Car Hire Menorca: Airport Pick-Up and Driving the Island

If your plan is a fortnight by the pool in Cala'n Bosch or Cala Galdana, you can manage without one: a package transfer will take you from the airport to your hotel and back. The moment you want to explore, though, a car changes the holiday. Menorca's interest is spread out rather than concentrated in one town, and many of the places worth seeing are inland or at the end of quiet lanes.

The island's heart is made up of small inland towns, Ferreries, Mercadal and Alaior, none of them on the coast, and around them lie the sights most visitors remember: the Castle of Santa Àgueda, the cave of Cova des Coloms, the talayotic villages of Torralba d'en Salort and So na Caçana, and the Dolmen de Ses Roques Llises. To the north-east is S'Albufera des Grau Natural Park, and on the south coast coves such as Cala Mitjana, Cala Llucalari and Cales Coves. Seeing even a handful of these in a week without a car is hard work.

A sensible middle ground is to rent a car on Menorca for a few days of a longer stay, rather than the whole trip, and spend the remaining days on the beach.

Most British travellers pick up at Menorca Airport (MAH), the island's only airport and the one served by direct flights from the UK. Car hire at Menorca airport is convenient because the terminal is so close to everything in the east: Sant Lluís is 3 minutes away, Maó 4 minutes, Alaior 9 minutes and Mercadal 16 minutes. Collecting on arrival means no transfer to wait for and no queue for a taxi.

If you only want a car for part of your stay, picking up in town is the alternative. Maó, the island's largest town and its main port, is the obvious choice in the east, while Ciutadella serves the west of the island and resorts such as Cala'n Bosch. Arriving by ferry from Alcúdia on Mallorca, you will land at Ciutadella or Maó, and collecting there saves taking a car across.

The comparison on this page lets you check car rental at Menorca airport alongside town offices, so you can see which pick-up point suits your dates.

Distances are short. Measured from the middle of the island, Ferreries is about 3 miles away, Mercadal about 4 and Alaior about 5, while Maó and Sant Lluís sit roughly 12 to 13 miles out towards the east. In practice that means most sightseeing days involve modest drives rather than long motorway stretches, and you can comfortably combine an archaeological site, a castle and a beach in one outing.

The eastern corner around Maó and Sant Lluís is rich in prehistoric sites, including Binissafullet, Cornia Nou and Sa Cudia Cremada, and Sant Lluís is the starting point for views of the Illa de l'Aire Lighthouse. The Castle of Sant Antoni near Mercadal and the Castle of Santa Àgueda near Ferreries take you into the inland countryside, where roads are smaller and slower than the main routes.

Summer heat is worth planning around. Maó averages highs of 30°C in July and 29°C in August, so a car left in the sun gets very hot: park in shade where you can, carry water, and aim for beaches such as Cala Mitjana early, before the small car parks fill. June, September and October bring highs of 24 to 26°C, which many drivers find more comfortable.

Read the fuel policy before you click. A full-to-full policy, where you collect the car with a full tank and return it full, is usually the simplest and most transparent arrangement; with Maó so close to the airport, refuelling before drop-off is easy. Check too what the excess is on the standard insurance, and decide in advance whether you want excess cover, rather than making that choice tired at the desk.

If you are travelling with children, request child seats or boosters when you book, not on arrival, and confirm the ages they are suitable for. Families heading to resorts such as Cala'n Bosch or Cala Galdana in the school holidays should book early, as July and August are the busiest months and demand for cars rises sharply.

People searching for cheap car hire in Menorca, or the best car rental Menorca can offer, often focus on the headline rate. It pays to compare the whole package instead, fuel policy, excess and extras included. The live comparison on this page sets providers side by side so you can do exactly that.