Formentera

⚠️ Entry rules and local regulations change without notice. Before booking, check entry requirements and local rules — visas, access, nature reserves, visitor quotas — with the official authorities.

Formentera is the smallest and most authentic of the inhabited Balearic Islands. Reachable only by boat from Ibiza (30 min), it has managed to preserve its wild character and its exceptional landscapes. Its beaches at Ses Illetes, Llevant and Migjorn offer waters of a transparency and turquoise colour absolutely comparable to the Caribbean. Car-free in high season in certain areas, the island is best explored by bike along its cycle paths. La Mola, a rocky plateau to the east, is home to a lighthouse and the memory of Jules Verne, who drew inspiration from it.

Ibiza's quiet neighbour

Formentera is the smallest inhabited Balearic island — 83 km², around 12,000 people, no airport. It lies half an hour by ferry south of Ibiza, and the contrast is the point: no clubs, no high-rise, no nightlife to speak of, and a coast of white sand and water so clear it is routinely compared to the Caribbean. The comparison holds because of the Posidonia meadows offshore, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which filter the sea and give it that colour.

The island is almost flat, except for the plateau of La Mola at the eastern end with its lighthouse, and the beaches are its geography: Ses Illetes and Llevant on the long northern spit, Migjorn running for five kilometres along the south, Cala Saona in the west. Es Pujols is the only resort; Sant Francesc Xavier, inland, is the small capital with its fortified church and Saturday market.

Formentera had its bohemian decade in the 1960s and 70s — Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan passed through La Mola — and the craft markets there still nod to it. Today it is a family island in June and September and an Italian island in August, when it fills with visitors from Milan and Rome.

May, June, September, October

The sea is at its best from June to October, warmest in August and September. But August is also the month to avoid unless you have booked a year ahead: the island is saturated and prices are the highest in the Balearics. May–June and September–October give the same water, the beaches half-empty and the restaurants relaxed. The island shuts down almost completely from November to April, and most ferries thin to a few a day.

Ferry from Ibiza, then two wheels

There is no airport: fly to Ibiza and take the ferry from Ibiza town to La Savina, 30 minutes by fast boat, several times an hour in summer. Formentera is Spain — no formality for EU citizens, euro. ⚠️ Since 2019 the island limits the number of vehicles in summer: bringing a car or hiring one in high season requires advance registration through the official system. The practical answer is a scooter or an electric bike, hired at La Savina — the island is twenty kilometres long and nearly flat.

Ses Illetes charges for car and scooter access in summer; the parking fills early, and the beach is best before eleven or after four. Book accommodation far ahead — supply is small by design. Eat the peix sec (dried fish salad), the grilled fish of Es Caló and the island's own wine and fig-tree honey; watch the sunset from the Cap de Barbaria lighthouse.

Essentials & your questions