We made it on our long awaited and much needed family holiday and I just thought I’d share our recent experience in the hope it may help others a little.
We flew with TUI from Manchester Airport, as a family of four, children are 3 and 7 and we are both fully vaccinated all we needed to travel were our covid passes which we showed on the NHS app and our SpTH (Spain Travel Health) forms which there is also an app for. Check in at the airport was incredibly busy because they were five flights all going at a similar time and with the extra checks we were waiting to check in for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Speaking to one of the members of the check in staff they were still working on a reduced team much like the rest of the travel industry, so I would definitely recommend checking out how many flights are departing and get to the airport earlier than usual. We were the last flight of the five departing between 6 and 7.30am, so we then breezed through security with no issues but as our gate was the furthest away we had to head straight there so sadly no time for duty free or breakfast!
Brilliant flight though, it was only 1 hour 59 minutes thanks to a tail wind. The crew were straight around with the trolley service and we managed to get some breakfast. Masks were to be worn at all times unless eating or drinking, but straight back on when you’d finished.
On arrival to Mahon it seemed we were the only flight, we were told masks must be worn for anyone aged 6 and over or no entry and one member of the party to have all passports opened at the photo page. We were through passport control within 10 minutes, then there was another check of the Spanish entry forms. Each QR code was scanned and finally a check of full vaccination status or negative test certificates. I had this all ready to show and we were straight through in less than a minute to the luggage carousels where our bags were waiting for us.
A TUI rep greeted us and showed us the way to our coach, with a couple of drop offs along the way we were checking in to our accommodation just an hour later.
We stayed in Cala ‘n Bosch and it was amazing, there’s a gorgeous marina there with plenty of restaurants, a few bars for those holiday cocktails and a handful of shops for your souvenirs. The beaches in the resort are quite busy, a lot of Spanish were holidaying on the islands, good on them! Menorca has more beaches than Majorca and Ibiza put together though so always plenty of less crowded options available too.
We had a day trip out to Cala Galdana, one of the most photographed resorts on the island, it was beautiful and just how I remembered (I used to work there as a holiday rep!) We also took the local bus service into the old capital of Ciutadella, it takes around 15 minutes and the buses were every hour. I find it very atmospheric here and lovely to wander around the medieval streets. We had a delicious tapas lunch by the port here too then took the bus back. The Island of Menorca itself is quite small only about 48km long and 16km wide and the main road runs along the middle with all the resorts branching off. We hired a car for one day too and spent some time checking out Santa Tomas, Son Bou and Cala ‘n Porter.
With regards to Covid restrictions, it was similar to home, everywhere was cleaned regularly and masks were to be worn when we were indoors or on public transport. They are not mandatory in outdoor spaces as long as you can respect social distancing. Hand sanitiser is available everywhere and you’re encouraged to use it before handling menus etc.
My husband and I needed to test in the 72 hours prior to our departure, we had taken the required tests with us and by using our phones, we were asked to upload a photo of the completed negative test. We then had our fit to fly certificates sent to us, it probably took us around 30 mins all in all while the kids were having a siesta! Plenty of places were readily available, offering PCR and Antigen tests from around 30 euros per person so very easy to test in resort. We completed the passenger locator forms 2 days before our return, again didn’t take too long at all. You need the reference for your day 2 tests for this form though so that’s why you need to order those tests before you go.
The people were as friendly as ever and just seemed super happy to have people back enjoying their holidays. We ate out every evening and enjoyed one restaurant so much we visited 3 times during our 10 nights stay.
The weather was fabulous, temperatures over 30 degrees every day, the San Miguel was super cold and we had an amazing much needed family break. I’m so pleased we were able to get away, don’t let a few tests and a bit of paperwork put you off if you really want to get away.
Any questions please feel free to call or pop in and I’d be happy to share.
Stacey x
