A cycling holiday in Menorca

One of the best holidays we have had for a long time. Really well thought out and organised. You start at a simple town house hotel and move to a more luxurious manor house, but both provided excellent accommodation and really thoughtful, attentive staff. The cycling routes were excellent and provided a really good insight into the island and the beautiful countryside it has to offer. We would definitely recommend including the longer option to Cap de Favaritx as this was well worth it. Allow plenty of time to wander around S'Albufera Natural Park as this was another highlight for us. A visit to both Ciutedella and Mahon in the afternoon/evening is also easily done after a day's cycling. If you are interested in birdwatching, we would recommend a half or full day tour with local bird guide Javier Mendez (http://menorcawalkingbirds.com), a wonderful experience.

Loved every minute of this holiday. Menorca in May is a mini-Eden. Lots and lots of gorgeous wildflowers, lush green vegetation and wonderful solitary sandy coves. The cycling routes were terrific and took you through a variety of landscapes so I came away feeling like I had had a real flavour of the island. Both hotels were great, the people friendly and the drivers courteous to cyclists. Oh and also great for birdwatching! Would not hesitate to book again with Inntravel for my next cycling holiday.

First day to Cap de Cavalleria spectacular with sea and sky colours and walk to Cala Pregonda well worth it from Binimel-la.  Colourful and varied wild flowers everywhere.  As fairly keen birdwatchers, S'Albufeira rather disappointing with few birds about at this time of year.  Enjoyed return from Cales Caves with variety of roads and villages with much to see including many talaiots.  Talati de Dalt the best site, but shut for two-hour lunch from 2.00; luckily we were there at 1.15 with time to explore, so check times to avoid disappointment.

We had a great holiday - everybody was friendly, the weather was good, the scenery was excellent and the cycling was enjoyable though challenging in places. We had an extra day at Es Mercadal and cycled up Monte Toro, hard work but excellent views of the entire island.

Hotel Rural Alcaufar Vell was wonderful. Lovely location, pleasant and helpful staff, great meals and large comfortable rooms. Parts of the rides were harder than I expected but the views along the way were exceptional. 

Highlights: Wonderful cycling to all the bays and coves. Lunch at Es Grau after a lovely ride along the lanes and through the forest where we were lucky enough to see a tortoise ambling along. Glass of wine at Menorca Cricket club in the shade of the trees whilst watching the game on the way back from Calles Coves.

Alcaufar Vell hotel was lovely and the staff so kind and helpful, wonderful service. 

The walk from Alcaufar Vell along the Cami Cavalls ending up at the cove in Alcaufar- sardines, wine and a dip in the sea!

Apart from some mechanical problems, we had a magnificent holiday. The cycling was superb with quiet country lanes, wildflower meadows, cool woods and a very varied scenery. The shorter alternatives suited us 3 pensioners perfectly (total 226 years!), and even so we covered a respectable 175 km. April is an ideal month for this tour. Very few tourists, flowers and greenery everywhere and temperatures ideal. Christine's only complaint was that at the Hotel Alcaufar Vell she was kept awake by a nightingale singing!

The cycling routes were well thought out and the notes easy to follow. We enjoyed cycling the lanes and seeing the island off the beaten track. We also enjoyed the contrast between Es Mercadal and Hotel Alcaufar Vell with both places offering really good accommodation in their different ways. We extended our holiday with a stay in Ciutadella, which was great and which offered a further contrasting experience. 

A very relaxing holiday, felt at ease from the very first day, a lovely place to get away from it all.

The extra days we added at Hotel Rural at the end of the holiday, were spent walking to the coast where we got down to Cala des Rafalet, a narrow ravine and very picturesque. We also went to Mahon and the old town was much more accessible by foot (we hadn't tried taking the bikes up there)

The highlights of this holiday were the friendly people and the high standard of service in the hotels, restaurants, cycle shop and local transport.  We loved the island and hope to return on another occasion. 

However, if we do so, we would not do the cycling option as it was too frustrating for us. We would do what most others were doing - hire a car and do walks at all the lovely places we did not see! 

A beautiful island to visit. Enjoyed cycling through quiet country lanes. The Alcaufar Vell hotel was superb and the staff so enthusiatic, a wonderful end to our holiday.

Es Mercadal was a quiet little town with a choice of many places to eat, beautiful scenery all around. Our highlight was the views we got on the road out to Cap Cavalleria and also the discovery that there was a cafe at the lighthouse which wasn't mentioned in the notes, it was our saviour on a scorching day! The flexibility of options meant we combined this day with a visit to Pregonda which was a beautiful beach. Alcaufer Vell was a glorious rural retreat with a lovely pool and tortoises in the garden!

We enjoyed the cycling very much on the island, perhaps a few more ascents than we had thought, but if we wanted to go down to a beach we would obviously have to cycle back up! We would certainly recommend paying extra for a terrace at Alcaufar Vell, it was well worth it.