10 things to do in Ibiza

If you are planning to visit Ibiza for the first time, here are some great things to do during your stay:

1. Take a walk around Dalt Vila. Before you start, it might be an idea to buy some espadrilles. The traditional Spanish ropesoled sandals. The whole history of the Pine Islands is set out in Eivissa's upper town.

2. Find a quiet section of coast and go for a walk. Near Cap de Barbaria, on Formentera, you can gaze out across the Mediterranean in the direction of Africa and imagine you are a Moor looking towards home

3. Take a boat trip around a part of the islands' coast and try to understand how it must have felt to see the islands for the first time.

4. Find a quiet inland village on Ibiza and stroll around. Admire the distinctive architecture and relax, the way the locals do.

5. Join in a ball page, the traditional island festival with music and singing, discover that the locals do occasionally let their hair down.

6. Buy a drink or a meal at El Corsario, Dalt Vila´s most famous hotel/restaurant.

7. Go for a swim. No visit would be complete without a dip in the clear, warm waters. If you really want to swim in style, take off all your clothes at one of the official nudist beaches.

8. Eat fresh fish at a beach restaurant. The islands are famous for their fish dishes and sometimes you can watch the fish you are going to eat being caught.

9. Take a stroll through La Marina in Eivissa to watch the comings and goings of they younger visitors as they seek out the latest Ad Lib fashions.

10. On your last night take a glass of sangria to a cliff top on the western side of the island and watch the sun setting over the Mediterranean.
Rural Ibiza

With mass tourism and the club scene filling several of the towns and most of the beaches it could easily be assumed that peace and quiet were the hardest things to find on Ibiza. In fact it could not be easier Just walk away from a crowded beach for a few minutes and you will be on a deserted section of coast, or drive for a few miles from any town and you will be in countryside that seems to have been untouched by time.

The coast of Ibiza

On Ibiza, and even more so on Formentera, wild flowers can be found clinging precariously to life in rocky crevices and other unlikely places. On the beaches and In the backing sand dunes there are sea daffodils and sea holly, but also some much rarer plants. The islands are the only place in Europe where a particular form of squill is found.

In the remaining wooded areas behind the dunes the woodland chiefly Aleppo pine those willing to spend time exploring will find many types of orchids. Mirror orchid, with blue flowers edged with brown, is relatively common, as is the sombre bee orchid (Ophrys fusca). By contrast, the bee orchid is rare and endangered.

The Mediterranean is home to surprisingly few seabirds and waders. The lack of tides and, therefore, an intertidal region, discourages wading birds, while the sea's warm waters are less densely packed with food than the colder waters of northern Europe. Nevertheless, the yellow legged gull will be easily recognized. However, if the gull you are watching has dark legs and a red beak with a yellow tip, then you could have an Audouin's gull in view, claimed to be the rarest gull in the world.

Formentera flora and fauna

Formentera is almost too small to have an 'inland' area, but inland lbiza is a real contrast to the crowded beaches. Here you will be able to find real peace and quiet and fascinating flora and fauna. At almost any time of year inland lbiza is colorful. In February, January's yellow mimosa is replaced by pink and white almond blossom, and bunch flowered narcissus. In March, spring arrives, heralded by lavender, rock roses, moon daises and the surprisingly beautiful yellow flowers of the prickly pear cactus. In summer, the bougainvillea, oleander and honeysuckle are brilliant against the blue of the sky, while the arrival of autumn brings violets, narcissi and squills. The winter months see the heathers blooming and then the bright fruits of the citrus trees.

Antonio Riquer and Ibiza

Antonio Riquer was the most famous of Ibiza's Corsairs a vigilante sea captain or a pirate, depending upon your point of view. His most famous action was the defeat of a feared Gibraltarian pirate called Miguel Novelli, who was nicknamed 'The Pope'. Riquer intercepted 'The Pope' as he was sailing from Formentera to attack Ibiza. Despite having a much smaller ship and being completely outgunned, Riquer's superior seamanship won the day, 'The Pope' breaking off the battle and fleeing just before his ship was about to be boarded or sunk. Riquer is remembered in a street name near Eivissa's harbour, his house in Dalt Vila is on the touristic route, and he was one of the main reasons the Ibizencos raised EI Obelisco a los Corsarios, the monument to the Corsairs on La Marina's sea front.

Hannibal and Ibiza

Although the Carthaginians probably originated in what is now Lebanon and had an empire which was vIrtually confined to the North African coast, they did colonize Ibiza. Legend has it that It was on Sa Conillera, the now uninhabited island lying off Ibiza's western shore, near Sant Antoni, that Hannibal, the most glorious Carthaginian general, was born. Hannibal is chiefly famous for crossing the Alps with his elephants to defeat Rome, but as important to him as his elephants were the lead pellets fired by his army's slingers. These pellets were formed from lead that had been mined on Ibiza.

Joaquim Vara de Rey Close to the Tourist Information Office in Paseo Vara de Rey is a statue of the man for whom the street is named. The General is Ibiza's most famous soldier. He died in 1898 defending Cuba, one of Spain's last American colonies, against an invading US army.

Places to visit in Ibiza

There are several Ibizas, each distinctly different. At the island's heart, though not at its centre, is Eivissa, the capital. Even here there are several different towns the old walled city of Dalt Vila and the Carthaginian necropolis beside it; the trendy shopping area near the harbor where visitors crowd to see the latest Ad Lib fashions; and the new town where more elegant shops and pavement cafes stand among the offices.

There are several coasts, too. Mass tourism has peopled some beaches with sun-worshippers and hotel developments have blighted the natural scenery. Yet within a few minutes' walk of these areas the visitor can be alone in coves as beautiful as any to be found on the Mediterranean coast.

Finally there is inland Ibiza, rural villages of white cube houses and black-shawled women, and upland areas where ancient vegetation still thrives. Here the plant lover can search for flowers found only on Ibiza, while the bird lover will delight in rare and exotic species.

Eivissa Ibiza

There are few more dramatic sites on the Mediterranean coast than that of Eivissa's Old Town, Dalt Vila, especially when viewed from the sea, its walls and bastions rising above the rugged coast and turquoise water.

Under Franco's centralist regime only Castillian names were allowed in areas of Spain that had their own language or dialect Then. and still occasionally. the town was merely 'La Vila' to the locals, 'Ibiza Town' to visitors.

However, democracy has allowed regional pride to flourish and many of the island's names are now both written and spoken in Ibizenco, a dialect of Catalan. In Ibizenco the town is Eivissa, a name that echoes the ancient names of the island the Carthaginian age, the Greek Ebysos. the Roman Ebusus and the Moorish Yebisah.

Eivissa is a marvellous place in summer. an exciting assault on the senses. Within its close confines it captures the essence of the island Dalt Vila. Sa Penya, La Marina and the local coast offering quite different aspects of Ibiza. Go to Dalt Vila for historical Ibiza, to Sa Penya's tight-knit streets for shopping and local colour, to La Marina or the harbour for the smell of the sea and to gape at the expensive boats, and to the nearby beaches for the modern, brasher Ibiza.