An hour's flight from Ibiza's clubs, Menorca keeps its coastline the way the Balearics looked before mass tourism arrived.
The island's calas — narrow limestone inlets with a sliver of sand at the end — are strung along both coasts, and a UNESCO Biosphere designation has kept most of them free of the sunbed rows and beach clubs that define its neighbors; Cala Macarella and Cala Turqueta draw the most visitors, so arrive by nine or hike in via the Camí de Cavalls coastal path instead.
That path, a 185-kilometer route that once moved horses and troops between garrisons, is today the best way to reach coves with no road access at all — pack water, since the calas themselves have little shade and no facilities.
Menorca's south-coast beaches face the swimming-pool-calm Mediterranean, while the north coast, wilder and rockier, takes the brunt of the tramuntana wind; choose your coast based on the forecast, and you can usually find a sheltered cala somewhere on the island even on a blustery day.
