This week’s dream: a tiny unspoilt gem in the Balearics

It’s only a 30-minute ferry ride from Ibiza, but Formentera is a “far cry” from most people’s idea of the Balearics, says Wanderlust magazine. At just 19km long, it’s tiny, free of large-scale development and fringed with deserted, “sugary white” beaches. Most visitors simply turn up, “find a sandy spot, strip buck naked and let the Sun do its work”. But they’re missing out: this island has a wealth of geological and historical riches to explore, from megalithic cave systems, to “rose-pink salt pans etched with flamingoes”, and 18th century towers built along the coast as lookouts to ward off the pirates that “once ravaged this region”. All you need is a bicycle and a map, or a walking guide, to explore the trails that “web” the island.

Just off the coast of Es Pujols in the north is one of the world’s “oldest living organisms” – Posidonia oceanica, an ancient Mediterranean seagrass thought to be up to 200,000 years old. This Unesco-listed “meadow” acts like coral, supporting a variety of fish species, and makes for fabulous snorkelling. Other natural wonders on the island include the caves around La Mola. It’s a “steep climb” through pine forests along the Camí Romà (Roman road), so “rent a good mountain bike”, stopping on the way to see the ruins of a Roman fort. As the Sun dips over the horizon, you can take Walking Formentera’s 3.5-hour “Seven Caves” tour – don a helmet and “clamber through 4,000-year-old burial caves”, festooned with stalactites.

At Can Marroig on the east coast there’s a 17th century farmhouse that doubled as a “secret synagogue” during the fascist 1940s. Surrounded by “wild wetlands” and “cicada-rattling pines”, it’s a top birding spot and a good picnic spot. From here, pedal south to Cap de Barbaria lighthouse and gaze out towards Africa, only 68 miles across the sea. Illes Balears (www.illesbalears.travel) has information on places to stay and guided tours. BA flies to Ibiza, where there are ferry connections to Formentera.