Menorca holidays

Menorca has more beaches than Majorca and Ibiza put together, and most have been given Blue Flags thanks to their quality and cleanliness. Caribbean-like white sands are ten-a-penny in the south of the island, while the north has a slightly rockier coastline, with darker, caramel-hued sands bracketed by steep cliffs.

Son Bou may be home to Menorca’s longest beach, but southern Cala Galdana’s offering pulls in the bigger crowds. So much so, it’s been nicknamed the ‘queen of beaches’ – pretty impressive when you consider the island’s sandy stretches are in triple figures. This horseshoe-shaped cove comes with a double helping of ice-cream shops, watersports and open-air restaurants.

Cala Presili’s crescent of white sand has no facilities to speak of, so you’ll need to bring a picnic if you’re heading down to spend the day here. The lack of amenities means there’s also a lack of crowds, though, so it’s perfect if you want to escape the busier resorts. To get here, you’ll need to make the 20-minute drive from Mahon and then walk about 15 minutes down to the sands.

Mahon’s Placa de S’Esplanada hosts a bric-a-brac market on Tuesday and Saturday, where you can pick up local crafts, clothes and jewellery. On Monday evenings, in Ciutadella, follow the crowds to the market beside the cathedral, and you can browse goods made by local artisans.

Cala’n Bosch is brilliant for after-dark retail therapy. The marina is freckled with stalls selling everything from jewellery to sandals. There are henna tattooists and caricaturists, as well, so you can pay for some body art or a cartoon portrait to take home. Look out for similar stalls along the Cala Galdana, Punta Prima and Santo Tomas promenades. Son Bou, meanwhile, has a couple of small commercial centres near the Sol hotels, where you can browse local high street fashions and Quiksilver beachwear.

Ciutadella is a boutique mecca, and the selection of goods here spans everything from D&G shades to gold and silver jewellery. For the best choice, poke around the town’s backstreets, where the high-end stores sit alongside upmarket delis. Alternatively, hail a cab to Mahon – the main street is full of shops selling top-quality jackets, handbags and belts crafted from the soft local leather.

In Cala’n Bosch, the nightlife revolves around the town’s marina. Tiny bars and restaurants share space along the seafront, giving diners a front-row seat to the bobbing fishing boats and guitarists that set up camp next to the water. The nightlife forecast in Cala Galdana and Son Bou is fairly sedate, although you’ll find a few karaoke bars and pubs in Son Bou’s Centro Commercial area. In Punta Prima and Santo Tomas, meanwhile, the scene is one of softly-lit restaurants.

Set your sights on Cala’n Porter if you want to party into the small hours. The town is home to Menorca’s most famous nightspot, the Cova d'en Xoroi. Set in a series of cliff caves, this disco-come-bar has people dancing on terraces suspended high over the sea. Grab a cab to Mahon’s waterfront, meanwhile, and you’ll find jazz cafés and cocktail lounges. And all around Ciutadella’s Placa de Joan, warehouse-style clubs let rip from midnight to morning, playing everything from house to funk.

Menorca’s signature dish is a steaming lobster casserole that’s slow-cooked with onions, tomatoes, garlic and parsley, and served with crusty bread on the side. It’s fairly pricey, but there are plenty of cheaper versions made with other types of seafood if you’re looking at keeping costs down.

Whether you like it in your sandwiches or for dunking chips in, you can thank the Menorcans for mayonnaise. The white stuff originated in the town of Mahon in the 1700s, and was known on the island as ‘salsa de mahonesa’. Today, locals mix it with tons of garlic to create ‘allioli’ – a thick sauce that’s delicious smothered on bread.

This is Menorca’s answer to paella – seafood tossed with mounds of saffron-infused rice. Unlike the traditional paella, though, it’s much more like a broth, and you won’t find many different types of seafood in there, either. This version is simple and hearty, and it tends to come with just a few clams and some shrimp.

The island’s signature cheese is creamy, buttery, salty, nutty and sweet – all at the same time. The most popular way to eat it in Menorca is sliced and sprinkled with black pepper and tarragon, and then drizzled in olive oil. Try yours alongside some slices of spicy chorizo sausage.

Make sure you sample the local tipple while you’re here. A zingy mix of gin and lemon, pomada is sipped as a digestif after dinner, to help food go down. The Menorcans learnt how to make gin from the British, and the most well-known brand is Xoriguer. Pick up a bottle and you can mix yourself up a pomada when you get home.