Menorca is the quieter of the Balearic islands, and its prehistoric heritage is the reason it appears on the UNESCO list as Talayotic Menorca, inscribed in 2023. From around the second millennium BC until the Roman conquest, the island's people built massive stone towers called talayots, T-shaped stone altars known as taulas, and burial monuments shaped like upturned boats, the navetas. They did it on an astonishing scale for an island of this size, and the stone ruins lie everywhere, in fields and pine woods.
The island's roads are a pleasure to ride. The main road crosses from Maó to Ciutadella along the spine of the island, and the minor roads run out to the coast between dry-stone walls, called parets seques, that divide every field. Corners are gentle, the surface is usually good, and speeds are low, so this is a place for a slow ride. The north wind, the tramuntana, can be strong in winter and spring, and the summer months fill the roads with rental cars, so spring and autumn are the best times.
Maó, seven kilometres away, is the capital and a handsome port on one of the largest natural harbours in the world. It is the home of Mahón cheese, of a gin distilled to a recipe left by the British, who held the island for much of the eighteenth century, and, according to a legend that the French dispute, of mayonnaise. The town has plenty of fuel and good restaurants, and the waterfront is excellent for a long lunch. Es Castell and Alaior are close alternatives with their own character.
The northern side of the island is wilder, with low cliffs, scrub and small coves. The Camí de Cavalls, an old bridleway, circles the whole island, and you can walk sections of it from many points. The ferry from Barcelona or Valencia is the usual way to bring a bike. Take water and sun protection if you plan to walk to a monument, because shade is rare, and do not climb on the stones, which have stood for three thousand years and do not need your help.