Experience the best of Formentera

Formentera lies a short ferry ride south of Ibiza and measures about 19 kilometres from end to end, mostly flat, with the plateau of La Mola rising to roughly 190 metres at the eastern end. A lighthouse stands at the edge of La Mola, and Jules Verne mentioned it in a novel. The main village, Sant Francesc Xavier, has a fortified white church, and the port of La Savina receives the ferries.

The beaches are the island's main draw: Ses Illetes, a narrow spit of white sand with shallow turquoise water, Llevant, and Migjorn, a long beach on the south coast. The salt pans of Ses Salines natural park attract flamingos and other birds, and the seagrass meadows offshore are a protected UNESCO site, shared with Ibiza. Cap de Barbaria has a lighthouse on cliffs in the south-west, and cycle paths link the villages.

Peix sec, sun-dried fish, bullit de peix, a fish stew served with rice, and flaó, a cheesecake flavoured with mint, are the local dishes, with figs, local wine and Balearic pastries to follow. The village of Pilar de la Mola holds a craft market with roots in the island's hippie years. June and September are warm and quiet, July and August busy, and winter calm.