Menorca is the second biggest island in the Balearic archipelago and has nothing to envy to its bigger sister, the island of Mallorca. I like Menorca because you can drive from one side of the island to the other side in only 30 minutes so it’s easy to get to all different places. I recommend that you hire a car and explore the island.
Even though the island is not too big there are loads of things to do and see, here I will tell you about my 5 favourite things when we visited Menorca:
1.- Ciutadella: Ciutadella is located in the west side of the island. Take a walk around the old town centre and visit the cathedral. Walk down the side of the canal that leads to the river, all private little boats take this canal to go out to see and is plenty of restaurants to go out for dinner. In Ciutadella you will find plenty of little shops where they sell the very traditional Menorcan sandals, “abarcas”, if you want to fit in with the locals buy a pair!
2.- Monte Toro: right in the middle of the island you will find its highest point, Monte Toro. It is a mountain with a little church on top but the best thing about it is the views of the north part of the island, you can see the hall of the coast-line.
3.- Mahon: Mahon is the other main city in Menorca and is located in the opposite side of Ciutadella, in the east side of the island. Mahon has been the gate of entrance to the island for centuries so it is a very interesting historical place. The city and the port were under British rules for about 70 years and from that time is the famous Fort Marlborough which it really worths a visit. Another activity you can make in Mahon is taking a boat trip along the canal that leads to the sea. This is a guided tour so you still get all the information about what you see and is quite good and fun for the kids.
4.- Cala Turqueta: There are loads of beautiful beaches and coves in the island to visit but this is one of the best ones in my opinion to go with kids as the access is not too difficult. Something to have in mind when you are in Menorca is that you can’t drive directly to the beach, you need to leave the car in the designated car parks and then walk, usually through the forest or hill sides. In this cove the sand is white and the waters turquoise colour, perfect for a relaxing day at the beach!
5.- Binibeca: This is one of the most visited places in the island of Menorca. Its characteristic is that all the houses are whitewash so is very pretty to see. Is nice just to walk around the town and is fun for the kids because is a little labyrinth. I recommend that before or after you visit the village of Binibeca you do a quick stop in Punta Prima. From Punta Prima, you can see the little island of “Illa de Aire” which has a small lighthouse on it.
As we have told you before, gastronomy is a very important part of the essence of Spain and part of your holiday should be to try the typical dishes of the place you visit. Because of this, we are going to start a Gastro Spanish Corner where we will tell you about the typical dishes of each region that you must taste.
There are two main things you must taste when visiting Menorca:
Caldereta: is a rice dish usually made with lobster, it’s like a fish stew and it’s delicious.
Ensaimada: This is a typical cake of the Balearic islands. They make them just plain or you can find them stuffed.
I loved our visit to the island of Menorca and would recommend it to any family. Have you been there? Do you have any other recommendations?
Also see our post about Ibiza, another of the Balearic islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment