While all four islands—Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera—share the crowds, each has a unique style and character that separates it from the rest. Mallorca, home to the bustling port city of Palma, absorbs the bulk of high-class, package-tour invaders and reigns as the commercial hub of the Baleares. Ibiza, a haven for counter-culture since the 1960s, entices bohemians and fashionistas alike with its outlandish parties, transforming crowds into glittering masses grooving to a deafening techno beat. Menorca, wrapped in green fields, staggering sandstone walls, and placid natural harbors, offers tranquility that the other islands do not, with secluded white beaches, fabulous hidden coves, and mysterious Bronze Age megaliths. Formentera, the smallest and most distant island, is sprinkled with a few fishing villages and boutique resorts, and boasts some of the calmest and most majestic beaches in the Mediterranean.
Summer, the best time to visit any of the islands, is hot, crowded, and fun, while winter tends to be chilly and slow, as nightlife does not hit full swing until around early July. Most hours, schedules, and prices listed are for summer only. Low-season prices at hostels and hotels can drop by up to half, and hours for sights and attractions are often limited.
Flying to the islands is cheap and much faster than taking a ferry. Those under 26 can get discounts with Iberia Airlines (in Barcelona ☎ www.iberia.com). Many travel agencies in Barcelona and Valencia ...more
Iberia flies between Palma and Ibiza (40min., 11 per day, €72-85) and between Palma and Maó, Menorca (35min., 11 per day, from €84). Air Europa, Spanair, and Vueling (see By Plane, ) connect the ...more
Mallorca has long attracted the rich and the famous. Pianist Frédéric Chopin and novelist George Sand had a passionate (and scandalous) affair here in the mid-19th century, and Mallorca is also a choice ...more
Menorca’s fantastic beaches, rustic landscapes, and picturesque towns draw sun-worshippers, photographers, and ecologists alike. When UNESCO declared the island a biosphere reserve in 1993, the government ...more
Nowhere on Earth are decadence, debauchery, and downright hedonism celebrated as religiously as on the turquoise shores of the island of Ibiza (pop. 84,000). Traces of Ibiza’s 1960s hippie days still ...more
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