Formentera is the only Balearic island without an airport. You get there by boat from Ibiza, and that single fact orders everything else.
Getting there
The crossing leaves from Ibiza port and arrives at la Savina, the island’s only harbour. There is a passenger service all year round and, in season, far more frequently.
If you are travelling with a car, there is a second step.
The vehicle limit
Formentera was the first Balearic island to limit incoming cars, and it does so under a law of its own: Law 7/2019 of 8 February, on the environmental and economic sustainability of the island of Formentera. That law empowers the island council to limit the entry and circulation of vehicles, set a ceiling on vehicles in circulation and require advance booking during the period it decides.
In practice: during the months of the limit you must book the vehicle in advance through the official system, formentera.eco, before boarding.
The ceiling and the dates are approved each year in full council and published officially, so figures circulating online go out of date. Always check the current year’s terms before booking the ferry.
Getting around once there
Here is the good news: Formentera is the island where a car is least necessary. It is twenty kilometres end to end and there is a network of green lanes meant to be covered on foot and by bicycle. In summer the bicycle is not an ecological gesture: it is the fastest way to reach a cove and find room.
There are also buses between the villages and la Savina, and taxis.
What we recommend
Come without a car. You save the paperwork, you save the money and you gain the island: on Formentera, going slowly is not a sacrifice, it is the plan.
