Formentera
Spain
Ibiza's small, flat neighbour, with no airport and water kept clear by the seagrass meadows around it
Photo by Mauro Merino on Unsplash
Photos by Mauro Merino, Gérald Bigot, Roberto H and Karol Chomka on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Spain
May to June, and September to early October — high summer brings the day-trippers and the prices, and the winter closes most of the island
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 60mm in Oct
Where it is
38.71°N, 1.43°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Get to Ses Illetes before the day boats from Ibiza arrive
- Cycle to the Cap de Barbaria lighthouse for sunset, with lights, because the ride back is dark
- Rent a bike rather than a car; the island is flat, and parking at the beaches is the hard part in summer
- Walk the cliff edge at La Mola
- Stay at least one night — the island empties after the last ferry and is a different place
Formentera travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Spain
Very expensiveEuros, cards almost everywhere. This is one of the most expensive places to sleep in Spain in high summer, and the Balearic tourist tax is added per person per night on top of the booking price.
ATMs & cards
A handful of bank machines in Sant Francesc, La Savina and Es Pujols. Take what you need in Ibiza before the ferry if you are going somewhere remote, and decline any machine's conversion offer.
Avoid these
- Euronet and the independent machines at the port and in Es Pujols
Use these instead
- CaixaBank
- BBVA
- Santander
- Sabadell
There are few machines on the island; draw cash in Ibiza if you need it, and take the euro amount when a machine offers to convert.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Spain
Very safeVery safe. The hazards are the main road, which is narrow, busy with scooters and bicycles in summer and the commonest place to get hurt, and the ferries, which are cancelled when the wind is up — never book the last boat before a flight.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (9 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the main road — narrow, busy with scooters and bicycles in summer, and where most injuries happen
- Ses Illetes — in high summer, when anchored boats and tenders come close to swimmers
- The ferries in wind — crossings are cancelled at short notice, so leave a margin before a flight
- Cycling back from Cap de Barbaria after sunset without lights
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Spain visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Spain
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date (MMR, tetanus, polio)
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodEnsalada payesa, the farmhouse salad of potato, peppers and peix sec — fish dried in the wind and kept in oil. Fish and rice on the beach at Migjorn. Prices at the beach restaurants in high summer are some of the highest in the Balearics; the bakeries and the village bars are not.
Travel tipsGetting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- CabifyWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- Against a taxi
- About level with a metered taxi, and where a city sets a flat airport fare the taxi usually wins.
Several cities cap private-hire licences hard, so at peak the app may simply have nothing to send.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Madrid — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Spain, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Spanish
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-thyas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePerdónper-DON
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
Religion
Catholic
Nominally Catholic and deeply secular in practice. Churches are working buildings as well as sights, and Semana Santa is taken seriously even by people who never attend Mass.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Eat late — lunch from 14:00, dinner rarely before 21:00
- Greet with two cheek kisses, right cheek first, between women or a man and a woman
- Stand at the bar to drink; it is cheaper than sitting and more sociable
- Say buenos días on entering a small shop, and adiós on leaving
Don't
- Do not expect anything to be open between 14:00 and 17:00 outside the big cities
- Do not order sangria in a serious restaurant — it is a tourist drink; ask for tinto de verano
- Do not tip heavily; rounding up or a euro or two is normal
- In Barcelona, do not assume Catalan and Spanish are interchangeable — the distinction matters to people
Where to stay in Formentera
No Holistay rentals in Formentera yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Formentera on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Ibiza IBZ
1h 15mfrom the airport, roughly
20 min by taxi to Ibiza port, then the fast ferry to La Savina, 30 min, then 5 min to Sant Francesc.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
