Where to stay
Sant Joan de Binissaida (00 34 971 355598; binissaida.com) occupies a 12-hectare estate on the coast outside Maó. The 18th-century lloc (traditional Menorcan farmhouse) has 12 rooms with original furniture. The restaurant serves some of the best food on the island.
Casa Albertí (00 34 971 354210; casalberti.com) is a salmon-pink-fronted 1740 mansion on one of old Mahon's grandest streets that makes a fine place to stay in town. Six rooms, from €97.
Ca Na Xini (00 34 971 373702; canaxini.com) is a handsome lloc daringly revamped in minimalist style. The farm outside the village of Ferreries produces its own cheese, wine and olive oil. Doubles from €130.
Port Ciutadella (00 34 971 482520; sethotels.com) is a new four-star in a contemporary style on a small inlet a few minutes from the town centre, with outdoor and indoor swimming pools. From €80.
One of Menorca's first rural hotels, Biniarroca (00 34 971 150059; biniarroca.com) is owned by two Englishwomen, a designer and a painter. Doubles from €80.
Biniatram 00 34 971 383113; infotelecom.es/biniatram) is a genuine Menorcan lloc, 500 years old, in rolling countryside near the north coast. Doubles from €55.
Where to eat
Restaurante Marivent (Moll de Llevant 314, Puerto de Maó, 00 34 971 369801) has a first-floor dining room with panoramic views of the harbour. Alejo's cooking is refined and exquisite.
Es Mercadal has made a name for itself as the place to go for genuine Menorcan cooking. Restaurante Las Vegas (C/Nou 3, Es Mercadal, 00 34 971 375401; hostaljeni.com) is an agreeable bar restaurant, sister establishment of the slightly more upmarket Hostal Jeni in the same village, and offers a three-course daily menu of dishes - unbeatable value at €10.
Ses Truqueries (Camí Cala en Blanes km1, Ciutadella, 00 34 971 188384; sestruqueries.com) is a highly recommended farm/restaurant in a restored lloc in the rock-strewn landscape outside Ciutadella.
Can Bernat d'es Grau (c/Arribada 18, Es Grau, 00 34 650 974 685) is a simple, peerless fish restaurant making good use of the plancha (griddle), on the coast north of Maó.
Things to do
Visit the winery at Binifadet (Ses Barraques s/n, Sant Lluis, binifadet.com) or learn about the island's ecology at Menorca's green HQ, the Centre de la Natura in Ferreries (c/Mallorca 2, 00 34 971 374505).
Shop for local cheeses, sausages, capers, gin, etc at the market in Maó, evocatively housed in the central patio of a converted convent.
Visit at least one of Menorca's more than 1,600 megalithic sites. I recommend Talatí de Dalt near Maó, with its spectacular taula (a T-shaped stone structure). The Naveta dels Tudons outside Cuitadella, a mysterious building resembling an upturned boat, is also unmissable.
The ancient limestone quarries - Pedreres de s'Hostal - at Líthica outside Ciutadella have recently been restored and landscaped. Their cathedral-like spaces at sundown are surprising and impressive. See lithica.es.
