How To Plan A Week In Ibiza With Teenagers, Spain

Ibiza is well known for being a party island full of beach clubs and super night clubs with world famous DJs where (mainly) youngsters flock for hedonistic nights and days sleeping off the damage on the beach or by the pool. However, the White Island of Ibiza is much more than a party destination – it’s an island of incredible natural beauty, bathed in golden light, with stunning coastlines, a hippy history and UNESCO heritage sites. What more reason do you need to plan a week in Ibiza with teenagers?

Where is Ibiza and how can you get there?

Ibiza is one of the Balearic Islands of Spain, an archipelago in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Over 50 islands make up the archipelago, but most of them are uninhabited. The largest two islands are Mallorca and Menorca (to the east) and then Ibiza and Formentera (to the west), together known as the Pine Islands.

Ibiza lies about 150km to the east of Valencia, Spain. It has an airport which is the main way to arrive, and ferry routes to Barcelona, Valencia, Dénia, and Mallorca from the main towns of Ibiza Town and San Antonio. Ferries also run to the smaller island of Formentera from San Antonio, Ibiza Town, and Santa Eulària des Riu.

Don’t be surprised if your flight to Ibiza is ‘lively’ as our RyanAir flight from Manchester was full of young adults at the back of the plane getting into the party spirit and being giddy (but not badly behaved). There were also a significant number of families and couples on the flight to even things out. Funnily enough, the plane on the way home was silent as all the party goers were asleep!

Where to base yourself when visiting Ibiza with teenagers?

The main party towns on Ibiza are San Antonio (west coast) and Ibiza Town (southeast), so you might want to avoid these for your base when visiting Ibiza with teenagers as they get noisy in the evenings. Here’s another suggestion…

Santa Eulària des Riu

Santa Eulària des Riu (Santa Eulària) is the third biggest town in Ibiza on the east of the island and a much more family-friendly resort. We found it to be a great location as it’s no more than 20 or 30 minutes from other parts of the island, allowing you to explore the island of Ibiza easily. Also, it’s only 15 kms from Ibiza Town and 21 km from Ibiza Airport.

Accommodation in Santa Eulària

There is a good range of accommodation in Santa Eulària with hotels across the price range. We found a villa with a pool on the edge of town which worked well for our week in Ibiza with teenagers. It had a cactus garden, BBQ and outdoor kitchen with a resident lizard in the sink!

The town of Santa Eulària

Santa Eulària has a pretty seaside promenade called Paseo Maritime de la Alameda. It is 7km long and lined with palm trees, cafes, bars, and restaurants.

At the eastern end of the promenade, you’ll find the marina where you can rent a kayak or boat to explore the coast. There is also a ferry to the neighbouring island of Formentera which is nice to visit.

At the western end of the promenade, the River Eulària runs to the beach and you’ll find a pedestrian walkway to a small beach Caló de S’Alga. A short distance up the River you will find Pont Vell, a Roman Bridge.

Flea market on S’Alamera de Santa Eulària – From May to October (but not on Wednesdays or Sundays) you’ll find a lively local craft market on the road from the Town Hall to the beach in the middle of town.

Where to eat in Santa Eulària

As well as all the amenities that you might need such as banks, pharmacies, and supermarkets, you’ll also be spoilt for choice with places to eat. Santa Eulària has two streets full of good restaurant options, both traditional and modern, on Calle de San Jaime and Calle de San Vincent. We enjoyed picking up delicious Acai bowls and green juices from the Passion Café for breakfast, before braving the steep hill starts at the road junctions to get back to our villa.

You can find the iconic Nikki Beach Ibiza beach club in Santa Eulària which has been open on the island for more than 10 years. Book a cabana, chill out in the pool area, listen to the DJ tunes whilst you eat in the outdoor restaurant.

A 9-mile drive south of Santa Eulària brings you to Cala Llonga, a beautiful bay where you’ll find the restaurant Amante sitting in an elevated position overlooking the cove. Make sure you visit for a memorable meal!

Es Puig de Missa

A tall hill called Es Puig de Missa overlooks the town of Santa Eulària. You can walk up the 52-meter hill to the fortified 16th century church at the top. As you ascend, the path winds around the hill, offering lovely views over the town towards the sea. From one angle you can spot a very straight Roman road leading to the town.

Then, as you get closer to the Church of Puig de Missa you will notice several white crosses near the top which were put on the walls in the days of the Barbary pirates so raiders would think it not easy to steal flour. Next to the Church is a lovely courtyard of shady arches to rest in before you continue to explore the tiny church and small garden in front of it.

What else can you do on a week in Ibiza with teenagers

Seek out the hippy side of the Island

There is a strong hippy heritage on Ibiza giving the island a cool bohemian feel. As outlined in my blog In Search of Hippy Ibiza on a Holiday with Teenagers there are several ways that your teenagers can enjoy the hippy side of Ibiza, including visiting a hippy market, join a hippy drumming ritual at sunset, or visiting Es Vedre the spiritual home of Ibiza.

Enjoy an ‘early doors’ dinner in San Antonio

Whilst you might be tempted to avoid San Antonio completely when visiting Ibiza with teenagers, we decided to go but with an ‘early doors’ strategy to avoid the town in full party swing. If you visit in the early evening, you can soak up the atmosphere on the beach strip where all the iconic beach bars are, such as Café Mambo and Café del Mar, but leave before things get lively.

We booked a table at Café del Mar overlooking the bay in time for sunset (see featured photo). It wasn’t the best food of the holiday, and it wasn’t a cheap meal as there was a minimum spend requirement for the seats with a view, however we did have a lovely evening watching the world go by – people were coming out for dinner, promenading, playing on hoverboards on the water and congregating on the rocks in front of the beach bars to watch the sun go down, all whilst being serenaded by laid-back beats from the restaurant’s DJ. Everyone clapped when the sun dropped from view!

Tip – a much cheaper option would be to eat elsewhere and then just come down onto the rocks in front of Café del Mar to watch the sunset!

Extension – If you want to combine your visit to San Antonio with another element, then you could visit the Time and Space Monument on the coast, about 25 mins southwest from San Antonio, before you seek out dinner. This is otherwise known as the ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ comprising a semicircle of 13 basalt columns on a clifftop. One of the columns is 10m high with a gilded top. You need to take a 10-minute walk along an unsignposted dirt path, just south of Cala Codolar .

Take a sunset kayak trip from Portinatx

On our last night in Ibiza, we took our teenagers on a sunset kayak, and I think we can all agree it was a wonderful way to finish the holiday! We drove 30 minutes from Santa Eularia to the small resort of Portinatx on the north coast.

Note – this would be another family friendly resort to consider staying in, although it is a bit further away from the action elsewhere (40 minutes from Ibiza Town).

We booked the ‘Ibiza: Sea Kayaking at Sunset and Sea Caves Tour’ which you can book for yourselves below: