After the very successful Mallorca without a car trip, we decided to make a Balearic repetition, and this time to try Ibiza without a car. Not only we’ve tried to make this without a car holiday, but also to combine it with work on some days. It was successful, maybe not as much as we wanted, or better said not as much as we’ve set our expectations. We decided to go out of our granny era and attend some of the parties, but also since we saw Ibiza was smaller than Mallorca, we thought we’ll turn the island around like one, two three.

DAY 1 – HIPPIE MARKET – SANTA EULALIA

We’ve arrived on a Tuesday night, a bit after midnight to the airport, only to confirm that busses are running until 23:30. The ride to the city centre of Ibiza town was smooth, it cost us around 15euros, and we went straight to bed, even though most of our hotel neighbours were just starting the night. The accommodation was chosen based on price, maybe we were too late with booking, but the options were not wallet friendly. Our hotel was called Europa Punico, very central in Ibiza town, and you could get to the main square in five minutes. Breakfast was included in the price, but I think this has been the most expensive accommodation I’ve ever paid.

The morning after we strolled around town to see the pulse of the city, not many things were open before 9am, but you could tell the city is nice. There were a lot of shops, and to my surprise even the souvenir shops were kind of coordinated with the vibe of the island and selling only boho style souvenirs.
For lunch, we visited old fashioned Restaurant San Jose, and had paella and fish, when we ordered glass of wine. The waitress brought full bottles and said the cup calculation will happen at the end. We stayed at one per person.

Ibiza is famous for its hippie markets, and the biggest one is in Es Canar – Punta Arabi. To get there by bus you need to take a bus first to Santa Eulalia and then to switch to a bas to Es Canar. The distance is less than 30kms, but having in mind the stops, it takes some time. The market itself well, nice to see, but I kind of lack something authentic. There were some staff here and there, but mostly looked like mass produced. It was interesting to see the older hippie ladies. For me they were more interesting than the market itself.
We had a drink at a nice bar – Es Birra Cerveceria Artesana with life gig here, and then continued to Santa Eulalia for dinner. Both of the places are more family oriented with bigger resorts directly on the beach, I think if you are not coming for the hippie market these places might be skipped, even though St. Eulalia had a lot of restaurants so maybe some of them are worth visiting.

DAY 2 – IBIZA TOWN – PACHA

On our second day we started strolling in the town again, but this time more towards the beach, on this side of the town you can see the locals in bakeries since early morning, people jogging by the sea. Then through the Castle of Ibiza we went back to our office of the day. Lunch this day was at a bar with one of the most interesting liquid on the inside Spanish tortillas – La Barra de la Bientirada.

Because we bought tickets for Pacha, we decided to take it easy, not to move too much except for the old town. We sat at what turns out to be the highlight bar of the trip – Born. And in the night after a siesta we were headed to Pacha, on a Pure Pacha night. Getting there from Ibiza town is definitively possible on foot, you would need cca. 20 minutes.

Hotel: Hostal Residencia Europa Punico
Recommendation: The hotel is modest, but very central and one of the budget options in Ibiza Town
Breakfast included: YES
Price: $$
Payment: Card & via Booking

DAY 3 – ST ANTONY – CALA COMTE

Blessed be the days off, it was a day of changing accommodation, and changing Ibiza Town for St. Antoni, Well here definitively the price decided the location, but in order to feel as good as possible we took a sea view room. Let’s say we were not really amused buy the sights in the city. There is nice board walk and beach directly in front of the hotel, but all the rest I would not like to comment, except that it was not my cup of anything.
For a beach of the day we decided for Cala Comte it was recommended by friends. There was a bus stop directly in front of our Hotel Ses Savines, but we were super disapointed when we realized busses are running only 60-90 minutes depending on location. And it took time to get there.

We read somewhere that busses were coming with big delays, it is understandable as there is no card payment like the busses in Mallorca, and the driver needs to charge and give change to every single person. Comte Beach was nice, there were two restaurants Sunset Ashram and one further away, but once we started exploring the area, we saw the Chiringuito at Cala Escondida and that was my favourite beach bar till the end of the stay. Unpretentious, delicious food and drinks, sunset was perfect, and on the beach there was a lady selling excellent empanadas.
One more friend joined and we went in Sant Antoni for a dinner in a gem of a place compared to everything there was around – El Rincón de Pepe. We had dishes as tapas, that normally wouldn’t be served as one and they were amazing.

DAY 4 – FORMENTERA

Woke up ultra early, took the bus to Ibiza town and then hopped on the ferry to Formentera. There is technically possibility to take a trip as well from St Antoni, but these tickets were something that we had purchased in advance. The ferry ride was around 30 minutes and it was very pleasant.
Once we’ve reached the island, first thing was renting a bike. The price was 14 euros for a regular, non e-bike. The condition of the bikes was questionable, but it served the purpose. We were riding almost the whole time in bike only areas, except when you entered the cars pay toll road which led to Platja de Ses Illetes. We spent the first part of the day there, until the hunger called. Since all the places around had four dollars sign, and less than 3.5 in reviews, we’ve decided to bike back to the harbour, La Savina, where we had most amazing pizza in the Panperfocaccia.
For the second part of the day we chose the Es Pujols beach, which was unlike the first one with clearest bluest water, but also, without a single person there. On the beach was a kiosk recently opened playing great music so the time flew.
As we were supposed to return the bikes till 19:30, we started riding back, and spotted two beach parties. One in Besos, apparently very popular spot and the other one in Cala Duo. We felt a bit sorry for not spending the night in Formentera, but I guess thats why returns are.
The night ended at one of the squares in Ibiza town in the Locals Only and then straight to horizontal.

DAY 5 – CALA BASSA – USHUAIA

I read and hear a lot about Cala Bassa before coming here, and it was on my must do list. But something seemed not right as we took the bus. So many resellers of towels and umbrellas, something we haven’t seen before. The price of the sun-beds was very cheap, but you needed to book in advance, If you wanted sun-beds directly at the beach. Otherwise, the only available beds were in the shadows of Cala Bassa Beach Club for 20 euros per person or tho take a full bed for 160euros. Since we were not planning to spend the full day here, we just opted for towels at the beach, and drinks in the restaurant. Which was the right choice, as the resellers were really tough, telling you to move your towels, this was theirs spot and so on, which to be honest, sucked.

What on the other hand was a great mood booster, was our Armin van Buuren ticket to Ushuaia for the following afternoon.
I was so much looking forward a day party. I won’t lie and will say it was definitively very hot till the sun was there, but the atmosphere was so nice, that everyone was dancing.
I even liked the group before him W&W a bit more, because it was more of a everyday dancing songs. Out of the two party experiences on the island, I appreciated this a bit more as it was ending at 23, so technically you are not ruined the day after. The way back to St Antoni, 5euros per person, of course with the disco bus.

DAY 6 – SANT JOSEP – CALA TARIDA – DELIAS

The plans vs reality or better said vs. the bus time table, we took the bus to St. Josep as there was an opportunity to change there to Cala Tarida, we liked the little town, so we rumbled around a bit, until the van arrives, finally had proper orange juice, and were strolling in a calmer environment.
Then as we arrived to Cala Tarida, the colour of the water was insanely blue, by the time we had lunch at the beach restaurant – Restaurant Ses Eufàbies, the clouds turned it in just ordinary. For swimming it was nice, and since the beach was wide you didn’t have the impression that it is too crowded, until you hit the bus to St Antoni.

Hotel: Hotel Ses Savines
Recommendation: The hotel and the breakfast are totally ok, typical old school hotel, unfortunately for me the location was negative side, despite the direct beach access.
Breakfast included: NO (for around 5 euros per person you can add great breakfast)
Price: $$
Payment: Card & via Booking

The fast and furious, changed the scenery once again by taking yet another bus to Delias, what turned out to be the oldest hippie market in Ibiza. Having seen the stalls before in Punta Arabi, and the program not started yet, we opted for a walk towards Sant Carles de Peralta. It was giving a feeling of a local place, but still you could spot a lot of expats. Even though we wanted to try the typical dish from the island, which included various parts of fish boiled with potatoes, we opted for a pizza place, Casa Bella Ibiza, where i had amazing gnocchi in pizza dough, and I do not even like gnocchi.
We returned to Delias, listened a bit to the live music at the market, which sounded great, and then started the bus switching towards St Antoni.
This trip took about 2 hours and around 7euros per direction.

DAY 7 – SANT GERTRUDIS – ST ANTONY

Our official last day. After we finished working, the enigma was how to fit St Gertrudis and the sunset spot Es Vedra, it was impossible, first because busses are running in intervals of 90 minutes, for the less central spots, and second because the last bus would be around 8 o’clock, in one direction, which would leave us without an option to return home.
Unless we wanted a taxi, and we didn’t.

St Gertrudis reminded me a lot of Valldemossa in Mallorca, except not having the old vibe, here you can tell everyone was coming from somewhere abroad, since in most of the shops the owners spoke “spanglish”, the types of menus, and the overall everything international around there.
We opted for a local restaurant, but weren’t amazed by the food, tried the local cake and strolled around the more than beautiful, but bit overpriced stores, as the sun was setting we’ve checked the rooftop of a hotel, but decided it was better to go back and explore St Antoni, some of the places that we had marked.

Turns out aside the clubbing area in St Antoni the place is not that bad. Along the sea there are many bars and restaurants with a calmer atmosphere, the sunset is nice, and you can see it for the longest. Also prices are on the cheaper side. There are some bars that serve as a pre-party places for the famous gigs in the night so we ended up sipping gin and tonic in one of them.

On our last day after what turned out to be the worse storm that I’ve seen while vacationing, we’ve packed and just before closing time we hit the jackpot, spot at one of the oldest and most authentic spots for food in Ibiza: Es Rebost de Can Prats. The tastiest and best for the end. Fried octopus with veggies, or steak, best meal in ages, not only on this trip. And then the cake table wow oh wow, how I could not try everything, but their Ibiza cake with mint was out of this world.

Reaching the airport, we got notification that the flight is delayed by two hours, the airport itself not super huge, didn’t have so much things to do, but to observe if we are going to recognise some performer.

All in all we had a work and travel blast, with expectations about visiting every single spot on the island, we managed more than we planned, but having in mind the time included for traveling, I would think twice next time when planning a trip here, mostly because for distances of 30 minutes by car you needed two changes and almost 2 hours by bus.
Also cash is king in the transportation, so it doesn’t run as smooth as expected. All in all destination that I had very low expectations but would gladly like to return for more.