Ferries to the Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Every summer most visitors fly in, but the ferry is the way to bring your own car, camper or bikes, and the overnight ships from Barcelona and Valencia turn the journey into part of the holiday.

Which Spanish port for which island

Three mainland ports serve the Balearics, and the right one depends on the island and on whether you want a day crossing or a night at sea:

Between the islands: Palma to Ibiza in 2 to 3.5 hours, Alcúdia to Ciutadella in about an hour on the fast ferry, Ibiza to Formentera in half an hour with dozens of sailings a day in summer, and a weekly Palma to Mahón sailing. The island guides have the details: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Timetables thin out considerably outside May to October, and the Toulon ferries stop altogether.

Year-round or summer only?

Barcelona and Valencia to Palma, Barcelona to Mahón and the Ibiza sailings run all year, with fewer departures and smaller ships in winter. The fast ferries to Alcúdia and Ciutadella, the Dénia to Formentera link and everything from Toulon are seasonal, roughly Easter to October, and the inter-island fast boats thin out from November. Operators normally open bookings for the next summer in the autumn before, so if you want a specific December or Easter crossing and it is not yet on sale, check again a few weeks later rather than assuming the route has gone.

Our take

With a car and a family, the overnight Barcelona to Palma ferry with a cabin is the civilised option: you lose no holiday day and wake up in the port. Travelling light, the Alcúdia fast ferry from Barcelona turns the crossing into an afternoon, and Alcúdia is the better landing for the north and east of Mallorca anyway. Toulon only makes sense if you are already in the south of France; for everyone else the drive to Barcelona is shorter than the extra hours at sea. We have not sailed the Barcelona overnight ships ourselves yet; our own Balearics crossing is the Ibiza to Formentera day trip, which is also where the island-hopping idea for most people starts.

Coming from the UK with a car?

Most British visitors fly, but the Balearics work well as the end of a road trip. Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander and Bilbao; from Bilbao it is about six hours’ drive to Barcelona or seven to Valencia, and the overnight ferry to Palma or Ibiza does the rest while you sleep. Taking the car across is worth it for a fortnight or more on Mallorca; for a week on Ibiza or Formentera a hire car on the island is cheaper, and Formentera restricts visiting cars in summer anyway.

Worth reading before you book: our island-hopping route through the Balearics, our day trip from Ibiza to Formentera, the Barcelona to Mallorca ferry compared by day and night, and the current Baleària offers and Club discounts.