Happy Wednesday! It is utterly miserable outside today which makes it the perfect day to write my (long-overdue) blog post about my favourite place in the world: Ibiza. So whether you are thinking about going, have already been but not for a while or just want to daydream about going on a day like today then read on. I should have written this ages ago – considering how much I bang on about the place but better late than never.
Ibiza makes me extremely happy. I cant even describe it – its as if the moment I step off the plane I feel this surge of energy. I don’t know what it is about the place (they say that Es Vedra the little island next to Ibiza is the third most magnetic spot on earth) but ever since I went to Ibiza for the first time I felt this pull to the island. There is something really special about it. Growing up I had decided that when I got married it would be at the main church in the centre of Helsinki (where my parents are originally from) yet once my husband and I got engaged we both knew that we wanted the wedding to be in Ibiza. So now it has become a place that is even more special to me because I had one of the most important weekends of my life there. And its a place I hope my children will grow up loving as much as we do. Usally when we go on holiday I have an amazing time but I am always ready to come home by the end of it (because aside from the rain I truly love London.) But everytime I leave Ibiza I feel a little bit sad. Like I am not ready to go. And as If I am leaving a part of me behind. If there is one other place in the world that I see myself living it would be Ibiza.
One of the many things I love about the island is that you can really have any kind of holiday you want. You can go there to party (we used to get a villa with friends every year and do that) but equally you can go on a romantic holiday with your other half, a chilled holiday with your family, you can go there for a week just to do yoga or you can do a little bit of everything. People often wonder if it is child friendly. We took Mila for the first time when she was 10 weeks old and we took her everywhere – to the beach clubs, to dinners, to the Old Town. And yes it was very baby friendly and an easy holiday. You can also go off season (which is actually great as it does get very crowded in July & August) and make the most of the restaurants and year-round sunshine. We have gone many times over Easter and its full of families that time of year which is great. However I still love to go during peak season because it has more atmosphere and even if I am not going out partying myself I don’t mind seeing a little bit of that (although our dinner reservations were SO early at 8/8:30pm that most “fun” restaurants such as Cipriani were still completely empty!) You can also go to very down-to-earth places in Ibiza as well as the more sceney glitzy restaurants such as Cipriani. You can really have a bit of it all.
Ok so now for all the recommendations.
When to go?
This is entirely upto you. We love it both on season and off season but it was EXTREMELY hot this time around (I think the hottest it has ever been whilst I have been there as they were having a heat wave.) Easter is a lovely time to go as is September if you want to avoid the crowds.
Where to stay?
I would recommend staying in a villa because they are just SO beautiful but it really depends on how long you are going for (in high season you will find it hard to find a villa for under a week) and how many of you there are. Many villas are 4 or 5 bedrooms and priced accordingly so now that we usually go just the three of us it doesn’t financially make much sense to rent a big villa because it is really expensive. But when we used to go with a bigger group we used this company and they are great. https://www.bonderco.com/villas-to-rent-ibiza
In terms of location I would say get a villa in the Salinas area or near Ibiza town (just make sure you stay away from San Antonio!) if you want to be close to restaurants and beach clubs. If you prefer something really chilled and think you will stay mostly in your own villa then you can get one in the beautiful North of the island. We personally love to go out for most lunches and dinners and therefore we always try to stay quite close to the areas I mentioned above. Also make sure you rent a car because you will need to drive to all the beach clubs and its just much more convenient than trying to get a taxi back from a beach club (you have to get the beach club to call and usually wait for ages!)
If a villa is not the best option for you then I would recommend staying in an agroturismo if you want something quite chilled out or at the newly opened Nobu Ibiza Bay hotel. We chose to try it out this time (and no unfortunately I don’t get any kind of special rates I wish I did!) because I had heard really good things and who doesn’t love a bit of Nobu? It really didn’t disappoint. I think if you want something SUPER chilled out then don’t stay here because it can get quite lively but ultimately it is designed to be a family hotel (they have a separate kids pool and a kids club) so for us it was perfect. There are three restaurants: Chambao (serving breakfast which I loved and lunch which I wasn’t such a fan of the one time we tried it), Nobu (which is always great and we had dinner there but you can also go for lunch) and Peyotito (we sadly didn’t try it out as we had so many reservations in other places but I heard good things from friends.) The design is lovely – it has a very calming zen atmosphere about it and lots of different areas you can relax in (hanging swing chairs, a gluten free cafe, lots of sofas, big beach beds etc.) The beach isn’t the most beautiful – the hotel is in the Talamanca area of Ibiza which isn’t my favourite but again we spend most of our time at beach clubs so it was a total non-issue for us plus I just want to emphasise its not a bad beach its just not as beautiful as some of the others in Ibiza. And the staff were amazing. It is definitely the most luxurious hotel in Ibiza and I loved it.
There are a few other big hotels such as Ibiza Gran and Destino but I personally am not the biggest fan. They are impersonal and you wont get the vibe of the island at all plus I don’t think they are that child-friendly. The agroturismos aren’t luxurious but they are sweet and although I can be very fussy about hotels I have always been perfectly happy in the ones we have stayed in. But again I stress they are not “luxurious” in case that is what you are looking for. We tried one called Xereca over Easter this year around but others include Ca Na Xica, Can Jaume, Can Lluc, Giri Residence, Cas Gasi, Can Arabi, Can Curreu (loved this we stayed there in September last year but the only issue for us was that it is in the North,) Hacienda Na Xamena (amazing views) and Atzaro (great spot.) I have also heard really great things about Mirador Dalt Villa which is a boutique hotel at the top of old town.
Where to eat?
For restaurants I would recommend Sa Punta (has always been a favourite but this time the vibe was a bit off!), El Chiringuito (just such a gorgeous beach club), Experimental beach (great for sunsets), Elements beach (very off the beaten track and I think it now has a new name), Es Torrent, Passion Cafe (we LOVE this for breakfast or brunch – there are a few locations but our favourite is in the Marina bottafoch and its v baby friendly), La Bodega (its a bit of an institution in ibiza) and Beach House (one of my favs we did our wedding brunch there the day after.) Cipriani if you want a fun scene. Lio is also fun for a night out and Blue Malin is probably the most famous beach club but personally not one of my favourites. La Oliva in town is cute as is Sa Brisa. There is a newly opened beach club called Aiyanna that looks beautiful but we didn’t get a chance to go. Ses Boques is a super off the beaten track tiny little shack like restaurant which has amazing fresh seafood. Sa Caleta, Aubergine, Amante, Ses Escoles, La Paloma, Malibu, Cotton Beach Club and Yemanja are others worth checking out. And if you stay at Nobu Ibiza Bay then as mentioned before they have their own restaurants. We tried out Giri Cafe this time and its a bit of a trek from where we stayed but has a really cute garden at the back. I also heard from friends that La Granja is amazing but again we didn’t have time to go.
Where to shop?
Most of the beach clubs have great shops. Beach House, Experimental and Sa Punta all have lovely boutiques and I also loved the shop within the Nobu Hotel (where I bought the white dress with bows I featured on Instagram.) Also if you go to Ibiza Town (make sure you check out the Old Town as its stunning) there are lots of cute boutiques.
What else can you do?
There are lots of other things you can do in Ibiza – its not just about beach clubs and shopping! You can go on amazing hikes. We did lots over Easter (in the midst of my morning sickness but I have always found that in the first trimester exercising actually helps get my mind off just how terrible I feel!) There are three hikes we tried and here is how you get to them:
Hike 1: Es Cubells hike. You start from Es Cubells church (there is a parking lot you can leave your car at) and then walk to the left of the church. The path starts from there and you can choose how long you want to make the hike but you can go all the way down to Ses Boques and have lunch there.
Hike 2: The Es Vedra hike (my personal favourite.) You drive toward Cala d’hort beach and then (you might have to google this to find proper instructions) you basically turn left where there are some rubbish bins and you drive on this random little dirt road for some time until you see a little opening where you can leave your car. The views are AMAZING!
Hike 3: And the third was also really pretty you basically hike to this old lookout tower. You drive to Port de Sant Miguel and leave your car on the main road with parking. Then you walk to the beach and head to the left hand side past a restaurant and your hike starts there. You go along quite a steep forest path with amazing views after which you get to a beach club called Elements (which is closed during the winter so there is nothing there if its closed apart from some fishermans boats.) You then basically have to walk past the boats and sheds and then the hike properly starts from there.
The hikes are SO beautiful and so worth doing. We did all the hikes with Mila strapped into the baby carrier on my husband and you have to be a bit careful about where you step but they were totally fine.
Also worth checking out is the Las Dalias Hippy Market. It only takes place a few times a week so make sure you check out beforehand when it is on but you can find some gorgeous bits there.
If you want to do yoga then I have had one on one lessons with an amazing lady called Opal. I can get her details if anyone would like.
And lastly – if you can go to Fomentera for a day. I can’t recommend it enough. You can hire a private boat or get the ferry. Have lunch at either Beso Beach or Juan y Andrea – they are both AMAZING and Formentera is so so beautiful. The water is one of the bluest I have ever seen.
If you ever want a concierge company to book you things like babysitters etc my wedding planner works for a company Deliciously Sorted and they are amazing. They obviously charge a fee but I think you can pay either a one off fee per booking or some sort of weekly fee and then you can use them as many times as you want.
If anyone has any other questions then feel free to get in touch with me by email but hopefully I have covered most things. And really if I haven’t sold it yet then all I can say is GO! It is an extraordinary place.
And lastly for my outfits. I could talk about clothes all day long but this post was really supposed to be more of an Ibiza guide nevertheless it wouldn’t be complete without my outfits. I have never been that into pink but after wearing this blush beach dress and seeing the reaction from it I might re-think my relationship with the colour! There are a few pieces I can’t link up so I will just tell you here what they are: H sandals are the Oran Sandals from Hermes which I swear by, embroidered beach bag from @nomadtreasures (check her account on Instagram she makes one of kind beach bags that are super cute), White tote is from Goyard (I swear by these for travelling), khaki silk dress is from Never Fully Dressed and my white silk dress is from the shop at the Nobu hotel. For everything else, you can get all the links below. xx
My dresses (if not available I have put alternatives):
My accessories: