Naveta de Tudons and other Minorca Island, Spain Things to Do Tips

Human presence in Minorca is confirmed from the beginning of the Bronze Age (2000 B.C.). This is known as the pre-Talaiotic period and it left important burial monuments such as the collective tombs known as navetas. The best known of these is the Naveta de Tudons. From this period there are also some small settlements made up of apse rooms.

You can enter the Naveta, it has 2 levels and more than 50 corpses were buried here. It’s one of the most ancient buildings in the world (still preserving it’s roof!)

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Towards 1400 B.C., the native civilization of the island produced various large stone constructions known as talaiots. This word gives the name of this prehistoric period of the island: the Talaiotic period.

Some settlements from this time are Trepucó, Talatí de Dalt, Torre d'en Galmés or Son Catlar. Each one has a monument of worship called a taula and artificial caves. You can see as well a few necropolis, such as Calascovas o Cala Morell.

The pics were taket at the settlement of Talatí de Dalt, situated 4 kilometres from the city of Maó.

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Website: http://www.menorcaweb.com/reports/archaeological-sites/

There are several companies in the harbour of Mao, Cuitadella and other places as Cala Galdana that offer sailing boats, motorboats, etc. for hire. You can do a complete day trip, including lunch, in a shared boat, or hire a small motorboat to drive yourself (see my other tip for this second option).

We did one daytrip in a shared small sailing boat (total 8 people). It was nice and fun. Really worth it. I would recommend you a small one rather than the huge catamarans with too many people. In a small one, you can do your 'a la carte' trip, and stop in small secluded beaches.

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Directions: Go to the tourist information points or directly to the harbour for information about companies, tours, departing hours, prices and availability, etc.

It's so fun to hire a small motorboat to drive yourself!! This was a fabulous experience, just following the coast at our own pace, stopping where we fancy, there were so many nice spots, beaches, caves....

No license is required. These boats are really easy to drive. They provide you safe jackets and so on. Don't worry, in case the conditions of the sea/weather are not safe, they will not let you go.

You must book in advance, for half or full day. We did a full day and it was so fun we wanted to repeat. So, just upon returning the boat, we asked if they had any vacancies for the next days (and this second time we could book just half day as were no more boats available).

We used the ones in Cala Galdana (south shore), but you can hire boats in all main beach resorts.

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Directions: Reservation can be done by phone (sorry I've lost the number) but they request a deposit of a few euros to confirm your booking. So, I suggest you to go directly there and speak with the owners.

Not really spectacular (Mediterranean fishes cannot compete on beauty with their tropical "relatives"), but fun enough. Crystal-clear warm water, and some caves to explore.

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Maò (Catalan) or Mahón (Castillian-Spanish) is the capital town of Menorca. It is a pleasant small historic port town. It was a strategic base for centuries, and it's interesting history is rflectd on its architecture, for instance the typical windows of British colonial architecture. The large number of influences result in a old town of eclectic architecture, plenty of interesting corners to discover, with numerous small squares, cobbled narrow streets and of course it's natural harbour.

There are quite a few important historic buildings in Maò, i.e. the church of Santa Maria (second half of the 18th century). Just next door is the Ajuntament (town hall) built in 1789. Interesting as well is Can Mercadal, a large mansion built in 1761, now it is the town library (Plaça de sa Conquesta). Pont de Sant Roc (1359) is the only remaining Medieval gateway to the city.

You should stroll down C/Isabel II, elegant street crammed with 18th century mansions. Many of these have "bow windows" introduced during the British colonial period. Wandering around, you'll see many stairs and alleyways which will take you back down to the port.

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Directions: Tourist information Office Maó
Plaza de la Explanada, 40 07703
Tel: +34 971 36 37 90
Fax: +34 971 36 60 56
E-mail: infomenorcamao@cime.es

Ciutadella is the second biggest town of Menorca. We went there as daytrip from Mao, including dinner at the old town, but we could not explore it as much as we would like due to time pressure. Well, we have a excuse to return!

The old town is surrounded by the "Contramurada": street where originally stood the walls of the old city. It is a maze of narrow streets (Arabic and medieval origins). It has a main pedestrian area: the street which runs between the "Plaza del Borne" and the "Plaza de Alfonso III" (the old Mahón entrance). Here you'll find the arcades, popularly known as "Ses Voltes", starting at the Plaza de la Catedral (commercial center of the old city). The harbour area, even quit touristy is very nice and plenty of bars, restaurants and clubs.

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Website: http://www.ajciutadella.org/turisme/ingles/index.html