Balafia Fortified Hamlet

Coming up the dirt lane, three houses appear first: white walls, flat roofs, and a defensive tower standing among them. Balàfia is a farming hamlet that fortified itself, its towers built for families to shelter in when corsairs came inland, and the cluster still reads as one defended unit.

It is a quiet stop. Walk round the houses in five minutes, then follow the road towards Sant Llorenç de Balàfia: it makes a pleasant stroll, and about ten minutes on, at a building beside the road, a complete tower comes into view.

• The houses and towers are private property: you see them from the road and cannot go inside.
• The approach road is narrow and unpaved. A car gets up it; take it slowly.
• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the hamlet or nearby — bring water with you.
• No wheelchair-accessible parking or entrance.
• Pair it with Sant Llorenç de Balàfia, two minutes on by car along the dirt road, where the church stands on the village square.

The last stretch is a narrow unpaved road, and a car can drive it. The nearest mapped parking lies about 630 m and 700 m away in a straight line; the Ca na Pepeta bus stop is about 470 m away.

Once the first three houses come into view, you can stop and walk round them in five minutes. Carry on along the road towards Sant Llorenç de Balàfia on foot and it turns into a pleasant walk: about ten minutes on, at a building beside the road, a complete tower comes into view. By car, the same dirt road reaches the square of Sant Llorenç de Balàfia in two minutes.

Best: morning or late afternoon, when low sun picks out the white walls and the towers.

Avoid: midday in July and August.

Inland Ibiza is hot in high summer, the walk is on an open dirt road, and there is no water nearby.

Balàfia is private property, and the houses and towers are homes. They are not open to visitors. Look from the road, keep out of the yards and off the surrounding farmland, and keep noise down as you walk past.