Meandering Menorca

Why go to Ibiza when you could go to Menorca?

DAY 1

Our first day in Menorca, we flew out of Barcelona in the morning and then rented a car when we landed in Mahon - a cute little Fiat convertible. By this point it was noon, so we headed into town for some lunch. We ate at Pipet & Co Cafe Lab, which was a great little spot with delicious food and cute outdoor seating on the sidewalk of a town square. I had an octopus salad and it was delicious. Once fed, we headed out for a walk around the port, which features beautiful white stairways and old Spanish architecture sitting atop cliffs.

Once done walking around Mahon, we struck out for the drive to Ciutadella - the town at the other end of the island that we stayed in. We arrived and checked into Hotel Abril 37, an adorable little hotel with a lovely backyard then headed out for a walk in search of dinner. Ciutadella has a beautiful town square atop cliffs overlooking the ocean and a gorgeous pier you can walk along with lots of local seafood restaurants. We ended up eating at Cas Consol Menorca, a gorgeous cliffside restaurant with an amazing terrace view. We had seafood tapas, including salmon sashimi and clams, which were all amazing and worth the rather steep price.

DAY 2

The second day on Menorca, we headed out on a little driving tour of the island. Our first stop was Naveta Des Tudons. This is an ancient burial site where bodies were interred in a large stone structure. The spot is very beautiful and there was a lot of great information about the site and the history of Menorca at this spot. It’s a great introduction to Menorca for the beginning of a trip.

Next, we headed up El Toro - the mountain of the island. At the top is a look off as well as a beautiful church - Santuari de la Mare de Deu del Toro. The view from up top was amazing and it is not a long drive, so I would highly recommend checking it out.

Next up we stopped by the town of Fornells. Fornells is a beautiful oceanside fishing town that has a lot of interesting military history. They have a beautiful waterside walk with interesting facts and the remnants of the fortifications that used to be in use along the shore if the town. While there, we stopped and got a local Balearic Islands pastry called an Ensaimada with apricots (they come plain or with apricots usually). Perhaps it was simply the bakery we went to, but neither I nor my boyfriend were overly blown away with it.

After the pastry, we decided it was time for some real food and headed for a very late lunch/ early dinner at Bodegas Binifadet. This is a local winery that also has a restaurant. The winery is beautiful including the building and their back patio and the the food is as amazing as the wine - including a ceviche with blackberries and blueberries. I would highly recommend giving this spot a try as it was My favourite meal on the island. We then called it an early night and headed back to Ciutadella.

DAY 3

Today was our beach day. We had rented a boat for the day to tour some beaches, but unfortunately the weather was too windy so the boat rental spot has to cancel bookings. We decided to make a beach day of it anyways and headed out for supplies. We stopped at a super market and bough food for the day and cheap towels - Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars ones to be precise.

After stocking up, we headed to the town of Cala Galdana and parked. We then hiked along an amazing coastal path into Cala Macarella, but decided it was too busy and kept on hiking. We ended up at Macarelleta and set up for a day in the sun. The beaches here are beautiful white sand beaches with gorgeous turquoise water. On this beach, we even had a goat show up and pay us a visit. Eventually, we decided to continue on to the next beach and ended up at our last beach of the day - Cala en turqueta. All three beaches still had people, but the farther we went the quieter it got. I would highly recommend doing the hike if you are able (it is quite steep and a bit rough at some points) and checking out all three - the last one in particular.

After a day at the beach, we hiked back to Cala Galdana and ended up having a glass of sangria at the bar while waiting for the restaurant to open. The sangria was excellent and was interestingly served with a bowl of gummies, which we thoroughly enjoyed after a day of hiking from beach to beach. We then had paella at their restaurant, which was also quite good. Overall, the restaurant was delicious, if pricey, and had a fantastic view and as an added bonus, blankets for when it got cold out in the evening.

DAY 4

Our fourth Day was our last of the trip. Our first stop was at Lithica, an old rock quarry turned garden. I was a little iffy on this, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. There are huge amounts of gardens (and I am a huge fan of gardens), including secret hidden ones you need to hunt a little bit for as well as areas with huge towering walls of white and at the centre, a maze. I would definitely check this spot out if you’re on the island.

Next we headed to Parc Natural De S’Albufera Des Grau. This is a nature reserve and there is a lovely beach with lots of trails. We took towels and our books and read for about an hour and then wandered the trails which, as I said, are lovely and also provide lots of shade if you need some time out of the sun.

After our walk, we headed to Cova D’en Xoroi. This is a bar situated in an oceanside cliff. It is definitely the most touristy thing we did on the island, but the views were so stunning that it was worth it. We also went early in the evening, so it was fairly empty and more like a terrace bar than the night club it looked like it turns into in the evening. Pro tip, if you’re not into the full on night life then show up before 5:00pm and it is only 10 Euro per person. We had a mango mojito and a lime mojito. I found the mango one very sweet and stole ended up swapping with my partner for the lime. Overall, I would say the view is definitely worth the trip, but in my opinion I would go before 5:00pm when it is cheap and quiet.

Post drinks, we headed back to Ciutadella for dinner. We ate at Pinzell Restaurant and snagged one of their outdoor tables, which is right on the main square. The ambiance was lovely with the golden setting sun and locals wandering about, not to mention the food was fantastic. We had lots of tapas, including calamari, squid ink spaghetti and a goat cheese salad. Again, this was a pricer meal, but well worth the money as it was fantastic, coming in as second best meal on the island and third best meal I has in Spain.