Holidays to Platja de Migjorn give you the Balearic Islands in snooze mode. Its beach scene and quiet nightlife are the chalk to Ibiza's cheese.

Tranquil spot

Platja de Migjorn is on the opposite side of the island to La Savina, where the ferries from Ibiza dock. But Formentera is such a little place – barely 20 kilometres from head to toe – that it’s still only a 10-minute drive to get there. Greeting you is an unspoilt ribbon of sand, backed by a wooden walkway. Behind it, you’ll find a couple of bar-restaurants, sand dunes, and salt flats. Some tourist shops and a handful of low-rise hotels and apartment blocks do little to mess up the coastline.

Peaceful beach

Spooling for 7 kilometres along a big chunk of the southern coast, the vanilla-white beach at Platja de Migjorn is the longest on the island. It’s also one of the quietest. A few watersports, sunloungers, plus the odd wooden bar at the water’s edge all make the list, but nothing too heavy. It’s beach life for folk who want to keep it simple – perhaps that’s why the naturists love it so much.

On your bike

When you’re ready to stir from the sands, think about hiring a bike rather than a car to see the island’s best bits. Cycle trails are ten-a-penny, running around the saltwater lagoons near the port, right down to the wild and rugged promontories to the south-east and west. There’s even a route on Platja de Migjorn’s doorstep, taking in the whole coastline. You can pick up guides at the tourist office in Sant Francesc, the island’s capital, to figure out what’s what.

Out and about

If you don’t fancy cycling, you can explore the rest of the island by hopping on and off the circuit bus. The route is divided in to a short circuit for around 6 euros, which covers Port de la Savina and the beaches at Illetes and Es Pujols, and the long circuit for a few euros more. This one runs a loop between the port in the north down through Sant Francesc and the tip of Platja de Migjorn, and on to the south-east extremes of Far de la Mola.

At a Glance

  • Go swimming off Platja de Migjorn beach
  • Make a date with the hippies at El Pilar de la Mola market
  • Get in the saddle for countryside bike rides