Uncovered – the real Ibiza

Daily Telegraph readers have voted Ibiza the world's worst holiday destination. But David Sandhu – along, perhaps, with Jade Jagger – says the Balearic island’s bad press is undeserved

Outside of the summer madness of the kiss-me-quick resort of San Antonio, Ibiza is among the most beautiful and tranquil places in the Mediterranean.

Contrary to what you’ll read in the newspapers and see on television, there's so much more to the island than hedonism. 

Dotted around its stunning shoreline are more than 50 beaches, ranging from extravagant sweeps of sand to hard-to-find coves beneath imposing cliffs. Ibiza's hilly, thickly wooded interior is well worth exploring by car. You’ll find isolated whitewashed villages amid terraced fields of almonds, figs and olives.

Set around a dazzling harbour, the cosmopolitan capital, Ibiza Town, has most of the island’s architectural highlights – there’s historic Dalt Vila, an escarpment topped by a walled enclave, and Placa de la Catedral, the epicentre of Ibizan civilisation. Phoenicians were the first to settle on this site in around 600B and then came the Romans, who built a temple to Mercury on the rock in 283 AD. In 1235, a mosque was pulled down to make way for the Catalan Gothic cathedral that still dominates the square today.

Ibiza is one of the Med’s most fashionable spots: style-leaders such as Jade Jagger host fabulous parties in fincas in the remote north of the island among pine-covered hills around the unspoilt villages of Santa Agnes, San Mateo, Santa Gertrudis, San Joan and San Carlos. All of these villages possess a unique combination of rural charm and hippy heritage.

Santa Agnes is one of Ibiza's best-conserved villages, the inaccessibility of the nearby coastline having protected it from mass tourism. You reach the coast over rough countryside only to be confronted by huge cliffs. There's little here apart from Can Cosmi, a friendly neighbourhood bar and restaurant at the very heart of village life. A 30-minute coastal hike from Can Cosmi takes you up into the cliff-tops for a breathtaking panoramic view of the Med. During the spring, the valley around Santa Agnes is an incredible sight – an ocean of white blossom from hundreds of almond trees stretching as far as the eye can see.

Nearby San Mateo is a lovely little hamlet with a sprinkling of houses around the 18th century church. Traditional farmhouses pepper the surrounding countryside amid fields and pinewoods.