Spain · Balearic Islands

The Balearics

Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera — four islands with almost nothing in common.

Overview

The Balearics are usually sold as one destination and are really four. Mallorca has the Tramuntana mountains dropping into the sea and a serious restaurant scene; Menorca is quieter, lower and lined with unbuilt coves; Ibiza carries a reputation it only half deserves, and its north is empty; Formentera has the clearest water in the western Mediterranean and sandbanks you can anchor beside. The crossings between them are short, which is what makes a week here work — you can change the character of the holiday in two hours.

Where to dine

A table by the water

Juan y Andrea
Illetes, Formentera
A beach institution reached by tender, with a dinghy service from the anchorage. Grilled fish, little else.
Es Molí de Sal
Formentera
A converted salt mill on the sand looking across to Ibiza. Paella and rice dishes worth the crossing.
Sa Foradada
Deià, Mallorca
On a headland below Deià, reachable by tender or a steep walk — paella cooked over wood at sunset.
Zaranda
Mallorca
The island's most decorated kitchen, working Mallorcan produce at a level that surprises first-time visitors.
The fish bars of Santa Eulària
Ibiza
The island's quieter east coast — where Ibiza eats when it is not performing.

What to do

Anchorages & excursions

Es Vedrà
A 400m limestone monolith off Ibiza's south-west, with an anchorage beneath it. Sunset here is the reason people come.
Serra de Tramuntana
A UNESCO cultural landscape of terraces and dry-stone walls — Deià, Valldemossa and Sóller behind them.
S'Espalmador
An uninhabited island between Ibiza and Formentera; wade across the sandbar at low water.
Dalt Vila, Ibiza
The UNESCO-listed walled old town above the port — Renaissance ramparts, and best walked after dark.
Menorca's northern coves
Cala Pregonda, Cavalleria and the wilder north shore — red sand, no development, sea access.

The fleet