Best Things To Do In Menorca In 5 Day

It is common that visitors to this island do not have time to visit all that Menorca has to offer. Although it is small, the quietest of the Balearic Islands has a wide variety of interesting options. Your five-day trip will be enough to plan a complete itinerary, but at the same time compel you to come back for more.

The plans I propose for you to visit the island in five days have a little bit of everything. You will go from culture to history, and then to rural adventure to finish in an essential aquatic experience that only Menorca can give you.

We will start the tour visiting everything there is to see in Ciutadella. This city, once the capital of Menorca, still retains its particular charm.

It is unforgivable to visit the island without getting lost in the streets of Ciutadella, mingle with its people and visit its most important historical and architectural sites.

A quick visit to the city may take two to three hours, but if you are staying for more than two days, you deserve to dedicate a whole day to explore it.

Admire the architecture of the old town

The historic center of the city is interesting because you can visit monuments bastions of architecture. The Teatro Principal is a clear example of this, it is one of the oldest active opera houses in the world.

In the historic center you can also visit the cathedral of the city. Its name is Catedral de Santa María de Ciudadela and it is an interesting example of the Gothic period. The old town is protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest.

A walk through its streets will not only leave you in complete amazement with the preservation of its structures, but you will also have the opportunity to learn a little more about the history that tells the old walled city of Menorca.

Visit the port of Ciutadella

The port of Ciutadella, located in the north, is one of the most important places on the island. Although it is a small port that used to receive only small commercial and fishing boats, its importance has increased considerably in recent years.

Nowadays, if you travel around this area you will notice the number of recreational boats at anchor.

The best thing to do is to take a leisurely stroll around the harbor. Its atmosphere is pleasant both day and night.

During the day, you can take a leisurely st roll and even if it's time for lunch in the port, you have a wide variety of Mediterranean cuisine to choose from.

Imposing views at Punta Nati Lighthouse

Punta Nati Lighthouse is next on the list for our first day. Once you finish walking around the port, take the road to Carrer de la Quintana de Mar towards Punta Nati.

At this important historical monument you will be able to take impressive photographs and look in detail at the structures surrounding the lighthouse. To get there, park your vehicle at the entrance and then continue on foot to the lighthouse.

It is a good place to watch the sunset, and also to appreciate a breathtaking view of the sea. The Punta Nati Lighthouse complex consists of two buildings in the shape of a rectangle. The lighthouse is located at an approximate height of 42 meters above sea level.

Traveller Tip

At night it is possible to admire a spectacular starry sky due to the low light pollution.

Sunset in Pont D'en Gil

In case you arrive very early at the Punta Nati Lighthouse and do not get to see the sunset, you can go to Pont D'en Gil. This is a unique natural tourist attraction and very beautiful to visit. It is a rock formation in the shape of a bridge.

From this place you can appreciate the most beautiful views of the sunset in Ciutadella. You can get to Pont d'en Gil in several ways, by bike or by car.

You can also arrive by sea, taking into account that this hole in the cliffs allows the entrance of small and medium size boats.

Nightfall in Ciutadella

Once the sun goes down, if you want you can enjoy a good night plan in one of the bars of the city. Having a few drinks and tapas can help you relax your body after a day of intense walking.

When you finally want to go to rest, the city offers a wide range of hotels. The accommodations are undoubtedly a magical experience. You can spend the night in hotels that suit your budget.

You also have the opportunity to stay in aparthotels. The prices of a room vary, although in general you can get lodgings from 57 euros per night.

For the second day in Menorca, I propose you to leave Ciutadella and embark on a historical and cultural tour through other equally interesting places. We will start with a route through the small village of Fornells, located in the north of the island.

Also on this day, continuing with the visit to the lighthouses, I suggest you go to the Cavalleria Lighthouse. It would be an excellent option to go up to Monte Toro and visit the sanctuary nestled on the summit. Finally a quick visit to Es Mercadal.

Stroll around Fornells

Located in the homonymous bay, the village of Fornells offers multiple activities to do. For example, in addition to touring the place, you can take a boat ride to snorkel from Fornells. As for the tour of the village, I am sure you will find it a beautiful experience.

To get to Fornells from Ciutadella it is necessary to take a rental car. It is not a trip you can do on foot, given the distance between one place and another. It will take you approximately half an hour to get from Ciutadella de Menorca to Fornells.

There are no public transport routes with which you can get between these two points. Another option you have is to hire a guided excursion from Ciutadella de Menorca to Fornells.

Fornells is a fishing village whose main attraction is the tradition of its streets and houses. In addition its gastronomic offer is varied and very wide, always maintaining the Mediterranean spirit. If you go there in the morning, you will surely enjoy a good breakfast in Fornells.

Views from the Cavalleria Lighthouse

After visiting Fornells, a good route to choose is to go to the lighthouse of Cavalleria. To take this route, you have to go to the Camí de Tramuntana, which takes you directly to the lighthouse.

Ideally, it is best to visit the Cavalleria Lighthouse during the day. Many tourists choose to visit the area at night, however, it is usually a bit more dangerous due to the amount of cliffs around. For this reason it is in second place in your itinerary for the second day in Menorca.

The views that can be appreciated from the lighthouse are impressive. Something interesting is that right next to the lighthouse there is a cave that you can enter to get even more beautiful views. You must be careful with the cave, as the maximum you can enter is between 15 and 20 meters.

Traveller Tip

Don't pile up stones to "go back to Menorca", it is a practice that is bad for the ecosystem of the lighthouse.

Climb to Monte Toro

As third in our list of activities for the second day in Menorca, we could not miss the visit to Monte Toro. It is an experience that you can live either by car or walking.

To reach this place you must take a car from Fornells to Es Mercadal to start climbing Monte Toro. At the end of the ascent you will find the most isolated church of Menorca.

Inside the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Monte Toro you will be able to appreciate a gratifying sample of Christianity and religion. If you want to have the best postcards of Menorca from the heights, this is the ideal place. Surely at this point you will want to have lunch, so do not hesitate to enter to eat at the restaurant Sa Posada del Toro.

Short visit to Es Mercadal

At the foot of Monte Toro, there is a small town that is impossible to miss on the way, it is Es Mercadal.

It is a really small town that you will visit in a very short time and whose urban center is located around the main church.

Although it is a small town, Es Mercadal represents the center of the Minorcan geography, and offers a great number of options both to eat and to stay in it.

If you have spent the night here and do not want to go to another nearby town, let alone return to Ciutadella, you can stay in Es Mercadal. The hotel offer is of good quality and at prices ranging from 50 to 100 euros a night.

For the third day of the tour I have prepared for you, an adventure through the most exotic places of the island awaits you.

Most of the places you will be able to visit on the jeep safari are closed to the public or are difficult to access by private vehicle or any other method of transport. You have two options to hire this adventure.

The good thing about both tours is that they both have transportation and they will pick you up at your lodging place. They also offer you the option of waiting for you at the starting point. You can choose to pay individually or rent a tour exclusively for families.

Tour through little visited places

In this first option, you will have the opportunity to get to know little known places of the island. Visits to quarries, ravines of difficult access and lighthouses on the cliffs are part of this tour. You will also have the opportunity to discover beautiful hidden coves.

On the tour you will be able to make a guided visit to private farms where cheese of the highest quality is produced. The tour also includes a tasting of these products. You will visit strategic sites of the island such as water mills, archaeological remains, and others.

Drive through restricted areas

You can choose to do another type of tour more complete and to really restricted places where no common visitor has access. From the north coast of Menorca you will be able to see a beautiful sunset. You will also visit the quarries located in the high areas of the white rocks.

A complete experience through the most inhospitable forests and places awaits you. The tour through the rural area is an adventure you won't want to miss for anything. You can't leave out the tasting of typical cheeses of the area, as well as learning about their elaboration and curing process.

You will travel through exclusive landscapes that you can only visit aboard a Land Rover that does this type of tours. Finally you will go to the ravines of very difficult access, to have an adventure experience more than extreme.

On the fourth day of your trip, you will start to get into the most known activities of Menorca, its beaches. For this day I invite you to travel to the south of the island to visit Mahón, the actual capital of Menorca.

On this day you can also visit the Fortress of La Mola, an imposing construction that is part of the oldest architecture of the island. This will not only be a fun, but also a very enriching and educational tour. To end the day, nothing better than to stay and enjoy the village of Binibeca.

Warm stay in the Port of Mahon

The impressive thing about the port of Mahón is that it is a completely natural formation that facilitates the arrival of boats to the island.

This is the second deepest harbor in the world, as well as the largest natural harbor in Europe. Undoubtedly, this place has its charm and it is impossible for you to leave Menorca without visiting it.

Mahon is as vibrant by day as it is by night. If you visit it during the day, you will be able to see the great amount of boats that are anchored in the port. If you go at night, the atmosphere is more party-like and exciting, vibrant and with plenty of places to have some refreshing drinks and a bite to eat.

Depending on your itinerary, you will go to Puerto Mahon during the day. But don't worry, the daytime activities are just as exciting. In case you want to start with the beach day, you can kayak from this port.

Labyrinths in the fortress of La Mola

La Mola Fortress is a monument built in ancient times to protect the city against foreign attacks. The port of Mahón has always been key in the military organization throughout the centuries. This was understood very early on, so the construction of this fortress was ordered.

To reach this place from the Port of Mahón, you will have to take a rental car to La Mola. Take the road along Carrer Andana de Ponent to Moll de Ponent, which will take you straight to the fortress.

Touring the place is a unique experience in Menorca, especially because it represents an encounter with the most distant history of the island.

On the other hand, the tour is made much more fun thanks to the large number of passages that the place has. It has multiple narrow paths that appear to be a labyrinth. You could easily get lost inside it.

To go through the whole enclosure, have time to get lost and find your way out again, as well as take some pictures, you will have to reserve at least a couple of hours.

By this point it will be getting close to noon and you are sure to start getting hungry. The next destination will offer you a wide range of Mediterranean recipes.

Visit the white Binibeca

To get to the next point of your visit in Menorca you will have to use a car to Binibeca. You must leave from La Mola to take the road to Binibequer.

In full coast to the southeast of the island you will find Binibeca. The first stop when arriving at the town will be to eat. Its gastronomic offer is not different from other places on the island, Mediterranean food prevails, so you can always get good dishes for lunch, and you will also get good tapas.

This fishing village is beautiful, you will surely fall in love with the peculiarity of its white houses placed as a kind of puzzle all over the place. The village has this very characteristic style of classical and village Europe. Without a doubt it is a beautiful visit that will leave you with great postcards.

And finally, to finish with the five-day tour of the vibrant island of Menorca, water activities could not be missing.

Although the offers for water sports are much more extensive, I have chosen to propose a quiet and relaxing itinerary to get to know the island.

The boat excursion through the southern coves will take you to magical beaches in idyllic coves. This type of excursion offers stops at each of the coves you visit, so you will have the opportunity to swim in each of them. As you will spend the whole day on the boat, you will have your meals on board.

Some excursions have snacks included and others do not, for these cases, I recommend that you buy food to take away.

Son Saura

One of the stops on your day trip to the southern coves will be Arenal de Son Saura, one of the island's virgin beaches, which means that it does not receive many visitors to be considered a crowded beach.

Something curious about this beach is that it is a little invaded by algae, so it is not very attractive to swim in it. However, it is a real luxury that you can get to know this place and take many pictures in beautiful landscapes like this one.

Es Talaier

Continuing with the tour, the next point to visit is Es Talaier. Located right next to Cala Son Saura, this virgin cove offers a paradisiacal landscape.

One of the best things this cove has to offer is its fine white sand. Visitors to Es Talaier usually enjoy the turquoise waters.

During the excursion, this is one of the coves included in the itinerary. Being a small space, one or two hours will be enough for you to visit the whole place. To get to this place from Son Saura, you usually have to walk, so the best way to get to know it is aboard a boat.

Turqueta

It is one of the coves with the largest number of visitors. It is usually quite touristy for its turquoise waters and the passivity of the waves.

In high season it is one of the busiest destinations. It is within walking distance of the coves we have already visited and will undoubtedly be an excellent choice to spend some time with the family.

Many catalog Turqueta as the most famous cove in Menorca, and the truth is that it is. Once you get there you will realize that the atmosphere is vibrant. At the same time, if what you want is to rest, you can spread your towel on the sand and enjoy the sun until it is time to continue with the tour.

Macarella

Named as the most beautiful of the island, Cala Macarella will be the next destination in your day touring the coves of southern Menorca. One of its main attractions is the number of boats that dock in this place. You will be impressed with the blue waters and the white sand.

Taking pictures in Macarella is a must during this excursion. Once you are in Macarella you can feel safe and protected, since there are lifeguards around the beach who are attentive to the tourists who move around the area.

Macarelleta

Very close to Macarella there is an even smaller cove with peculiar characteristics. It is not another one but Macarelleta.

This cove stands out for being nudist. If you like to feel really outdoors, this is the perfect place to let your freedom run free.

To get to Macarelleta it is necessary to walk from Macarella because of its difficult access, that is why this cove is also a better option to visit by boat.

It is an excellent destination to continue knowing and enjoying the coves of the south. The views of the place are worthy of postcards and to enjoy them taking a refreshing drink on the seashore.

To move within the island of Menorca you have multiple means of transport. One of the most common is to rent a vehicle within the island or to take your own vehicle. In case you do not have your own vehicle or you do not have plans to rent one, you can also make use of the public transport or move by cab.

The disadvantage regarding public transportation is that buses do not reach all the tourist areas of the island. In the case of cabs, the prices can be a bit high.

The island has a lot of options to rent a car, because it is definitely the best way to get around the whole place.