Son Bou Villa Holidays

Thousands of Europeans go on Menorca holidays every year, including many Brits on their summer holiday. It’s a common sight to see many people burning in the sun, yet a few sun safety tips can keep your skin healthy and allow a gradual tan to develop.

Sun creams
Sun creams should be at least factor 15 (SPF). If you have pale skin, then go for higher factors like 25 or 20. The tale that higher creams stop you from going brown is a myth – if you burn your skin with a lower cream, your skin will peel or you may have to avoid the sun for several days.

Leave the tanning oil behind on your Menorca holidays, even if your skin doesn’t burn. You should be protected with broad spectrum creams, they are proven to block the rays which can cause skin cancer. Also, they help your skin from aging prematurely.

Sun Time
It’s best if you sunbathe for only 20 minutes at a time, only a couple of times a day. Sun cream does make it safer to be in the sun than without, but increasing the length of time in the sun on one of your Menorca holidays isn’t advised. Avoid the sun between 11am and 3pm, or cover up in a sarong if you are at the beach.

Menorca is one of the top destinations for Brits wanting to catch a glimpse of summer sun. The island is filled with activities, from kite surfing to flamenco dancing. But for those who want to take in the cultural side of the isle, here are some of the highlights to pop on your itinerary list:
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Menorca holidays can be a great way to see Spain in an environment that is tourist friendly. Touring around the island in a self drive trip or as part of a tour is an ideal option to keep children entertained, and gives an insight to the Spanish culture.
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Menorca is synonymous with beach goers, blazing sun and the Spanish language. But did you know that the island has plenty of unknown facts?

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When you visit Menorca for the first time, it can be hard to know where to start. All the carefully-laid plans you’ve set down for the holiday can be set aside at a moment’s notice when you arrive and discover there may be far more to do on the island than you imagined! There are plenty of different aspects of the island to be discovered on your Menorca holidays, and one of the greatest pleasures of the Menorcan lifestyle to be adopted on holiday is the chance to relax, go with the flow, and let the island show you what it has to offer. There are a few aspects to Menorca that often come as a surprise:
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Menorca is a uniquely beautiful location, as much for its gorgeous landscapes and natural scenery as for the charm of its towns and cuisine. The ‘natural world’ of Menorca is a compelling part of the allure – many Menorca holidays intended to be spent exclusively on the beaches have moved a little further inland as holidaymakers have discovered the wide array of walking and biking trails to enjoy.
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If you’re planning your Menorca holidays in the near future, there are an increasing number of options to get you there. Plenty of seafaring services can give you the idyllic approach, seeing the island’s shores looming up out of the ocean, or you can fly in for a beautiful aerial view and a landing with style. If you plan to fly to Menorca, holidays can begin with a real boost thanks to the new low cost airline being launched from Spanish airline Iberia. With Menorca as one of the airline’s destinations, it’s never been easier to get to the island for a relaxing holiday in the sun.

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One of the main selling points of Menorca when compared to its “bigger sisters”, Mallorca and Ibiza, is the island’s very natural, rustic, non-touristy feel. This extends to the way of life of the locals themselves, who have learned not to let touristy Menorca villas control or interfere with their lifestyle.

In fact, outside of the beach resorts, Menorcans continue to lead a rather traditional life, their economy revolving mostly around crafts and traditional industries. Rather than cater to the tourist crowd, however, these industries produce perfectly regular products, meant for export or local consumption.

Among these crafts, which coexist with Menorca villas and resorts in the island’s economy, a few take prominence. Gold and silver smithing, for example, is traditional in Menorca, with the 1784 census registering 21 silversmiths on the island. Since then, the industry has evolved to focus mostly on costume jewellery, but has lost none of its relevance to the overall economy of the resort.

Pottery is another widespread art in Menorca, with many artisans scattered throughout Mahon and the island’s other towns. Out of these artisans’ ovens come a multitude of clay objects, in all shapes and sizes, that might make for a good souvenir for tourists renting nearby Menorca villas.

Finally, one must mention the island’s prominent footwear industry, which harks back to the 19th century, and the product of which is still heavily exported nowadays. In addition to “regular” shoes, available wholesale from the island’s many factories, tourists can also buy traditional Menorcan peasant shoes, called albarques, at typical bazaars.

As you can see, then, Menorca’s economy extends far beyond Menorca villas, centring around the kind of traditional industries typical of less touristy resorts.

Relics from the dawn of civilization are few and far between these days. The combined effects of the passing of time, and often intrusive human action, have led to almost all vestiges of pre-homo sapiens life disappearing. Which is why it is so exciting when one finds an array of evidence as vast as the one that sits, to this day, side by side with modern Menorca villas in the quiet Balearic island.

In fact, Mallorca’s “little sister” is positively teeming with prehistoric monuments, with an estimation numbering them at over two thousand! This means Menorca has the highest number of open-air archaeological sites of any Mediterranean island, and makes this little tourist spot a mandatory stop for those with an interest in a time before beach resorts and Menorca villas.

Those who head for the small island with the intention of witnessing its megalithic marvels should make sure to stop at Las Navetas (literally, ‘small boats’), so named for their peculiar shape, and which served as burial chambers for the early hominid cultures who dwelt in Menorca. Currently, this monument is sealed, but can still be peeked into through a small door.

Another must-see stop in an archaeological tour of Menorca is Les Taules (‘the tables’ in Catalan), the most impressive among the many ‘talaiots’ spread throughout Menorcan hillocks. These stones, located in several different spots within the island, can weigh up to 25 tons, and were often used as sanctuaries or altars. The most famous out of all of them is probably Torre d’en Gaumés, which was of use to both Romans and Muslims in later centuries.

In short, then, if you want a peek at what the Balearics were like before the advent of Menorca villas and resorts, do not miss the chance to take an archaeological tour of the island!

Menorca villas are the standard type of accommodation for this Balearic island. Being much less explored and developed than neighbouring “big sisters” Mallorca and Ibiza, the smallest of the three islands off the coast of Spain opts for a quainter, more “natural” approach to accommodation, which keeps in tune with the general, green-tinted and markedly natural look of Menorca itself.

However, while accommodation of this type is plentiful throughout most urbanised areas of the island, prospective visitors looking to rent Menorca villas should be aware that a large portion of the island – over half of it, in fact – is considered a natural reserve, and therefore protected by international laws forbidding development. Here, birds and wildlife roam free, away from buildings, tourists and cars, in an area that has become known as the S’albufeira des Grau National Park.

Here, more ecologically-minded visitors can take a stroll or cycle through verdant areas, fully appreciating the island’s diverse wildlife, particularly the many species of birds flitting from tree to tree. Birdwatchers, hikers, cyclists and even horse riders will no doubt find their new haven in this vast, undisturbed, unspoilt space. For those with a flair for exploration, beautiful little coves also abound, bordering sandy beaches and just begging to be explored!

In short, then, tourists seeking to step away from the resorts and luxury Menorca villas owe it to themselves to visit the Menorcan Natural Park, and experience the island’s many natural wonders first-hand!