If you’re planning on traveling to the Balearic Islands on holiday, you should consider renting a Spanish holiday villa. Holiday villas are perfect for travellers seeking privacy and convenience. Carry on reading to find out exactly how perfect your holiday can be.

Menorca is the second largest Balearic Island, and lies off the south east coast of mainland Spain. Menorca remains relatively quiet compared to its sisters, Ibiza and Majorca. There are many popular resorts along the south coast.

Menorca, located in the middle of the western Mediterranean, is especially popular amongst tourists wishing to experience one of the many traditional fiestas that are held throughout the summer.

There is stunning natural beauty on Menorca, from the Mediterranean coastline along the south to the rugged bays in the north, there’s something for everyone in the natural scenery. Mount Toro is really the only mountain on Menorca, and at 358 meters high it provides breathtaking views of the area. Many tourist enjoy taking a tour up to the 17th century Sanctuary of the Mare de Déu del Toro, which is located on the peak.

Many tourists enjoy the statue of the Verge del Toro (the Black Madonna) on the peak, which has been worshipped to for centuries. Many people still make pilgrimage to this church, the Spanish especially for the Festa de la Verge del Toro, in which the inhabitance descend the stairs on their knees.

If it’s cuisine you’re interested in, you’ll be stimulated in Menorca. Since it’s situated in the Mediterranean, the Menorcan cuisine is heavily dominated by the Mediterranean diet. You can enjoy the local tastes at any of the fantastic and highly service-oriented restaurants nearby, or visit a local shop or market to bring some fresh produce, cheese and/or meats home to your villa for a more comfortable and private dining experience.

If you’re looking for the local drink of choice, you might be surprised to find that gin is prevalent. Gin is considered to be a lingering influence of the British, who possessed Menorca in the 1700′s. During the local holidays called festes, local islanders drink Pomada. If you don’t like lemon, you shouldn’t try Pomada, as it’s the only other ingredient besides gin!
Whether you’re traveling with your family, friends or spouse, Menorca has something for everyone. Book your holiday villa soon, and enjoy!

Menorca is only the third-largest of the Balearic islands, yet it has more beaches than Mallorca and Ibiza put together. A fair few of these are only really approachable from the sea. My wife and I joined a catamaran day-trip to one such deserted cove; there was a delightfully Robinson Crusoe-like feeling to weighing anchor, diving in and swimming ashore, where a paella was cooked for us on a bonfire of driftwood.

Menorca shares many blessings with its visitors. The island is 10 degrees closer to the equator than the southernmost point in Britain, on a par with the far south of Italy. The Mediterranean minimises the extremes of climate – but has maximised the cultural intensity. From enigmatic stone structures built by pre-historic man, to dazzling 21st-century Spanish architecture, man’s impact on Menorca is fascinating.

And I am part of the latest, and mostly benign, invasion: tourists. Many of us are in search of an accessible yet discreet island whose strongest suit comprises beautiful, shady coves that serrate the southern coast. But it has plenty more on offer.  

The strikingly handsome port of Ciutadella, at the western end of the island, is steeped in naval history but now provides moorings for pleasure craft. It feels as cosmopolitan as St-Tropez or Capri Town, minus the bling and high prices. Ciutadella also provides a good location from which to explore the stone structures of San Catlar (including an impressive wall), and the cliff-side caves of Xoroi. At the other end of the island lies the capital, Mahon (or Maó in the local dialect). This is another pretty port, which seems frozen in mid-tumble to the harbour. It has the distinction of being the first place in Spain each day to welcome the sun – don’t miss the fascinating Churrigueresque touches in the church of San Francesc.

And then, of course, there is learning the ropes. Having made my first forays into dinghy sailing on the slate-grey waters of a reservoir near the M3 in Surrey, I can vouch for the fact that the warm, blue lagoon at Fornells makes for an altogether more enticing arena for the inevitable capsizes. I hired the dinghy by the half-day, but for those wanting a more single-minded nautical experience, various companies offer specialist sailing holidays (see below).

My father-in-law has since invested in a rubber dinghy with small outboard motor, in which we chug around the harbour, or into Mahon or nearby Cales Fonts to moor up outside the restaurants like proper yachtsmen do. Bobbing around on the water in any size of craft leaves you with the sense that you are fully part of Menorca. Jaunty sailor caps are entirely optional.

TRAVELLER’S GUIDE

GETTING THERE

Air links to Menorca are excellent. From the London area, easyJet (0905-821 0905; easyjet.com) flies from Gatwick and Monarch (08700 405040; flymonarch.com) flies from Gatwick and Luton. Monarch also flies from Birmingham and Manchester, while easyJet flies from Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle. Jet2 (0871-226 1737; jet2.com) has services from Blackpool, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Leeds/Bradford.

Low-cost flights are operated from other UK airports by airlines such as Thomson and Thomas Cook Airways.

The island’s airport is close to the capital, Mahon. It is within walking distance of the centre (assuming you are not weighed down with luggage), or there are two buses an hour into town.

SAILING THERE

Minorca Sailing is based in Fornells but has a UK office in Richmond, Surrey (020-8948 2106; minorcasailing.co.uk). It offers packages that will fly you out to the island from a range of UK airports. Accommodation is in self-catering apartments. Courses include group lessons for dinghy sailing and/or windsurfing; an hour’s personal tuition at the end of each day; and racing every afternoon. Four people sharing a villa in July costs £2,114 per person (with reductions for children).

Alternatively, try the Mahon-based Menorca Cruising School (00 34 971 389003; menorca sailing.co.uk), which in 1994 became the first RYA (Royal Yachting Association) sailing school in the Mediterranean. Accommodation is onboard, with lunch and breakfast included. The five-day RYA Competent Crew most popular course for beginners costs £550 from May to October (high season) excluding flights.

 After the second rudder broke, it dawned on me that maybe I was doing something wrong: perhaps attempting to turn too sharply with the thing held too deep in the water. Who knows? The guy who hired out the dinghies on the shore of Fornells, a lagoon in the north of Menorca and an idyllic watersports nursery, seemed unperturbed, resigned even. Perhaps he had seen it all before. Or maybe his equipment was just well insured.

I had been coming to Menorca almost every summer since I met my wife; her father owns an apartment overlooking Mahon harbour, itself another safe playground for people who mess around on boats. For the first few years I was happy to explore the island by car or on foot. Then came a Damascene moment while sipping an aperitif on the balcony.

Having spent endless evenings watching all manner of craft come and go below, from cruise ships and Abramovich-sized yachts to small put-put launches and Biblical-looking fishing boats, I was suddenly struck by the realisation that, as a landlubber, I was missing an important dimension to this fascinating island.

 For more information: http://www.menorcaexplorer.com

The four main islands of the Balearic archipelago – Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera – are famed for their beaches and 300 days of sun each year, but they also offer a surprising range of cultural opportunities.

In Palma, the Balearics’ capital, important places to visit include the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation, the Muesum of Spanish Modern Art, the cathedral with its GaudÍ altarpiece, and the Gothic Maritime Exchange. The Es Baluard Modern Art Museum overlooking the port has three floors of galleries containing works by Miró, Picasso, Magritte, Tàpies and Calder. The King’s Garden, with its fountains, is a pleasant place to sit and watch the world go by.

A tour of Majorca reveals a variety of cultural treats, beginning with the Alfàbia gardens, in the Traumuntana mountains, where a 12th-century Moorish viceroy constructed a lush oasis with some 40 species of trees and flowering plants.

The town of Sóller, north of Palma, has Modernist gems such as St Bartholomew’s church and Can Prunera, a house dating from the start of the last century with an eleborate façade, while The Station Building Gallerie-sart gallery at the railway station on Plaça Espanya displays Joan Miró engravings and Picasso ceramics.

In Deià, southwest of Sóller, literary buffs can browse through Robert Graves’s house, now a museum where the writer’s books, personal items and printing press are displayed. Son Marroig, west of Deià, was the retreat of the Austrian archduke Luis Salvador who died in 1915. His mansion displays Mediterranean ceramics, antiques and paintings. The Deià International Music Festival holds classical concerts here from April to October.

Valldemossa, 18 km north of Palma, is the site of the Royal Carthusian Monastery founded in 1339. It was here that Frédéric Chopin and Baroness Amandine Dupin – the French novelist better known as George Sand – spent three months during the winter of 1838-39.

Treasures include the frescoes over the nave, painted by Goya’s brother-in-law, the perfectly preserved pharmacy and the Chopin and Sand apartments, including the original piano.

Pollensa, 55km northeast of Palma, is a pretty town inhabited since Roman times. Its international music festival held in July and August has attracted starts such as Rostropovich and Jessye Norman to perform in the St Domingo’s Convent cloisters.

For a completely different world, head to Menorca, the second biggest of the Balearic Islands, largely undeveloped and rich in Neolithic taulas (T-shaped stone monuments) and talayots (stone cones). Mahón, one of the main cities, was established as the island’s capital in 1722 when the British began their 80-year sojourn.

Four-storey Georgian town houses with sash windows still remain. The Scientific, Literary and Artistic Centre is filled with paintings and mementoes of Menorcan writers, poets and musicians, along with natural artefacts from seashells to stuffed birds. The Principal Theatre, built in 1824 as an opera house, is a miniature La Scala.

Menorca‘s main cultural events are Mahón‘s international opera week and the Capella DavÍdica concerts at the other main city Ciutadella, along with the summer organ festivals in Santa Maria Church, Mahón, and Ciutadella cathedral. Easter week in Mahón brings out spectral penitents, while in late June Ciutadella‘s dancing horses perform in honour of St John the Baptist.

Ibiza, long famed for sun, sand and hard-partying, is not without its share of music, dance, architecture and archeology. The walled medieval upper part of the town of Ibiza is a Unesco World Heritage site. The Contemporary Art Museum has interesting permanent and temporary exhibits, while both the Ethnography Museum and the Archaeological Museum show evidence of the many cultures that have inhabited the island over the past 3,000 years.

In mid-August Ibiza temporarily sheds its party image with opera nights held in the cloister of the Town Hall.