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.

More plans near the house, from the sea to the Tramuntana: Things to do in Pollensa and Port de Pollensa