This guidebook explores Menorca through 16 mostly inland one-day walks plus a 4-day coast to coast and the 10-day GR223 trek of 185km round the whole coastline. The trek uses historic bridleway trails to offer plenty of opportunities for walking, cycling and horse riding. Easy walking generally but routes can be combined.
Seasons
Summer can be very hot, while mid-winter can be wet and muddy underfoot. Spring and early summer are excellent, with the island at its greenest and most colourful, but autumn is often very good too.
Centres
Maó (or Port Mahon) and Ciutadella have the best bus services. Most coastal resorts only open fully in summer, but Fornells is open all year.
Difficulty
Gradients are often gentle, but occasionally steep for short periods. Conditions underfoot are often easy, but can be rough and stony in places, making walking and cycling difficult. However, with enough time available, all the routes can be completed easily enough by ordinary walkers.
Must See
Attractive coastline with dramatic cliffs and secluded beaches which vary according to the changing geology. Amazing archaeology dominated by huge stone 'taulas' and 'talaiots'. The historic bridleway - Camí de Cavalls - has been restored as a long-distance, round the island walking, cycling and horse-riding route.
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Overview
This guidebook to walking on the Balearic island of Menorca in the Mediterranean includes a wide variety of walking. The first part of the guide includes 16 day walks that lead inland, exploring Menorca's rich history of castles, military fortifications, picturesque houses, windmills and towns as well as protected nature reserves and the prehistoric marvels of huge stone taulas and talaiots.
The guide also includes two longer-distance treks. The first is a coast-to-coast route from Maó to Ciutadella lasting 4 days over the gentle hills and countryside. The other trek is the GR223 Camí de Cavalls, the 10-day, 185km walk around Menorca's coast. This trek leads you along dramatic coastline and hidden beaches, and was entirely restored in 2011 for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders.
From city walks through Maó, to trails through woodlands and along clifftops with the surf crashing below, Menorca has a great deal to offer any walker. The best time to walk in Menorca are spring and autumn, but especially spring if you have an interest in wild flowers, or want to see the island at its most colourful.
This guidebook is a perfect aid to explore Menorca, with practical information on transport and accommodation, to passages on the history and culture of the island. Menorca is more than just its beaches, this guidebook helps show you why.
- illustrated with detailed mapping on all routes and stunning photography
- useful tips on making the most of Menorca, when to go, what to take with you
- insight on the long and colourful history of the island, from prehistoric to the present
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Contents
Contents
Introduction
Location
Geology
History
Landscape
Trees and flowers
Birds
Animals
Protected Areas
When to go
Accommodation
Health and safety
Language
Money
Communications
Getting to Menorca
Getting around Menorca
What to take
Waymarking and access
Maps
Food and drink
Tourist information offices
Emergencies
Using this guide
Day walks
Walk 1 Maó and Es Castell
Walk 2 Cala de Sant Esteve and s’Algar
Walk 3 Maó and Trebalúger
Walk 4 Sant Lluís and Biniancolla
Walk 5 Llucmaçanes and Binissafúllet
Walk 6 Airport to Sant Lluís
Walk 7 Maó to Cala en Porter
Walk 8 Es Migjorn Gran and Cova de Coloms
Walk 9 Cala Galdana and Sant Tomàs
Walk 10 Ferreries and Cova des Moro
Walk 11 Cala Macarella and Cala Turqueta
Walk 12 Sant Joan, Son Saura and Son Catlar
Walk 13 Santa Àgueda and Cala del Pilar
Walk 14 Fornells and Cala Tirant
Walk 15 Es Grau and Sa Torreta
Walk 16 s’Albufera des Grau
Coast to Coast: Maó to Ciutadella
Stage 1 Maó to Alcaidús and Alaior
Stage 2 Alaior to Monte Toro and Es Mercadal
Stage 3 Es Mercadal to Ferreries
Stage 4 Ferreries to Ciutadella
GR223: Camí de Cavalls
Stage 1 Maó to Binissafúller
Stage 2 Binissafúller to Son Bou
Stage 3 Son Bou to Cala Galdana
Stage 4 Cala Galdana to Cala en Bosc
Stage 5 Cala en Bosc to Ciutadella
Stage 6 Ciutadella to Cala Morell
Stage 7 Cala Morell to els Alocs
Stage 8 els Alocs to Ses Salines
Stage 9 Ses Salines to Cap de Favàritx
Stage 10 Cap de Favàritx to Maó
Appendix A Route Summary Table
Appendix B Language Notes
Appendix C Topographical Glossary
Appendix D Useful Contacts -
Maps
The best map for exploring Menorca on foot is the Editorial Alpina Menorca sheet, at a scale of 1:50,000 (www.editorialalpina.com). This highlights the long-distance Camí de Cavalls (in green) and many other walking routes, as well as showing the intricate network of roads and farm tracks around the island. Its detail is equal to what walkers would expect of the Ordnance Survey Landranger series of maps in Britain.
Extracts from the Editorial Alpina map have been reproduced in this guidebook by kind permission of the publishers. These are fine for each of the walking routes, but if you want to see how all the routes relate to each other, then either obtain the complete map in advance of a visit, or look out for it on Menorca, where it is widely available and widely used by walkers. UK stockists include Stanfords (12-14 Long Acre, London, WC2E 9BR, tel 020 7836 1321, www.stanfords.co.uk) and The Map Shop (15 High Street, Upton-upon-Severn, WR8 0HJ, tel 01684 593146, www.themapshop.co.uk).
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Updates
Receive updates by email
Be notified by email when this book receives an update or correctionOct 2018
Walk 8 - The Cova des Coloms might be closed due to bats roosting. A locked gate prevents a return as described. However, by doubling back to the 'three gaps in walls', keep straight ahead and the final part of the return route to Es Migjorn Gran can be followed as described.
Walk 12 - This walk uses lengthy stretches on minor roads. Try to avoid weekends or other busy times, as the beaches at the end of these roads are very popular.
Walk 15 - There have been a couple of reports of difficulty following the tracks to and from sa Torre Blanca, to visit the talaiotic site. The farmer now limits visits to Thursdays only, 0900-1300, with access only from the Me-7 road. -
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Paddy Dillon
Paddy Dillon is a prolific walker and guidebook writer with over 90 guidebooks to his name, and contributions to 40 other titles. He has written for several outdoor magazines and other publications, and has appeared on radio and TV. Paddy is an indefatigable long-distance walker who has walked all of Britain’s National Trails and several European trails. He has also walked in Nepal, Tibet, Korea and the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the US. Paddy is a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and President of the Backpackers Club.
