.

Having spent four days out in the field struggling with a badly translated and inaccurate hiking guidebook, meanwhile exploring countless dead-ends and cul de sacs, we are proud to present the highlights of two former hikes (that no longer work!), which we have neatly melded into one.

Our first born is called "Hike A" and takes you through countryside and coastal scenery near to Portinatx, in the unspoilt north of the island.

Because it is being presented to you over the internet, we are able to provide vital pictures of all of the important junctions, alongside views along the route.

By virtue of being published over the internet, any changes to the route that take place in the future can and will be updated on site straight away, so you can be sure that nobody has blocked your route with a new house or a large hole in the ground.

In each of the hikes you’ll see links to kml file which you can open in Google Earth or a gpx file which you can upload to your gps device/pda etc. Under those is a link to a printer friendly page you can take out with you on the hike…

The new year has arrived, Christmas has passed with the visit of the Three Kings and the Ibiza locals are returning from their holidays and beginning to plan for the arrival of the summer tourist hordes. The same hordes that will prove that the ‘crisis’ only applies to the rest of the world, maybe.

All around us here on Ibiza, Spring is bursting out. The fields are awash with yellow as the first flowers of the new year cover every available inch of the green carpet surrounding each of the villages.
In a couple of weeks the almond trees will be in full bloom in time for the full moon, and the entire island will be off to Santa Agnes to tour the ancient plantation of other a thousand almond trees that fill the ‘valley of the Crown’.

Even on a grey day the flowers shine out, as if to say “Ignore the clouds, they’ll go away…”
But next month the picture will be a different colour, when the domination of red is superceded by blue. Then the purple shades will take over only to be replaced by the white blossoms before all retreat back into the soil before the raging heat of summer.

Spring in Ibiza has sprung and people here are struggling to get depressed in the face of the global crisis because of the beauty surrounding them on their little slice of the globe.
In the meantime the flowers will continue their mad contest to show themselves off, in the full knowledge that they’ll be back next Spring, whatever happens with the ‘crisis’…

Today we present another little Ibiza winter nugget for your delectation…

JD’s Beach Bar Bistro in Ibiza is at the northern end of Playa d’en Bossa beach, where it meets the shell shaped beach of Es Viver, a few hundred metres before Figueretas. From the main road head out of Ibiza for the beach opposite the Mare Nostrum Hotel.

As the name implies, JD’s Beach Bar Bistro is right on the beach, but the reason for bringing it to your attention is that it serves what is probably one of the finest Sunday lunches to be found on Ibiza.

Joanne and Darren truly excel themselves with their warm welcome and spectacular food, which will prove to be a challenge even to the hungriest of you out there.

To accompany the culinary experience they also offer live Sky/Setanta Sports coverage and have free wifi for those of a ‘connected’ disposition.

Since this is a relatively new cause for celebration, word is spreading fast on Ibiza about the excellence of this emporium. For this reason you may soon have to book in advance by calling 971 307 062 or mailing joannedarrenIbizaATmsn.com

p.s. we didn’t get any preferential treatment,discount, promises etc etc for writing this!