Ibiza Town

Portal de ses Taules to Sa Penya, uphill and down

One day covers Ibiza Town: Dalt Vila in the cool of the morning, from the Portal de ses Taules up to the cathedral terrace, then the Museu Puget, lunch near the Mercat Vell, the Punic tombs of Puig des Molins and an evening in La Marina and Sa Penya. Add a second for Formentera.

Start early, before the heat builds on the stone. Enter through the Portal de ses Taules, the main gate above the harbour, and follow the lanes uphill to the Baluard de Sant Jaume. Its hands-on artillery exhibit, where you can try on armour and heft a cannonball, is far better than it sounds. Carry on to the cathedral of Santa Maria at the summit; the terrace beside it looks over the port to Formentera.

On the way down, stop at the Museu Puget, a mansion with a courtyard hung with paintings by a local father and son, and at the contemporary art museum by the walls. Lunch in the Eixample or near the Mercat Vell, the old covered market at the foot of the gate.

In the afternoon, walk to Puig des Molins, the Punic burial hillside just outside the citadel, where thousands of tombs were cut into the slope. As the light fades, drift down into La Marina and Sa Penya, where the boutiques stay open late and the terraces fill, and finish with a drink below the walls.

Bullit de peix, flaó and a glass of hierbas ibicencas

Seek out bullit de peix, fish stewed with potatoes and served with alioli and then rice cooked in the broth, and flaó, a cheese and mint tart, finished with a glass of hierbas ibicencas. Locals eat in the Eixample streets west of Vara de Rey; harbour terraces are for people-watching.

The island's own cooking is country food from its farms and fishing boats. The dish to seek out is bullit de peix, fish stewed with potatoes and served with alioli, followed by arròs a banda, rice cooked in the same broth. Sofrit pagès is the farmhouse counterpart, a hearty stew of lamb, chicken and cured sausages. Either is filling enough to make dinner unnecessary.

Desserts are a highlight. Flaó is a tart of fresh sheep's or goat's cheese scented with mint and baked in a pastry case, and greixonera is a spiced bread pudding made from leftover ensaïmadas. Finish with a glass of hierbas ibicencas, an anise liqueur steeped with island herbs.

In town, the terraces of La Marina and Sa Penya are for people-watching more than cooking. Locals tend to eat in the Eixample streets west of Vara de Rey, and the Mercat Vell at the foot of Dalt Vila sells fruit and vegetables in the mornings, good for a picnic before a ferry.

Fast boats to Formentera and the Ses Illetes sandbar

Take a fast ferry to Formentera, about half an hour from Ibiza Town's Estació Marítima to La Savina, and hire a bike or scooter for Ses Illetes, the sandbar famous for clear, shallow water. Catch an early boat to beat the day-trippers, and check sailing times outside summer.

Formentera, the smallest of the inhabited Balearics, lies just south, and the boats from Ibiza Town's Estació Marítima make it the easiest day out from the island. Fast ferries take about half an hour to La Savina, Formentera's port, and sail through the day in summer. Take an early boat to reach the beaches before the day-trippers.

Hire a bike, scooter or car at La Savina; the island is small and flat, and cycling is the local habit. Ses Illetes, a narrow sandbar inside the Ses Salines natural park just north of the port, has the clear, shallow water that made Formentera famous. Further south, Es Pujols has cafés and a small beach, while the long sweep of Migjorn on the south coast is quieter.

If you fly out the same day, leave bags at the private consigna opposite the ferry terminal, as the port building has no left-luggage office. A late-afternoon boat back gets you to La Marina in time for an evening drink under the walls of Dalt Vila. Outside summer, check sailing times, as the timetable thins.