In addition to boat trips, Menorca also has endless walking tours.
The star of them all is the so-called Camí de Cavalls, a hiking route of great attraction that leads us to the most remote places of the Menorcan coast.
Its 185 km of route, with a cumulative slope of about 4000 m, make it a gateway to the most beautiful coves and forests of Menorca.
Coves that can usually be visited on boat trips, changing the terrestrial perspective for a more intense one from the sea.
There are records of the Camí de Cavalls from the 14th century, more specifically from the year 1330 when Jaume II ordered the Menorcan knights to have a horse and knight armed daily to travel this coastal path to watch out for possible pirate attacks.
Those were very turbulent times in the Mediterranean Sea and Menorca was not exempt from possible pirate attacks.
Later, Redbeard sowed panic in the mare nostrum by indiscriminately attacking several places.
Already in the seventh century it was referred to as "Cavalleros' Road", linking the watchtowers easily and giving quick access to troops who had to move to repel foreign attacks.
Its repercussion was such that several governors of the different dominations that Menorca suffered forced and decreed its conservation and care.
In 1736 the British governor Richard Kane decreed it as the Royal Road and ordered its maintenance and cleaning.
Years later in 1758 the Count of Lannion, French governor ordered it to be widened.
The Count of Cifuentes, also governor, this time on behalf of the Spanish crown, ordered its maintenance and conservation.
For centuries it served as a communication between "llocs", as the country houses are called in Menorca, to give access to the coves of Menorca and to the fishermen to the so-called "pesqueres".
Then the Camí de Cavalls was distorted and several sections became part of coastal properties, even being prohibited from passing through certain sections.
As early as 1980, popular movements and the local administration mobilized to restore its old layout in order to recover its public and free use.
Strong pressures from the people of Menorca led the Parliament of the Balearic Islands to approve the Camí de Cavalls Law on 21 December 2000 thus initiating the process of expropriation of several sections, declaring it an Asset of Cultural Interest and free of charge.
In 2010 its layout was reopened with several modifications so that everyone can enjoy it and get to know the different landscapes of the island of Menorca, in several stages.
Currently the excursion consists of 185km divided into 20 stages that pass through the most beautiful coves of Menorca, pine forests and holm oak groves that are a spectacle.
More than 100 barriers of Menorcan wild olive show that currently the livestock activity of Menorca is still alive and remember, it is mandatory to leave each and every one of them closed so as not to disturb the work in the field.
If you ask us a season to enjoy the Camí de Cavalls without a doubt spring or autumn, although in summer with the high temperatures the forests smell that they feed and all the coves are tempting to take a quick swim and continue the route.
While the Camí de Cavalls is the gateway to the island's coast, boat trips are too, providing an unusual perspective, seeing the cliffs and coves from the sea.
With our boats, the Don Joan from the port of Mahón we make several daily outings in a one-hour cultural excursion where our recently published free audio guide will tell you in different languages the peculiar history of the 2nd port largest natural in the world.
If, on the other hand, you want to enjoy the wildest nature and the virgin coves of the south of Menorca, the boat excursion par excellence is the Fiesta Rojo that sets sail every day to travel along the south coast from Ciutadella, without a doubt a boat trip that you will not forget.
Now all that remains is to wish you a happy stay in Menorca and a better boat trip.
