Menorca Tourism Guide - Menorca Car Hire

Road Map of Menorca

With a Menorca car hire you're really ready to explore this fascinating Balearic Island. The main road arteries in Menorca are the C-721 out from Mao, taking you all the way upto Ciutadella to the west. You can access most of the idyllic South West Menorca beaches off this main artery, hopping off say at Es Mercadal to make the trek upto Menorca's highest point, El Toro. Well worth a look, and bonus you get closer to God! eek.

Detour off from the C-721 onto the C-723 upto scuba diving and fish restaurant hotspot Fornells. A beautiful spot this, and an easy drive in the Menorca hire car.

Day trips to those hidden crystal clear water beaches found all around the coast of Menorca are a real pleasure with the car, as really you don't spend that much time driving to get there, this being a tiny island.

It's well worth considering a bit of Balearic island hopping if you're based on Mallorca, especially up on the east side around Alcudia and the Bay of Alcudia. Lots of boat trips run from this side of the Majorca coast from many resorts like Cala Rajada as well, not just from the Port d'Alcudia so you can take advantage of these and hop over to beautiful Ciutadella. A great day trip idea, which you can extend by hiring a car in Ciutadella to push further out into Menorca. Car hire is cheap, cheap cheap across the Balearics and car hire companies are everywhere making island hopping and exploring easy as pie! To book your ferry trip to Menorca, and your cheap Minorca car hire click on the weblinks to the right.

Menorca Airport Car Hire Pick-up

Menorca Airport has a friendly, stress free relaxed pace, and if you've pre-booked your Menorca car rental it's easy as pie. (see link right for Holiday Autos Menorca Car hire booking online). The Menorca car hire desks are all bunched together, easily spotted in the terminal after you've disembarked.

Menorca driving is a little more laid back than Mallorca. It's a smaller island for a start, with the journey from Mao to Ciutadella along the C721 taking little over an hour on a good day. It's easy to detour off visiting one of the many prehistoric monuments or nip upto sublime Fornells for a spot of scuba diving Menorca style!

Menorca car rentals usually require return if the hire car with the same amount of petrol you had in it when you picked it up. Don't forget to do this. Usually you get your Minorca hire car with a full tank which is one less thing to worry about. When you pick it up, clock which side the petrol tank is. Filling up is easy, and they often have courtesy services in Petrol stations about the Balearic Islands, including Menorca, where someone will fill up your tank for you. All petrol stations take credit cards. Worth considering using these to save on your Euros.

Menorca Car Hire Easy as Pie

Menorca Car Hire, as with car hire across the Balearic Islands, is easy as pie, so don't be afraid to take the plunge and give it a go. You soon get into the swing of driving on the right had side of the road. You pick this up surprisingly quickly actually, to the extent that for a few days on your return to the UK you'll find yourself reaching for the gear stick on the driver side door!! There's a fair bit of machismo on them there Balearic Spanish roads - boys will be boys (more in Mallorca than Menorca). Don't let this fluster you, especially in your first few days. It's not worth taking up their mantra and becoming the driver from hell either! Tempting, but much better to take your time. If in doubt stop and look at the map and urr, don't turn left at roundabouts - turn right! You'll be fine on roundabouts actually as they are always well signposted, and your direction is clearly marked with arrows. Driving in Menorca and the Balearics is an adventure in itself, and a fun part of your holiday.

When you pick up your hire car just take a few minutes to check it over, look where everything is. Suss out the radio - eek Spanish pop music not recommended, and look at the gears. Check you're happy with it first before you drive off. Well worth doing this. If you are hiring a car in Menorca or any of the other Balearic islands it's well worth taking a few CDs of your favourite sounds with you. Might not seem like a big issue before your holiday, but believe me once you've had a few days of Kiss FM's repetitive play lists, or Spanish pop music covers you'll be tearing your hair out. Nothing like hearing 'What's in a Kiss' by Gilbert O'Sullivan a 100 times through your holiday. Fantastic!

All Car hires across the Balearics will be fitted with handy air conditioning, which is pretty welcome if you're out and about in those peak hot summer months. If you want to be flash and feel the breeze, there's lots of fun open toppers available for hire, usually a bit extra. Check the pre-booking Menorca car hire weblink to the right for details on car models available.

Menorca Parking and Menorca Driving

A top tip if you're driving around Menorca, especially Mao and Ciutadella is to take it slow. Mao particularly has a confusing network of narrow streets in the centre, and parking is generally a chaotic free for all, especially in peak shopping times early morning and later between 5pm and 8pm.. If you've the luxury of time, and most have when on holiday, drive through and around the village or town you're visiting first to get you're bearings. Then turn back, drive through again and pick your parking spot. It works!

Also, when you do find your parking spot, make a good note of the street name, and markers to lead you back. Networks of cobbled streets are easily disorientating and one can loose one's car if one is not careful - wot wot. A minor inconvenience, but if you're in the mid-day sun trying to track down your car in unfamiliar terriotory a nervous breakdown may well be on the cards!

If you park you're car on a narrow street it's a good idea to fold in your wing mirrors. You'll get in the habit of this. Parking across the Balearics can be a nightmare, especially in busy resorts in peak season (although it's more likely a problem encountered in Majorca rather than Menorca). It's less of an issue in Menorca in some of the quieter tranquil spots like sublime Fornells, but Mao and Ciutadella are tricky. Take your time, and drive around a bit first to get your bearings are top tips. You'll end up saving yourself time and stress this way.