Ibiza and the Balearic Islands: Places to Explore

The first city on the site of Alcúdia was a Roman settlement, in 123 BC. The Moors reestablished a town here, and after the Reconquest it became a feudal possession of the Knights Templars; the first... Read more

Ciutadella was Minorca's capital before the British settled in Mahón, and its history is richer. Settled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Cathaginians, and Romans, Ciutadella fell to the... Read more

Deià is perhaps best known as the adopted home of the English poet and writer Robert Graves, who lived here off and on from 1929 until his death in 1985. The village is still a favorite haunt of... Read more

Much of Formentera is protected from the rampant development that plagues the other islands, so it's a calm respite from Ibiza's dance-until-you-drop madness. Though it does get crowded in the summer, the... Read more

A little village (full-time population: 500) of whitewashed houses with red tile roofs, Fornells comes alive in the summer high season, when Spanish and Catalan families arrive in droves to open their... Read more

Hedonistic and historic, Eivissa (Ibiza, in Castilian) is a city jam-packed with cafés, nightspots, and trendy shops; looming over it are the massive stone walls of Dalt Vila —the medieval... Read more

Established as the island's capital in 1722, when the British began their nearly 80-year occupation, Mahón still bears the stamp of its former rulers. The streets nearest the port are lined with... Read more

If you look north of the cathedral (La Seu, or the seat of the bishopric, to Majorcans) on a map of the city of Palma, you can see around the Plaça Santa Eulalia a jumble of tiny streets that made... Read more

The history of this pretty little town goes back at least as far as the Roman occupation of the island; the only trace of that period is the stone Roman Bridge at the edge of town. In the 13th century... Read more

At the edge of this town on the island's eastern coast, to the right below the road, a Roman bridge crosses what is claimed to be the only permanent river in the Balearics (hence "des Riu," or "of the... Read more

Blink and you miss it: that's true of most of the small towns in the island's interior and especially so of Santa Gertrudis, not much more than a bend in the road. But Santa Gertrudis is worth a look... Read more

All but the briefest visits to Majorca should include at least an overnight stay in Sóller, one of the most beautiful towns on the island, notable for the palatial homes built in the 19th and early... Read more

West of Deià is Son Marroig, one of the estates of Austrian archduke Luis Salvador (1847-1915), who arrived in Majorca as a young man and fell in love with the place. The archduke acquired huge... Read more