Ibiza or Formentera? The question that throws everyone into crisis every summer.
They are less than thirty minutes apart by ferry, yet Ibiza and Formentera seem to inhabit parallel universes. One is noise, neon, sweat, and pure adrenaline. The other is silence, salt, wind, and light that bends time. Both have that turquoise sea that takes your breath away. And yet, choosing them together, one after the other, is perhaps the most complete beach experience that the Balearic Islands can offer.
The answer to the question in the title? Don’t choose. Do both.
Ibiza — 4 days of loca party
Ibiza is not just music. It is a living mythology. It is the island that invented a way to be together after sunset, that transformed dance into a collective rite, that convinced generations of people that the night can be more real than the day.
Day by day programme
Day 1 — Arrival and first sunset
Arrive in the afternoon, settle in, and head straight to Café del Mar or Savannah on the seafront of Sant Antoni. The Ibiza sunset with a drink in hand and good ambient music is a mandatory ritual. Never skip it, even if you’re tired. At night, a first taste of the nightlife: the Pacha to start in style, or the Amnesia if you want to dive right into the action.
Day 2 — Beach by day, club by night
Morning at Las Salinas — the beach of the beautiful, the eccentric, and those who want to be seen. Afternoon at Cala Conta, with those waters that shift from green to cobalt blue. Evening at the DC-10, which on Tuesday nights is legendary. If it’s not Tuesday, Ushuaïa for the open air has the same effect.
Day 3 — Dalt Vila and a long night
Dedicate the morning to the historic center of Ibiza Town. Dalt Vila, the UNESCO World Heritage Site with its light stone alleys and cats sleeping on the steps, is beautiful during the day, almost deserted. Have lunch in any alley, buy something at the Las Dalias hippie market if it’s Saturday. The night is the longest: choose the club you want but don’t come back before dawn.
Day 4 — Recovery and farewell
A hearty breakfast, a morning on the beach of Cala Bassa or in the quiet countryside that no tourist ever finds. In the afternoon, take the ferry to Formentera. Your body will thank you for it.
Formentera — 3 days of pure rest
Formentera is the answer. To what? To everything. To the noise of Ibiza, to the frenetic rhythm, to the body that has danced three nights in a row and begs for mercy. A tiny island — just ninety square kilometres — almost flat, covered with junipers and wild lavender.
Day by day programme
Day 5 — The Illetes and the silence
The first day is all for Platja de Ses Illetes: a sandy bank that stretches northward like a finger in the sea, with waters so clear they resemble the Maldives. Arrive early in the morning to find a spot. Swim, sleep on the sand, don’t look at your phone. In the afternoon, rent a bicycle — it’s almost mandatory — and pedal aimlessly among dry stone walls and fields of wheat.
Day 6 — The La Mola lighthouse
Explore the inland. The La Mola lighthouse, at the easternmost tip, looks out towards a horizon that seems endless. Jules Verne set part of one of his novels there. It’s understandable why: here you get the impression that the world ends and something different begins. For lunch, look for a seafood restaurant at the port of La Savina or in Es Pujols. Bomba rice and freshly caught shrimp paella. The night is silent, dotted with stars — the island has very little light pollution. Sleep with the window open.
Day 7 — The last slow day
Don’t organise anything. Go back to Illetes or discover Cala Saona, a hidden bay on the western side, less frequented and just as beautiful. Eat late, drink local wine, watch the sunset from the sea. Then the ferry back to Ibiza, and from there home — with a tanned body, legs still remembering the low of the DC-10, and eyes still full of that unforgettable green water.
So, which one to choose?
Two islands, one journey
Neither of them alone will give you everything. Ibiza without Formentera leaves a sense of excess without redemption. Formentera without Ibiza is almost too quiet, especially if you are under forty and have a bit of a desire to live at night. Together, however, they complement each other almost perfectly: four days to turn up the volume, three days to turn it down. A journey that tells two different speeds of the same summer.
Practical tips
Book the ferry in advance. Bring comfortable shoes for the rocky beaches and sandals for the clubs. And don’t make the mistake of bringing too much stuff: in the Balearic Islands, you live lightly.
