Things to do in Ibiza
The third largest of the Balearic Islands (about 25 miles east to west and 12 miles north to south) lives up to its reputation as the jet set playground of Europe. Before the 1950s and 1960s, when this once-obscure island began to evolve into an international artists' colony and concourse for the counter-culture, word of its existence had hardly seeped beyond the borders of Spain. Then it became almost a household word and today the island is home away from home to artists and pseudoartists, movie stars, rock stars, and fashion designers.
While Majorca's tourist industry has been leveling off of late, business in Ibiza is booming. The population of its capital, Ibiza town, increases nearly tenfold in summer, so don't even think of alighting here in high season without a confirmed and reconfirmed hotel reservation (the influx is such that some of the locals have been known to get a little cranky by September). The hippie nomads have been replaced by the young rich, the packaged tourists, and gay travelers; the resulting mix has made the island so cosmopolitan it is virtually impossible to label it Balearic or Spanish.
The Greeks referred to Ibiza and its southern neighbor, Formentera, as the Pittiusae (pine-clad islands), a word which survives today in the word pitiuso, which visitors will see attached to everything from car rental companies to publications. Except for the addition of almond, olive, fig, and other fruit trees, the reference still holds. But Ibiza is also known as the Isla Blanca (White Island), thanks to the brilliance of its square, flat-roofed houses, typically Moorish in style and religiously whitewashed each spring. The local architecture reflects a close affinity to North Africa, a legacy not only of 300 years of Moorish rule, but also of 500 years of colonization by the Carthaginians.
Ibiza Town information
Ibiza town (also known in the local version of Catalan as Eivissa) occupies a hill next to a natural harbor on the southeast coast. The two other main towns are Sant Antoni de Portmany (formerly known as San Antonio Abad) and Santa Eulalia del Rio (also called Santa Eularia del Riu). The former, on a natural harbor, is the epicenter of packaged tourism on the island, with a frenetic nightlife. The latter is a pleasant, quieter resort town at the mouth of the Balearic Islands' only river (actually a seven-mile-long stream).
Ibiza beaches
Ibiza's beaches range from those that are backed with hotels and packed with the tourists to stretches of fine white sand lining deserted coves. Beach buses and boats connect the more popular ones to town; a car or a yacht or even a pedal boat allows travelers to discover the more secluded ones. The beaches closest to Ibiza town are Platja Talamanca to the north and Platja Figueretas and Platja d'en Bossa to the south, but anyone seeking to avoid the crowds keeps on riding to Las Salinas, the salt flats farther south, where the beaches include Platja Es Cavallet, one of the island's official nudist strands, although there is some shedding of bathing suits nearly everywhere.
Similarly, the hotels of Sant Antoni de Portmany hold many more people than can be accommodated on Platja San Antonio, but within easy reach by bus or boat are the beaches of Port des Torrent, Cala Bassa, Cala Conta, and Cala Tarida, all southwest of town. The beach at Santa Eulalia del Rio is also unimpressive, but Platja Llonga to the south and the beaches that stretch northward, Platja d'es Cana, Cala Nova, Cala Lenaare some of the best on the island. Along the north coast are the beaches at the resort development of Portinatx and at Puerto de San Miguel.
Things to see in Ibiza Town
Sightseeing on Ibiza really means observing the passing scene, although the island does have its complement of more conventional sights. Most are in the capital, which is divided into a medieval upper town, the Dalt Vila, and a lower town that, at least in the area around the harbor, dates mainly from the mid-19th century. In the lower town, the Barrio de Sa Penya, stretching east from the Estación Maritima, is the fishermen's quarter, full of shops, restaurants, bars, and a lively nightlife.The Marina district to the west of it is the business district, with more shops, restaurants, and bars.
Ibiza's main street, Paseo Vara de Rey (named after an ibicenco hero of the Spanish-American War), is on the western reaches of this district, and still farther west stretch the newer zones of the city, brought about by the boom in tourism. Dalt Vila is picturesque and compact, an oasis of calm far removed from the hubbub of the rest of the island.
It's crowned by an ancient cathedral and enclosed by 16th-century walls that have been declared a national monument. Enter by the main gateway, the Portal de las Tablas, flanked by Roman statues, and climb the winding cobblestone streets to the cathedral of Ibiza and Formentera, the Catedra de Santa Maria de Las Nieves (St. Mary of the Snows). Built during the 13th century and extensively revamped early in the 18th century, the church is rather plain and austere inside and out, but the panoramic view from the terrace is the best in town, 300 feet over the Mediterranean.
Also in Plaza de la Catedral is the Museo Arqueologico, which contains items unearthed on Ibiza and Formentera and is one of the most important museums of Punic (Carthaginian) artifacts in Spain and in the world. All exhibit identification and information is in Spanish only. The museum is open daily; admission charge . Another Dalt Vila museum - the Museo de Arte Contemponineo displays contemporary Spanish paintings and sculpture.
Windmill Hill Ibiza
Visitors whose appetite for - artifacts has not been sated should head down to a part of the lower town west of Dalt Vila to the Punic necropolis of Puig des Motins (Windmill Hill). Because the Carthaginians considered the soil of Ibiza to be especially good for burial purposes, they buried their dead from other colonies here as well, and this necropolis was the largest of several on the island. More than 4,000 tombs were carved into the hillside, and although the graves were pillaged over the centuries, scientific excavations yielded enough to stock the Museo Monogrrifico del Puig des Molins, at the bottom of the hill. The museum is open daily, and the admission charge includes a visit to the necropolis.
Formentera and things to do
Formentera The sea is visible from every point on Formentera, which is nearly flat as a pancake except for a lump the 630-foothigh La Mola mountain at its eastern extremity. Made up of two islets joined by an isthmus, the island measures only about 12 miles from end to end. Ferries arrive at La Sabina, the island harbor, which is on the north coast between two lagoons, Estang de Peix and Estang Pudent (which translate as fish lagoon and stinky lagoon, respectively). The cluster of sparkling white house’s down the road from the port is San Francisco Javier, the capital, home to less than half the island's population (and also called, in ibicenc, Sant Francesc Xavier).
At the center of town is the 18th century Iglesia de San Francisco. The nextlargest village is San Fernando, 2 km to the east. The rest of the island consists of pine forests and salt flats, generously fringed with beaches - Platja de Mitjorn, on the southern coast and 3 miles long, is long enough to escape being crowded.
Others include Platja d'Es Pujols, north of San Fernando, which attracts a certain amount of business from package tours; Platja de Ses IIletas and Platja de Llevant, on either side of the Trocadors peninsula, which stretches north from La Sabina; and Cala Sahona, on the western side of the island, still reasonably remote.
The Carthaginians are known to have worked the salt pans, but they left no trace of settlement on the island. The Romans left it its name, a corruption of the Latin Frumentaria – from frumentum, or wheat since Formentera served as a granary for the Roman camp on Ibiza.
While Majorca's tourist industry has been leveling off of late, business in Ibiza is booming. The population of its capital, Ibiza town, increases nearly tenfold in summer, so don't even think of alighting here in high season without a confirmed and reconfirmed hotel reservation (the influx is such that some of the locals have been known to get a little cranky by September). The hippie nomads have been replaced by the young rich, the packaged tourists, and gay travelers; the resulting mix has made the island so cosmopolitan it is virtually impossible to label it Balearic or Spanish.
The Greeks referred to Ibiza and its southern neighbor, Formentera, as the Pittiusae (pine-clad islands), a word which survives today in the word pitiuso, which visitors will see attached to everything from car rental companies to publications. Except for the addition of almond, olive, fig, and other fruit trees, the reference still holds. But Ibiza is also known as the Isla Blanca (White Island), thanks to the brilliance of its square, flat-roofed houses, typically Moorish in style and religiously whitewashed each spring. The local architecture reflects a close affinity to North Africa, a legacy not only of 300 years of Moorish rule, but also of 500 years of colonization by the Carthaginians.
Ibiza Town information
Ibiza town (also known in the local version of Catalan as Eivissa) occupies a hill next to a natural harbor on the southeast coast. The two other main towns are Sant Antoni de Portmany (formerly known as San Antonio Abad) and Santa Eulalia del Rio (also called Santa Eularia del Riu). The former, on a natural harbor, is the epicenter of packaged tourism on the island, with a frenetic nightlife. The latter is a pleasant, quieter resort town at the mouth of the Balearic Islands' only river (actually a seven-mile-long stream).
Ibiza beaches
Ibiza's beaches range from those that are backed with hotels and packed with the tourists to stretches of fine white sand lining deserted coves. Beach buses and boats connect the more popular ones to town; a car or a yacht or even a pedal boat allows travelers to discover the more secluded ones. The beaches closest to Ibiza town are Platja Talamanca to the north and Platja Figueretas and Platja d'en Bossa to the south, but anyone seeking to avoid the crowds keeps on riding to Las Salinas, the salt flats farther south, where the beaches include Platja Es Cavallet, one of the island's official nudist strands, although there is some shedding of bathing suits nearly everywhere.
Similarly, the hotels of Sant Antoni de Portmany hold many more people than can be accommodated on Platja San Antonio, but within easy reach by bus or boat are the beaches of Port des Torrent, Cala Bassa, Cala Conta, and Cala Tarida, all southwest of town. The beach at Santa Eulalia del Rio is also unimpressive, but Platja Llonga to the south and the beaches that stretch northward, Platja d'es Cana, Cala Nova, Cala Lenaare some of the best on the island. Along the north coast are the beaches at the resort development of Portinatx and at Puerto de San Miguel.
Things to see in Ibiza Town
Sightseeing on Ibiza really means observing the passing scene, although the island does have its complement of more conventional sights. Most are in the capital, which is divided into a medieval upper town, the Dalt Vila, and a lower town that, at least in the area around the harbor, dates mainly from the mid-19th century. In the lower town, the Barrio de Sa Penya, stretching east from the Estación Maritima, is the fishermen's quarter, full of shops, restaurants, bars, and a lively nightlife.The Marina district to the west of it is the business district, with more shops, restaurants, and bars.
Ibiza's main street, Paseo Vara de Rey (named after an ibicenco hero of the Spanish-American War), is on the western reaches of this district, and still farther west stretch the newer zones of the city, brought about by the boom in tourism. Dalt Vila is picturesque and compact, an oasis of calm far removed from the hubbub of the rest of the island.
It's crowned by an ancient cathedral and enclosed by 16th-century walls that have been declared a national monument. Enter by the main gateway, the Portal de las Tablas, flanked by Roman statues, and climb the winding cobblestone streets to the cathedral of Ibiza and Formentera, the Catedra de Santa Maria de Las Nieves (St. Mary of the Snows). Built during the 13th century and extensively revamped early in the 18th century, the church is rather plain and austere inside and out, but the panoramic view from the terrace is the best in town, 300 feet over the Mediterranean.
Also in Plaza de la Catedral is the Museo Arqueologico, which contains items unearthed on Ibiza and Formentera and is one of the most important museums of Punic (Carthaginian) artifacts in Spain and in the world. All exhibit identification and information is in Spanish only. The museum is open daily; admission charge . Another Dalt Vila museum - the Museo de Arte Contemponineo displays contemporary Spanish paintings and sculpture.
Windmill Hill Ibiza
Visitors whose appetite for - artifacts has not been sated should head down to a part of the lower town west of Dalt Vila to the Punic necropolis of Puig des Motins (Windmill Hill). Because the Carthaginians considered the soil of Ibiza to be especially good for burial purposes, they buried their dead from other colonies here as well, and this necropolis was the largest of several on the island. More than 4,000 tombs were carved into the hillside, and although the graves were pillaged over the centuries, scientific excavations yielded enough to stock the Museo Monogrrifico del Puig des Molins, at the bottom of the hill. The museum is open daily, and the admission charge includes a visit to the necropolis.
Formentera and things to do
Formentera The sea is visible from every point on Formentera, which is nearly flat as a pancake except for a lump the 630-foothigh La Mola mountain at its eastern extremity. Made up of two islets joined by an isthmus, the island measures only about 12 miles from end to end. Ferries arrive at La Sabina, the island harbor, which is on the north coast between two lagoons, Estang de Peix and Estang Pudent (which translate as fish lagoon and stinky lagoon, respectively). The cluster of sparkling white house’s down the road from the port is San Francisco Javier, the capital, home to less than half the island's population (and also called, in ibicenc, Sant Francesc Xavier).
At the center of town is the 18th century Iglesia de San Francisco. The nextlargest village is San Fernando, 2 km to the east. The rest of the island consists of pine forests and salt flats, generously fringed with beaches - Platja de Mitjorn, on the southern coast and 3 miles long, is long enough to escape being crowded.
Others include Platja d'Es Pujols, north of San Fernando, which attracts a certain amount of business from package tours; Platja de Ses IIletas and Platja de Llevant, on either side of the Trocadors peninsula, which stretches north from La Sabina; and Cala Sahona, on the western side of the island, still reasonably remote.
The Carthaginians are known to have worked the salt pans, but they left no trace of settlement on the island. The Romans left it its name, a corruption of the Latin Frumentaria – from frumentum, or wheat since Formentera served as a granary for the Roman camp on Ibiza.
posted by Fay at
6:45 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home