Menorca (Minorca) Travel: Eyewitness Travel Guide Menorca, Spain

Despite its popularity as a holiday Mecca, the Balearic island of Minorca remains one of the loveliest, most unspoilt islands in the Mediterranean. The local population support the control of resort development and the woodlands and fields of its hilly rural interior remain largely untouched. This is the result of a thriving local industry that is less dependent on tourism for its survival than the other islands are.

Minorca is only nine miles (15km) wide and about 32 miles (52km) long, and boasts stretches of varied beaches, from silver-sanded gently curving bays to rocky inlets. Aside from beaches and resorts the island also has plenty of interest for history buffs and culture vultures, with several attractions to experience, including a world famous pipe organ and several mysterious prehistoric archaeological sites related to the second millennium BC Talayot culture.

The more recent history of the island is a saga of British, French and Spanish attempts at control and colonisation, each of which have left their influence on the local culture and architecture.

Minorca has a variety of beaches and resorts. Fornells, an attractive fishing village on the north coast, is on a spectacular bay ideal for windsurfing and watersports. Close by is the beach Cala Tirant. Cala Galdana is one of the most popular beaches, set in a horseshoe bay, while Santo Tomas with its stretch of golden sand is a small resort favoured by families and honeymoon couples. Son Bou is one of the longest sandy beaches on the island, backing on to open countryside and unspoilt by development, although there are a few shops, bars, restaurants and a discotheque nearby. Binebeca and Binisafua on the southwest coast were Minorca’s first resort centres, now mainly residential areas filled with private villas fronting numerous sandy bays.

Minorca’s second town, the compact port of Ciutadella, is west of the capital and linked to it by the main island road. Ciutadella is very different in character to Mahon, sporting a distinct Moorish and Spanish influence in its Gothic and Baroque grand mansions and palaces. The town does not boast any specific sightseeing attractions but it does offer excellent restaurants, interesting shops and arcades as well as a relaxed ambience; perfect for wandering around. There are also some coves nearby inviting exploration.

Minorca’s capital town, Mahon, is an unavoidable port of call for visitors arriving on the island, and most head for the string of restaurants and cafes that line the harbour frontage. The town itself is sedate and conservative, featuring classic Georgian townhouses (bearing testimony to the British occupation of bygone days) and tall apartment blocks. The town does have some attractions for those interested in making more of their holiday than dashing off to the beach. The mansion house, Golden Farm, overlooks the harbour and was once occupied by Admiral Lord Nelson. Also on the sightseeing list is the Xoriguer Gin Distillery where famed Minorcan gin is produced in an age-old process, and the celebrated huge organ (with more than 3,000 pipes) in the church Esglesia de Santa Maria la Major. The Swiss-made organ was brought to Mahon during the Napoleonic wars and is used during an annual music festival in July and August.

Regarded as the ‘cathedral of prehistoric monuments’ the Naveta dels Tudons is the best-known sight on Minorca. One of numerous navetas on the island, it is situated just outside Ciutadella on the road from Mahon and stands two stories high, shaped like the upturned bow of a ship. It is accepted that navetas were funereal structures, but they remain surrounded by mystery and legends. Another important ancient sight is the Torre d’en Gaumes, the largest prehistoric village in the Balearic Islands, which is on the south side of Minorca between the village of Alaior and the Son Bou beach. The village features three talaiots (stone towers) surrounded by a defensive wall, pillared naves and a taula (a T-shaped stone temple structure).

Source: wordtravels.com

Things To Do and See in Minorca

Monte Toro, Minorca
Attraction type: Mountain; Lookout

Es Grau, Minorca
Attraction type: Beach

Mahon Port, Minorca
Attraction type: Marina

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