Son Parc Holidays

First and foremost, holidays to Menorca are all about the beaches. And the town of Son Parc’s no different. Its crowning glory’s a coconut-white belt called Arenal Son Saura – or Son Parc Beach as its known to holidaymakers. You’ll find it at the end of a hemmed-in cove, with a ribbon of forests at one end and some of the area’s biggest hotels at the other. It’s got a pair of bars, too – for bevvies and nibbles during your tanning sessions.

Plonking yourself down in Son Parc puts you within reach of the S’Albufera Nature Reserve. This protected, 5,000-hectare patch packs in everything from olive-tree woods and wetlands to sand dunes and jagged cliffs. There are three sign-posted walking trails, starting at a visitor’s centre that’s brimming with wildlife photography exhibits. You can pick up a free map here, before setting off on a scenic trek.

If massive shopping centres and markets bursting with beaded jewellery are more your style, you’ve got two of Menorca’s biggest cities – Mahon and Ciutadella – to explore. You can reach the former, the capital, in a 30-minute drive. Here, you can potter around streets that are stuffed with 18th-century architecture, and plump for a new wardrobe during a spree in its smorgasbord of clothing boutiques. Trundle over to Ciutadella – a 45-minute drive west – and you can pop inside its headlining landmark – a 700-year-old cathedral.