Ibiza day tours with a private driver: routes, timing and cost

An Ibiza day tour with a private driver is a car and chauffeur held for several hours or the whole day, taking you between coves, hilltop villages, markets and a sunset spot on your own schedule. With Elly8.net it costs from US$95 an hour in a business sedan (3-hour minimum), US$380 for the private island highlights tour, or US$700 for a full day, fixed and per vehicle.

Distances on the island are short: no route below has a leg much over half an hour. What takes time is the small roads, the parking at the popular coves, and getting back from a beach at the hour everyone else leaves. A driver solves all three. Below are four routes, built on routed drive times, and a guide to which booking suits each.

How much does an Ibiza day tour with a private driver cost?

As arithmetic, five hours in a business SUV at US$120 an hour is US$600, while the full day in the same vehicle is US$885. If your plan runs past seven hours, the full-day rate is the better buy; for a half-day loop, hourly is cheaper. Seats and luggage come from our fleet page.

See Ibiza prices and reserve

Route 1: south-west coves and the sunset

The classic Ibiza day: clear water, the rock of Es Vedrà offshore, and the west-coast sunset.

Start mid-morning with the drive to Cala d'Hort, facing Es Vedrà, for a swim and a long lunch. In the afternoon, continue north to Sant Antoni and the coves beyond it. Finish at Cala Comte or on the Sant Antoni bay for sunset, then drive back to Ibiza Town for dinner.

Timing: six to eight hours. Best booking: the full-day chauffeur, since the sunset pushes the day long. Why a driver: the cove car parks fill up in summer, and getting a taxi back from a beach at sunset is the hardest ride on the island.

Route 2: inland villages and the north coast

A slower day through the quieter middle and north of the island.

Santa Gertrudis, in the centre of the island, is a village of cafés and galleries around its church square. Sant Joan de Labritja, further north, is quieter still, and the road on to Portinatx brings you down to the north coast for a swim in its bays. Return via the main road south.

Timing: four to five hours. Best booking: hourly, four or five hours. Why a driver: the northern roads are small and winding, and the villages are spread out with little public transport between them.

Route 3: the east coast and the hippy market

Santa Eulària and the east coast have a calmer, family feel, and the area is known for its markets.

Visit Santa Eulària's seafront and old church hill, continue to the village of Sant Carles, and drop down to Es Canar for the Punta Arabí hippy market, listed by the island's tourism board. Market days and seasons change, so check the listing before you go and send the desk your plan.

Timing: four to six hours. Best booking: hourly or the highlights tour. Why a driver: market parking is limited, and the chauffeur drops you at the entrance and collects you at an agreed point.

Route 4: Ibiza Town, Dalt Vila and the south beaches

The shortest tour, and a good first day after arrival.

Start at the walls of Dalt Vila, the UNESCO-listed old town above the port. Its upper streets are largely closed to traffic, so the chauffeur drops you at the gates and meets you at the bottom after you have walked down through the lanes. Then head to the marinas for lunch and on to Playa d'en Bossa, south of town, for the afternoon. The island tourism board, ibiza.travel, covers Dalt Vila's museums and viewpoints.

Timing: three to four hours. Best booking: the private island highlights tour, US$380 in a business sedan to US$760 in a Sprinter, or the 3-hour hourly minimum. Why a driver: it makes the walk downhill instead of uphill, and the car carries beach bags all day.

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Choosing the right route for the season and the hour

The same island feels very different in May and August, and at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

High summer, July and August. Start early. The popular coves fill by late morning, and the roads to them slow down. Route 1 works best with an early swim at Cala d'Hort and a long lunch out of the sun, saving the west coast for the evening. The air-conditioned car between stops is not a luxury in the afternoon heat.

Spring and autumn. The shoulder months are the best time for Route 2 and Route 3. The villages are quieter, the light is softer, and the beaches still invite a swim on warm days. Taxis are also easier to find in these months, so the case for a driver rests more on convenience and group size than on availability.

Sunset. The west coast around Sant Antoni and Cala Comte is the island's sunset spot, and every car on the island seems to head there in the evening. Book the full day if sunset is in the plan, so the car is waiting rather than being hunted for in the dark.

Rest days. After a big night, Route 4 is a gentle choice: a short drive, a walk downhill through Dalt Vila and an afternoon on the beach, with the car handling the bags.

What to tell the desk before your tour

A good day starts with a clear brief. When you book, or by email afterwards, send:

• Your pickup point. A hotel name, or for a villa the house name, GPS pin, gate arrangements and the house manager's number.
• Your rough route and any fixed times. A lunch reservation, a market you want to see, a sunset at a particular spot, or a ferry or flight at the end of the day.
• The group. Number of adults and children, the children's ages for car seats, and any mobility needs.
• What you are carrying. Beach bags, cool boxes, a stroller or luggage for an airport finish, so the right vehicle is sent.
• How you want to finish. Back at the hotel, dropped at a restaurant, or straight to the airport.

The chauffeur adjusts the order of stops on the day to suit traffic and parking, and you can change the plan as you go within the booked time.

A sample full day across the island

For travellers with only one free day, the routes combine. Pick up at 9:30 a.m. in Ibiza Town and drive to Santa Gertrudis for coffee, about 16 minutes. Continue north to Sant Joan and down to Portinatx for a late-morning swim. After lunch on the north coast, cross the island to Sant Antoni and the coves beyond it for the afternoon, and finish at Cala Comte for sunset before the drive back to town for a late dinner. It is a long day, roughly ten hours with the stops, and it suits the full-day chauffeur rate. The chauffeur adjusts the order to the traffic and to where parking is easiest at each hour.

Combining a tour with an arrival or departure

Many visitors land in the morning and cannot check in until mid-afternoon. A car booked by the hour from Ibiza Airport fills that gap: the chauffeur meets you in arrivals with a name board, the luggage stays in the vehicle, and you spend the morning on Route 4 before arriving at the hotel as the room is ready. The airport is only about 7 km (5 mi) from Ibiza Town and 4 km (3 mi) from Playa d'en Bossa by road, so little time is lost. A straight Ibiza airport transfer is US$120 in a business sedan to US$315 in a Sprinter; our Ibiza airport transfer guide compares it with the bus and taxi.

The same works in reverse on departure day, ending the tour at the airport with the cases already loaded.

Adding Formentera to an island day

Some travellers want a taste of Formentera too. The car cannot cross, but it can bracket the trip: a morning drop at the ferry terminal in Ibiza Town's port, and a pickup when you return in the evening, with a partner on Formentera arranged through the desk if you need one there. The Ports de Balears authority runs the port and its ferry terminals.

Groups, families and celebrations

An Executive Sprinter carries 12 passengers and 12 bags, so a birthday group or two families can tour together, with cool bags and beach gear in the back. As arithmetic only, a full day in a Sprinter at US$1,400 shared by ten comes to US$140 each; Elly8.net prices are per vehicle. See Executive Sprinter with driver and group transportation.

For families, child seats are fitted before pickup on request. For villa groups on unpaved lanes, choose a Business SUV or First Class SUV; the desk will advise if a lane is too narrow for a Sprinter. Many groups end the day with dinner and a club night; the evening out and event night package, US$475 to US$950, is covered in our post on Ibiza taxi fares and when to book a car.

Taxi-hopping vs a driver for the day

You can do any of these routes by taxi. The meter is fair, at €1.21 per km by day on the rates Aena publishes on its Ibiza taxi page, plus a €4.00 start supplement for each trip. The issue is that a tour is four or five separate rides, each needing a car at a cove or village where taxis rarely wait, and the last ride of the day is the hardest. For one or two people doing a short loop out of season, taxi-hopping is cheaper. For a full summer day, a family or a group, a driver who stays with you is simpler and often comparable once the separate fares and waits are added. Compare more on private city tours and hourly chauffeur.

How to book a tour

1. Choose hourly, the highlights tour or a full day, and enter your hotel, villa pin or the airport.
2. Pick the vehicle by passengers, bags and road.
3. Reserve and pay by card in US$, then send the desk your route. Confirmation comes by email.

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup; 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card under the cancellation policy. Rides in Ibiza are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory. Every fare is on the Ibiza page.