Beaches and Sightseeing in Menorca

We had a wonderful holiday to Menorca right at the end of their holiday season (hotels were starting close their doors for winter whilst we were there). Flying out 29th September, we weren’t looking for baking hot weather, but it was still warm enough to use the pool and go in the sea. Over the 12 days that we were there it did rain a few days but it had nearly always finished by 10am and the one downpour that was later in the day was perfectly timed whilst we had a long lunch undercover on a square in Ciutadella. There is lots to do around the island if you want to get out and explore. Getting around by car is easy if you choose to rent one. There is one road through the middle of the island with branches off to the coast. There are plenty of buses in the summer from the main resort areas to the towns of Mahon and Ciutadella if you’d rather not drive or just want the odd day off the beach. Mahon and Ciutadella are both lovely for a visit. At opposite ends of the island, Mahon is the current capital, taking over from Ciutadella in the 1700’s when its narrow harbour became too small. Both towns are very cutesy with winding narrow streets and plenty of restaurants, cafes and play areas. Mahon’s old fish market is worth a visit but not for what the name suggests – a large part of it is given over to dining and you could easily spend an afternoon there grazing on tapas. We also took a scenic boat ride around Mahon’s large natural harbour - the commentary gave us a great overview of the history of the area and Esme really enjoyed the opportunity to go down into the glass bottomed viewing area (once we’d persuaded her she wasn’t actually going to get wet!). Anyone with kids should also look out for the Little Red Train that does a circuit around town, another of Esme’s holiday highlights.

There is also plenty to do outside of the towns.

Dotted around the island are various Talayotic sites, which are well worth a visit if you like to learn about the history of your holiday destination.

El Toro is the highest point on the island and if you are driving it is well worth the side trip up to the top to take in the views - on a clear day you can see the whole island.

Esme’s favourite day out was definitely the zoo. If you visit, make sure the kids have swimwear (or at least a change of clothes) as there’s a splash park there, as well as an indoor soft play, a trampoline and a playhouse at the café. Definitely a good day out with kids. We stayed at Son Bou, a resort village on the south coast with a few hotels and lots of villas and self-catering accommodation options. The beach here is a lovely long stretch of sand with lots of loungers to rent and a few restaurants to choose from. There are plenty of other restaurants in the centre near to the bars and shops. As we had a car, we stocked up for self-catering at the big supermarket 20 minutes away in Mahon, which had more choice and better prices compared to the little resort shop. Most of the island is reachable from Son Bou by car within about 45 minutes, but if you like to get out visiting lots of different beaches you might prefer to stay towards the far end of the island, to be within closer reach of the most beautiful beaches. The best are often a walk from a car park accessed by a small road. These walks generally make use of the Cami de Cavalls, the round island walking trail. If you enjoy multi day walks then this really must go on your to-do list, the parts of the trail we saw were beautiful. We wandered up part of the trail from Es Grau, in the north east, before heading back to enjoy the beach with its wonderfully shallow water. We then had lunch at a restaurant right by the sand. Lastly, it’s worth talking about Menorcan food specialities. Food lover or not, you must try an Ensaimada, the local pastry, which comes in a wide choice of flavours from just plain with icing sugar (still yummy) to chocolate to Cabello de Angel which is made with pumpkin jam – really tasty! The local sausage, sobrasada and mahon cheese are also great to try and there are a couple of locations in Mahon to try to the local gin. I should also mention that this is where mayonnaise (Mahon-aise) is said to originate from.

Whatever sort of holiday you would like in Menorca I will be able to help out with advice on locations, accommodation, how to get there and entry requirements to make for a smooth holiday. Get in touch to start planning your getaway.