By admin We had finally made it to the final destination in our Balearic Islands tour: the calm and peaceful island of Menorca. After visiting Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca, I can say from experience that each one had its own unique feel, but I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. Menorca had the sleepiest, most relaxed vibe by far, which also made it a great place for Nina and me to wind down our trip together.
Getting to Menorca from Mallorca
We debated ferry vs. plane for months leading up to the trip. As I mentioned in my Mallorca post, neither option offered significant cost or time savings, and it seemed to be a matter of personal preference. We figured that the ferry would be more reliable, so we bought ferry tickets before our trip. Then we arrived in Spain and had a very unreliable experience with the ferry from Ibiza to Mallorca. On top of that, locals were telling us that it would be more convenient to fly from Mallorca to Menorca since the airports on both islands were closer to our hotels. We ultimately ended up booking last minute flights on Iberia.
Looking back, this may have been a mistake, but hindsight is 20/20. After we arrived at the airport in Mallorca, our flight was canceled with no explanation. None of the Iberia gate agents could give us a clear explanation about what was happening, so we had to wait at the gates until we could be confirmed on another flight. At one point, we thought we’d be able to make it on the next plane via standby, but were turned down at the last minute since I had a checked bag. We finally made friends with a sympathetic worker who promised to keep us updated. Nina and I both gained a newfound appreciation for Delta during this entire experience.
Finally, several hours after our original flight, we got on a new plane and were on our way.
Staying at Hotel Torralbenc
My choice for accommodations in Menorca was Hotel Torralbenc, a farm-turned-luxury-resort, complete with vineyards and its own wine. It seemed to be just up our alley.
Our Night Out at Cova d’en Xoroi
We decided to check out the cave bar at Cova d’en Xoroi our first night on the island. It was supposed to have beautiful views, it was walking distance to the town of Cala en Porter, and was less than a ten minute drive from Torralbenc.
The scene was also super annoying. Despite the relaxed vibe on Menorca, the cave club seemed to be the place to be for all the European tourists ready to party on the island. We used the drink tickets that came with our cover charge, enjoyed the view, snickered as we people-watched, ordered one more round of drinks, and quickly escaped.
Pool Day at Hotel Torralbenc
On our last full day together, we decided to simply enjoy our beautiful accommodations. The hotel boasted an amazing pool, and we oddly had it to ourselves most of the day. Not that we were complaining.
Wine Tour & Dinner at Bodegas Binifadet
Of course we couldn’t end our trip to Spain together without a little wine tasting. I had found a winery, Bodegas Binifadet, on Menorca that offered wine tours, in addition to an onsite bar and restaurant. This place was much more our scene that the cave bar.
I had booked a small group wine tour, but the rest of the group never showed up, so Nina and I ended up having a private tour and tasting for the bargain price of €10 each. We couldn’t argue with that.
The tour was pretty standard: walk through the vineyards, see the production facilities, drink some wine. We did learn some interesting things – for example, while there is recorded history of Menorca producing wine back in the 13th century, the island was struck with phylloxera with the rest of Europe in the late 1800s, and took a long time to recover. Production only started again in the last 50 years. Bodegas Binifadet is now the largest producer on the entire island.
Suddenly our Balearic Islands trip was over. Nina would be flying back to New York the following day, and I’d spend a final day on Menorca before flying to Barcelona. It may not have been the craziest week, but it had been beautiful, relaxing and most importantly, fun. I was glad that Nina had decided to join me; now it was back to solo travel for my second visit to Barcelona.
