The most beautiful drive on Menorca

Two faces of one island in a day

Menorca has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in its entirety since 1993, and the island has two very different faces. The south coast (Migjorn) is soft limestone, with white-sand coves and wooded gorges; the north coast (Tramuntana) is old, dark rock, bare and wind-scoured. This drive of about 165 kilometres strings both together in one loop, along with the two harbour towns of Maó and Ciutadella and the summit of Monte Toro in the middle.

Unique to Touren.app: you need not start in Maó. Tap "Drive this route from your location" and we rotate the loop so it starts at the point nearest your hotel or villa and brings you back. Everyone drives the same round, but from their own front door.

The route on the map

A schematic overview by Touren.app, not a navigation map. The exact route opens under “Drive this route” or in Google Maps. Map orientation: north is up.

Plan your own route

The 8 places along the route

1. Maó (Port de Maó)

Start · the natural harbour

Maó (Mahón) sits on one of the largest natural harbours in the world, a sea inlet five kilometres long that cuts deep inland. The town looks down on the water from the high bank, its Georgian sash windows a reminder of the 18th-century British era. Try the local gin (Xoriguer) and Mahón-Menorca cheese before you head out to the coast and the hills.

Practical: park up in the town and walk down to the quay (Moll de Llevant); boat trips run the whole harbour out to the fortress islands.

2. Binibèca Vell

the white village · Binibèca Vell

Binibèca Vell is a maze of whitewashed lanes, chimneys and arches on the south coast, built in the 1970s as a homage to old Mediterranean villages. It looks centuries old but is a designed fishing village, and all the more photogenic for it: every corner is limewashed and the sun bounces from wall to wall.

Practical: it is a private urbanisation where people live, with set visiting hours in season; park outside the centre and walk the lanes quietly and respectfully.

3. Cala Galdana

the cove · Cala Galdana

Cala Galdana is the widest cove on the south coast, where the Barranc d'Algendar gorge opens into turquoise water between wooded cliffs. It is the walking gateway to the famously unspoilt coves of Cala Macarella and Macarelleta, a little further along the coast path.

Practical: there is a large car park at the edge of the cove. Macarella and Macarelleta are reached on foot from here (about half an hour) or by small boat; by car they are closed in summer.

4. Naveta des Tudons

the ancient tomb · Naveta des Tudons

The Naveta des Tudons stands like an upturned boat of dry-stacked stone in the field: a collective tomb from around 1200 to 750 BC and one of the best-preserved megalithic monuments in the Balearics. Since 2023 Talayotic Menorca has been a UNESCO World Heritage site, and this is its best-known structure.

Practical: small car park on the Me-1 between Ferreries and Ciutadella; a short walk to the monument, small entrance fee.

5. Ciutadella

the old capital · Ciutadella

Ciutadella was the island's capital for centuries and still wears it proudly: a golden old town of palaces and churches around the cathedral, with a narrow, deep harbour where fishing boats and yachts lie right below the terraces. At sunset the sandstone glows orange.

Practical: park outside the ring and walk into the low-traffic old town; the finest spot is the quay around the Plaça des Born and the harbour mouth.

6. Cap de Cavalleria

the wild cape · Cap de Cavalleria

Cap de Cavalleria is the northernmost point of Menorca: a bare, wind-scoured cape of red-brown rock with an 1857 lighthouse high above the sea. Below lie the reddish beaches of Cavalleria and the remains of the Roman port town of Sanisera. This is the island's wild, dark side, the opposite of the soft south coast.

Practical: the narrow road to the cape has a paid car park in season; it is often very windy, bring a jacket. The lighthouse itself is not open, the view is the point.

7. Fornells

the fishing village · Fornells

Fornells is a low, white fishing village on a long, sheltered bay in the north, long famous for its caldereta de llagosta, a lobster stew. The bay is so calm that it is full of windsurfers and sailing boats. An old watchtower from the British era guards the mouth.

Practical: park by the harbour and walk the quay; the lobster stew is a pricey local speciality, book in high season.

8. Monte Toro (El Toro)

the roof of the island · Monte Toro

At 358 metres, El Toro is the highest point of Menorca, right in the middle of the island. On the summit stand a 17th-century monastery and a large Sacred Heart statue, but you come for the view: on a clear day you see the whole island, coast to coast. A fine finish before you drive back to Maó.

Practical: from Es Mercadal a narrow, winding road climbs to the top; there is a car park, a chapel and a cafe with a terrace on the edge of the view.

Practical: for the rental car, convertible and motorbike

From which place: the route starts in Maó, but you need not start there. Tap "Drive this route from your location" and Touren.app rotates the loop to the point nearest your hotel or villa, so you set off from your own front door and return to it.

For which vehicle: Menorca has no motorway and is small, ideal for a relaxed day in a convertible or on a motorbike. The roads out to the capes and coves are often narrow and dead-end; take it steady and watch for cyclists and oncoming traffic.

Coves on foot: the finest unspoilt coves (Cala Macarella, Macarelleta, Cala Mitjana) are reached not by car but on foot, often along the old Camí de Cavalls coast path (GR-223), which circles the whole island in 185 kilometres. Park at Cala Galdana or Son Bou and walk the last stretch.

Best time: May, June and September are ideal: warm water, quiet roads and mild temperatures. July and August are busy and the tramuntana wind can blow hard in the north; set off early then.

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