Trail transport
A closed circuit, so arrival and departure are one problem solved once and there is no far end to reach. Maó is the practical trailhead even though the digitised loop is drawn from es Grau round to sa Mesquida, because Maó holds the airport link, the ferry terminal and the only bus station the whole network feeds into.
A closed circuit, so arrival and departure are one problem solved once and there is no far end to reach. Maó is the practical trailhead even though the digitised loop is drawn from es Grau round to sa Mesquida, because Maó holds the airport link, the ferry terminal and the only bus station the whole network feeds into. The official GR-223 is divided into 20 stages by the Consell Insular and its stage sequence also begins and ends at Maó. Almost everyone flies to Menorca Airport (MAH), which sits about 5 km from Maó on the Sant Climent road. Autocares Torres line L10 runs from the terminal to Maó bus station, a ride of roughly 10 to 15 minutes. There is no direct airport bus to Ciutadella, so anyone starting from the western side changes at Maó onto TMSA L01 or the L14 express. Aena lists a taxi rank at the terminal and car hire desks in the building. By sea, Trasmed sails into Maó from Barcelona, Valencia, Palma and Alcúdia, and into Ciutadella from Barcelona and Alcúdia. Maó's passenger terminal is Cos Nou, on the far side of the long harbour from the town, and Torres line L11 exists to link the bus station with it. Arriving at Ciutadella instead puts you on the trail at roughly the halfway point, which is a sensible way to walk the loop in two visits.
Same place, same operators, reversed, which is the whole advantage of the circuit. The one thing that catches people is finishing at the ends of the digitised loop rather than in Maó. Both es Grau and sa Mesquida have a bus only in high summer, es Grau on Autos Fornells L23 and sa Mesquida on TMSA L24, and outside those windows the last few kilometres into Maó are a taxi ride or a walk. If you have a flight the next morning, finishing in Maó or es Castell rather than on the coast removes that problem entirely, since TMSA L02 links es Castell and Maó through the winter.
There is no one-way problem to solve. No car relocation, no second set of transport bookings, and a bag left at your first night's accommodation is waiting where you finish. For a hire car, the documented place it can sit for a week or more is Aena's own long stay car park (P2) at the airport, a multi storey building with two of its four floors given over to long stay. No long stay facility in Maó or Ciutadella could be confirmed from a facility operator, so if you want to leave a car in town, ask the accommodation you return to before you rely on it.
The island bus network is what makes this trail workable in stages, and knowing where it stops is the difference between a plan and a stranding. Three operators run it and none covers the whole island: TMSA has the cross island trunk and the south and east coast branches, Autocares Torres has the airport bus and the Maó and Ciutadella town networks, and Autos Fornells has the north coast. Well served, all from Maó bus station: es Castell, Sant Lluís, Punta Prima, Binibèquer, Binissafúller, Sant Climent, es Canutells, Cala en Porter, Son Bou, Sant Tomàs and Cala Galdana, with Cala Galdana also reachable from Ciutadella and Ferreries. Ciutadella's own beaches (Cala Blanes, Cala Forcat, Santandria, Cala Blanca, Cala en Bosch, Son Xoriguer, Cala Morell) sit on Torres town lines, and TMSA's only operational stop in Ciutadella is Plaça de la Pau. Not served at any time of year, on any of the three operators' published line lists: the middle of the north coast between Cala Tirant and Cala Morell, which takes in Binimel·là, Cala Pregonda, Cavalleria and Algaiarens. Getting off there means a taxi to a road head or a pickup arranged in advance. Seasonally served, which is the trap: the whole north east, es Grau, Favàritx, Port d'Addaia, Arenal d'en Castell, Son Parc, Cala Tirant and Fornells, runs on Autos Fornells lines that their own site lists only between 22 June and mid September. Alcalfar and S'Algar sit on TMSA L91, which TMSA's own notice says starts service on 1 May. Sa Mesquida and Cala Llonga sit on L24, whose service commenced in late June. Frequency across the network also thins sharply out of season, and TMSA reissues timetables several times a year, with high season timetables coming in on 1 June. The reliable year round links are the trunk routes rather than the coastal branches. L01 Maó to Ciutadella by Alaior, es Mercadal and Ferreries, and L02 Maó to es Castell, both had special Christmas and New Year timetables published, so both run in winter. Two school day lines look like walker options and are not: L33 Cala en Porter to Alaior, L18 and L54 are all withdrawn on non school days.
Autocares Torres line L10 to Maó bus station, roughly 10 to 15 minutes, no booking needed. No direct bus to Ciutadella: change at Maó onto TMSA L01 or the L14 express. Aena lists a taxi rank at the terminal and car hire desks in the building.
L10 runs as an urban line and Aena lists bus access as a standing service. Neither operator publishes a season for it, so winter frequency is worth checking rather than assuming.Torres line L11 links Maó bus station with Cos Nou, which matters because the terminal is on the north shore of the harbour and a long way round from the town centre on foot. Trasmed sails from Maó to Barcelona, Valencia, Palma, Alcúdia and Ibiza.
Trasmed describes its Balearic network as daily. Sailing frequency on the longer mainland crossings is thinner than the Barcelona routes, so check before building a day around it.Walk or a short taxi into Ciutadella, which sits at roughly the halfway point of the circuit. Trasmed sails to Ciutadella from Barcelona and from Alcúdia in Mallorca, the shortest of the crossings.
Not stated by the operator beyond a daily network. Alcúdia to Ciutadella is the crossing most used as an alternative to flying.The single point every useful bus passes through. TMSA line pages show it as the terminus for the cross island L01 and for L02 to es Castell, and the Autos Fornells north coast lines and the Torres airport bus also work from Maó. Anyone planning to reach a stage end by bus is planning a journey from here.
Year round. The lines radiating from it are not, which is the point to check.TMSA's only operational stop in Ciutadella, so this is where the cross island L01 and L14 from Maó set you down and where the Cala Galdana and Sant Tomàs lines start. Torres town and beach lines are separate. TMSA has relocated this stop temporarily during Sant Joan and other festivals, so check notices in late June.
Year round for the cross island link.