Formentor: how to get there, when to go, what to avoid

In summer you cannot drive up to Formentor during the day: you go by shuttle bus, by boat, or before sunrise. We start there because it is the thing nobody tells you until you are stuck in the queue. Everything else — the viewpoint, the beach, the lighthouse — is worth every minute.

What Formentor is

The peninsula closing the bay of Pollença to the north: 13 km of hairpin road between pines and cliffs, ending at a lighthouse suspended above the sea. It is the most photographed landscape in northern Mallorca and one of the most beautiful roads in the Mediterranean. It starts 20-30 minutes from the villa, depending on how far you go.

The three stops, in order

1. Es Colomer viewpoint

10 minutes from Port de Pollença. A stone stairway over the cliff with the Colomer islet 200 metres below. At sunrise and sunset, one of the island's great shows — it is on our list of northern routes and viewpoints.

2. Formentor beach

Fine sand, pines down to the shoreline and shallow turquoise water: the area's postcard beach, ideal with children because it is so sheltered. In season there are sunbeds and a couple of beach bars.

3. The lighthouse

13 more kilometres of bends beyond the beach, with the whole peninsula laid out from the final viewpoint. On a bike it is the climb of your life with sea on both sides — covered in our cycling guide.

How to get there, by season

• June to September (daytime): car access is restricted; a shuttle bus runs from Port de Pollença, and boats cross the bay to the beach. Check up-to-date timetables and rules on the Consell de Mallorca mobility pages before you go.
• June to September (sunrise/sunset): outside the restricted hours you can drive up — sunrise at the lighthouse, with the road empty, is a plan we gift to every guest.
• October to May: drive freely; the peninsula is yours.
• By boat: the little ferries from Port de Pollença to Formentor beach are the lovely option with children: 20 minutes across the bay.

Our perfect morning

Leave the villa at 6:30, sunrise at the lighthouse, down to the Colomer viewpoint while the light is still golden, a swim at Formentor beach before 10:30 and back at the Port for a second breakfast. By midday, when everyone else arrives, you are already back at your own pool.

Formentor is excursion number one from Villa Pontarró — and doing it well depends only on what time you leave the house. Sleeping 20 minutes away is the advantage: check availability and plan the lighthouse sunrise without an impossible alarm. More day trips from the house on our Surroundings page.