Slow Travel: 5 places in Menorca where to disconnect
In recent years a new movement has emerged (and with a lot of strength) in the tourism sector: slow travel . Traveling is always a pleasure, but its benefits, satisfactions and kindness multiply if you travel without a hurry and stress, without having to look at the clock every half hour and without having to follow strict schedules to “try” to see as many monuments as possible. In Menorca one travels without stress and avoiding unnecessary agglomerations. So turn off your mobile phone and take off your watch because we propose 5 places in Menorca where to disconnect and let yourself go.
A village: Fornells
Although the municipalities with more inhabitants of Menorca are Mahón and Ciudadela (with just over 28,000 registered names in each of their censuses), this route should start in one of those charming fishing villages where time seems to stop and passes more slowly and without strain. Located to the north of the island, and with barely a thousand neighbors, Fornells has a wonderful harbor surrounded by white and full of small fishing boats. In them the delicious lobsters is fished with which their star recipe, the lobster stew, is prepared. Although the bay of Fornells is the second largest on the island, the charm it gives off and the peace that inhabits it are enjoyed equally by locals as well as by foreigners.
A park: S’Albufuera des Grau
Calm and calmness – more than people – is what you will find in what is the most important natural park in Menorca; a protected space since the end of the last century where hundreds of animal and plant species live amongst its more than 5,000 hectares and where three different routes have been created to visit it. The park itself includes the lagoon, the Cape Favàritx (where the homonymous lighthouse is located) and the island of Colom, which you can approach by boat from the coast in a quiet and pleasant journey. It should also be noted that the Es Grau beach is one of the least popular beaches on the island.
A winery: Binifadet
The pleasure of tasting a good stock is at odds with the hustle and bustle of the big cities. In Binifadet, a winery located in Sant Lluis, you can walk between vineyard that are the natural expression of the Menorcan personality. The Anglés family, owner of the winery, also offers a visit to its facilities to understand all the phases through which their wines pass. It seems to us one of the best places in Menorca where to disconnect and make time stop.
Natural treasure: the Mediterranean Sea
Calm waters, at an enviable temperature and as crystalline as in your best dreams make the Mediterranean Sea a paradise for snorkeling and diving, and one of the most perfect places in Menorca to disconnect. The island is home to several natural reefs along its entire coastline (Cagaire , Punta del Bisbe , Es Cargol… ), several wrecks to explore (Santa Clara, Malakoff ) and a Marine Reserve to the north bounded by the bay of Fornells and the Cape Gros. So take your diving equipment (or rent it at Diving Menorca if you do not have one), immerse yourself and experience the peace that the seabed will offer you. You will repeat one and a thousand times more!
And two bookstores: La Torre de Papel and Espai 14
Sure the desire to travel to Menorca to find a haven of peace have increased after reading these lines, so our last recommendation goes through the best place in the world to continue traveling, to continue dreaming calmly, at the speed that marks our biorhythm and far from local crammed where finding a free space is an impossible mission. How about we approach a bookstore? We can recommend two referencias: La Torre de Papel, in Ciutadella, and Espai 14, in Mahón; because bookstores are also places to be unhurried, where to take refuge, where to hide and where to get lost so as not to be found.
To these places that make Menorca a real paradise for lovers of slow travel we could add a spa, a mountain, a bay, a church, a lighthouse, a route… What would be your contribution to this list of places where silence and calm are the real protagonists?
