The Winter I…
If you live in Europe’s northern hemisphere, the summer break is everything.
August is sacred. Cities empty out. Inboxes go unanswered. Whole countries seem to exhale at once. The Dutch even have an approach to time off - vakantie geld - money set aside just so you can disappear properly. I get it. Who wouldn’t love soaking up sunshine and probably thaw and defrost.
But what we love even more is winter travel in Europe.
Not ski holidays.
We mean flying south. Following the map down, as close to the equator line as possible, until the sky feels higher and brighter, and the cold air stops tightening you.
Winter travel asks less of you.
The weather is still kind. Not too hot, not too cold. Just enough sun to remind you you’re alive. You don’t have to elbow anything to get a drink. Prices don’t get jacked up. There’s no queue pretending to be buzz.
We often travel in January to places we wouldn’t dare step into in August. In summer, they belong to everyone and no one at the same time. In winter, they belong to themselves again.
This winter, we came back to Ibiza.
Seventeen degrees. Sunny. The kind of warmth and light that doesn’t demand sunscreen or schedule.
A few good places were still open, giving us just enough to do. A gentle break from laying horizontal all the time.
There is more hospitality too. With no crowds to divide attention, conversations stretched and recommendations became personal.
You aren’t just table five or room sixteen.
One restaurant even emailed us the day after. Just to say it was nice to meet us.
And then there was the hug. From locals. One of those hugs. A tad bit too long, but not long enough to get uncomfortable. The kind that says, we see you.
Feel-good moments in the winter sun just linger a bit longer.
Below is our recommendation for Ibiza in Winter. Enjoy.
SLEEP
Winter rate is significantly cheaper here. But more importantly, If someone remembers your name by day two, you’re in the right place.
Soho Farmhouse
SAVOUR
Winter is when restaurants cook for people, not volume.
Follow the places that stay open because locals still go. Menus are shorter. Conversations are longer. If the waiter sits down to explain what’s good today instead of what’s popular, stay. And if they email you the next day to say it was nice meeting you, come back.
Juntos House restaurant (usually closed the first two weeks of Jan)
Bottega il Buco (Donna Lennard's acclaimed NYC restaurants)
Do: Very little, on purpose. This is not the season for ticking boxes.
Walk coastal paths. Sit in the sun with a coffee longer than necessary.
Walk through San Mateo, Cala d'Albarca and a 5 million year old stone bridge.
Visit small village of Santa Gertrudis for bites and some handcrafted shops
Go walk around the farm at Juntos Farm
Walk up to Dalt Vila and stop at Museo Puget
Drink Bierbas Ibicencas liquen at Bar Anita
SHOP
Browse shops that open because they want to, not because they have to. (Mostly in Santa Gertrudis)
Las Dailas de Ibiza (Open market, open from Feb onwards)
