Ibiza Nightlife

However good the restaurant scene in Ibiza Town, it's something of a sideshow compared with the bars and clubs which have made the island internationally famous - you come to Ibiza to party. Together they keep the place going pretty much twenty-four hours a day, and with money, mobility and stamina the night is yours, never mind the morning. The town's bars throng the streets of the lower town, where unsuspecting visitors are herded into terrace bars around Plaça de sa Tertulia by teams of hustlers and fleeced for as much as €6 for a beer. Better to start the night in Plaça des Parc in Sunset or Madagascar, where prices are more reasonable, and then head for the stylish bars of Sa Penya - Bar Zuka on c/de la Verge, Base Bar and Rock Bar at the eastern end of c/Garijo - all attract a seriously funky, clubby clientele. The gay scene is centerd on c/de la Verge, perhaps the wildest street in the western Mediterranean, where dozens of bars, and myriad shops cater for an almost exclusively (male) gay crowd; Caprichio and Teatro are both fashionable spots, but the Dôme bar close by at c/d'Alfonso XII is the really über -hip gay destination bar. Meanwhile, clubs - some of the globe's most spectacular venues - are spread across the southern half of the island, but primarily in Sant Antoni, Sant Rafel, Platja d'en Bossa, and of course, Ibiza Town itself. It's actually quite easy to hop from one club to the other courtesy of the Disco Bus (nightly 0.30am-6.30am; €1.80 per journey; details from the tourist office). Neither is there much difficulty in finding out what's happening: each club employs PR people, who descend on Ibiza Town to parade through the streets in a competitive frenzy of night hype. Processions of stilt-walkers, silver- and gold-painted angels, devils and dwarfs strut through the streets, drumming up custom. Many of the happening bars also hand out free club entry tickets in return for your custom, which represent a significant saving. None of the clubs open until midnight, but there again they do carry on until at least 7am. Most have a policy of a free drink with the admission price and the majority accept credit cards.

As with everything madrileño , there is a bewildering variety of nightlife venues - all of which are covered, to some degree, in the area reviews following. Most common are the discobares - bars of all musical and sexual persuasion, whose unifying feature is background (occasionally live) rock, dance or salsa music. These get going from around 11pm and will stay open routinely to 2am or 3am, as will the few quieter cocktail bars and pubs .

Clubs and discos in Ibiza, Ibiza Clubs