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Looking at family hols for June/July. Dd 4 and Dd 1. We have been to Port de Pollensa and loved it. Went to Sa Coma in 2012 and didn't like that so much . Is Santa Eulalia very built up/ too touristy or does it have charm?

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I went there (Es Cana) with my sister in 2006. It wasn't my cup of tea I'm afraid (although our Sol Melia hotel was very nice). No charm whatsoever IMHO. It was all a bit seedy and touristy.

We took our kids to Portugal last year which was much better.

sorry i have never been but have heard it's touristy. Am looking at Puerto Pollensa - can you recommend anywhere? Sorry - total hijack here!

We have been to PP twice. Puerto Azul and Playa Mar. Both great. Full on Thomson family experience st the Playa Mar. Bit more laid back at Azul so depends what you are after. Lots of people rent apartments/ villas in PP - nice but pricey.

We have stayed in es Cana a few times and always done the trAin ride to st eulalia and thought it was lovely. There is a marina and a few more shops than es Cana - but I suppose we were all different. I would go

Sorrell, I've never been to Portugal. I'm not sure why but never fancied it enough. Where did you go?

We stayed in a villa about 10 minutes from Tavira (East Algarve - not the 18-30 bit). 2 mins from the the beach (which was fairly uncrowded even in August) and only 10 mins from the Tavira town beach (also very nice). Tavira in the afternoons and evenings is very good with street markets etc. The food is great and I found it cheaper than Italy, France and Germany.

I was surprised at how pleasant it all was.

Es Cana is not Santa Eulalia. They couldn't be more different

St Eulalia is lovely
2 calm shallow bays
Promenade and Marina to walk
Tonnes of restaurants, only one or 2 pie and chips type places

It's not built up and touristy at all

We holidayed in Playa del Ingles which is a short boat hop around the coast from Santa Eulalia. For the age of your DC, Playa Del Ingles has one of the most gently shelving beaches in a very sheltered cove I've come across. Very much a family resort not 18-30 crowd, small and no quaint cobbles. Had lunch is St E one day and liked marina/promenade but beach small for size of resort. (Portugal is cold Atlantic remember!)

St Eulalia isn't very touristy - it's quite quiet and charming.

Play del Ingles is in Gran Canaria iseenodust, not Ibiza. Perhaps you are thinking of Play den Bossa? That is very touristy and loud.

Es Cana is quite quiet and we like it. Been to Santa Eulalia and it is similar but more shops. Can't say more as it was only a short visit.When we always picked up on the airport coach it looked ok but the passengers were older people. People who i have spoke to all liked it but they were older couples and not families. Have a look on Trip Advisor.

Stand corrected on resort name. All of what I said applies to Cala Llonga.

We had a lovely holiday in Santa Eulalia when DCs were young. It's not at all tacky, has a very Spanish feel to it.

I love it there. Have been about 4 times now.

we actually have an apartment there, have been going for 15 years!

We went to Cala Llonga and it was really lovely! The beach is great, very sheltered and although there's a good selection of bars, restaurants and shops it's very low-key and quite quiet. It's a short hop on the bus to Santa Eulalia.

I have been all over Ibiza, but not Santa Eulalia

My fave (main resort) place on Ibiza is Portinatx

Sounds lovely - any recommendations of places to stay in Santa Eulalia? Ideally we want a hotel so the kids can get their nightly mini disco!

Go to portinax.... Gorgeous and great for kids. We visited SE and yes it looked lovely, not tourist at all.... We would def go there with out dd age 8 & 10, we love Ibiza.

With OUR.... not OUT!!!! lol

I've stayed in Es Canar with my sis and her 2 kids and enjoyed it its to far away from all the clubs and bars to be to really noisy and you can walk to the Hippy market

Santa Eulalia is lovely lots of restaurants and bars small square and marina and promenade to walk along

Other places to consider would be Portinax and Peurto San Migule on the North side of the island its a lot quieter but they have Thomson hotels which do the kids clubs ect but they are a lot smaller ( although i think very pretty resorts )

I have been told Portinatx is difficult if you have a pushchair because it is on a steep incline, trudging up and down to the beach and all that. And also there is hardly anything there ie shops or bars/restaurants. Not my views, other peoples.

I don't find Portinatx particularly hilly (in comparison to somewhere like Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria, eg), and there were enough shops for me (I don't do shopping on holiday)

its not massively hilly its kind of in a cove with hills behind it i run and i don't do hills (lol) and i ran every day there so i wouldnt run if it was hilly

you can walk on the pavement all the way around to the other side probably take 20 mins - half an hour or so or you can walk to the beach and go across and up a some stair ( the beach dose have those wooden slabs on it so there is a path ( no dragging pushchair across the beach) There is a square where you can get the bus from to ibiza town and other places

their isn't masses to do in the resort but if your going with young kids then you will probably be mainly at the hotel ect its very very pretty 2 beach either side of the hotel with a path that goes between them and another beach right the other side with a few bars
you can go out for a walk but its the same walk each time (lol)

There are bars & restaurants - just not lots of them like in Santa Eulalia
If you cant find what you want in Santa Eulalia then Es Cana is more lively with more bars and restaurants and more to do

Thanks, have finally taken the plunge and booked the Fiesta Cala Nova!

have a great holiday x

charlea...did you ever walk/run right round to the lighthouse at Portinatx ?

Anyone been to formentera?

Can i ask which is nicer Es Cana or Santa Eulalia? I prefer busy with lots of shops.

Sorry to hijack op

Formentera is v quiet
Lovely beaches
Not an awful lot to see

Santa Eulalia is a proper Spanish town, so has lots of shops, not just touristy ones
Es Cana is much more touristy, lots of bucket and spade shops, and the beach is way to cramped for me

Loops, that hotel looks lovely, I love Cala Nova beach, try Cala Llenya beach next door too
It's not quite in Santa Eulalia though, but taxi is easy and I think there might be the little train that goes that way

Went to Santa Eulalia 8 years ago so it may have changed a bit but we loved it. It was fairly quiet - as in no rowdy bars or 18-30s type groups - but lots of lovely shops and restaurants, very nice beaches, a fab marina to walk round and a good family atmosphere. It felt very safe at quite late at night.

We took a boat trip to Es Cana to go to the Hippy Market and we hated it - both the market and the resort. The Hippy Market seemed to consist of the same 6 market stalls that were in Santa Eulalia square just repeated about 100 times and Es Cana itself was a lot louder and busier than Santa Eulalia.

We also took the local bus into Ibiza Town for the day which was a good day out.

MrsCrump Santa Eulalia every time. The shops in Es Cana were just touristy tat shops. Santa Eulalia's shops are so much nicer. It even has a little department store!

LOOPSNGEORGE.

Thats where we always go!! We used to go in July and it was quiet. Didn't go last year but the year before we went in August and it was packed. Es Cana beach is busy but the hotel Cala Nova has a beach next to the hotel which is nice (although it has had to change after there was a storm and the sand got washed up and the beach went really small. Think its back to near normal now).Hope you have a lovely time.

Thanks Ibizagirl! That's good to hear that you liked it enough to go back! The beach was what really appealed to me but MIL and SIL like to sit by the pool so I'm hoping there's not too much of a scrum for sunbeds.
We've hired a car for the two weeks so looking forward to exploring the island.

We have been since dd was 2 and she is now 13. Nine times i think we have been. There are people who have been going for 35 times at least. There are a lot of repeat guests. Enjoy yourselves and (i know its way off yet) make sure you let us all know what it was like etc.