A quick guide to Cala Galdana with a baby

Menorca’s Cala Galdana was even more beautiful than I imagined in person.

After travelling to some of the world’s most famous beach destinations – from sailing the Whitsunday Islands to backpacking Thailand – Cala Galdana is genuinely among my favourites.

While this small resort only needs a short guide, let’s explore why Cala Galdana with a baby is absolutely worth considering for your next (or even first!) family getaway.

Why choose Cala Galdana

I’ll be honest: I imagined exploring more of Menorca than we did. Our usual travel style would be hopping into our hire car to explore different villages and coves along the coastline, but this time was different.

When we booked a week in Menorca with our five-month-old, we needed a beach in easy reach and a home base that’d work for the whole family. Cala Galdana was just that, with its impressive cliffs towering over a white sandy bay.

While I’m not often a package holiday gal, we booked a Jet2 package including flights, luggage, hire cars and a villa, which felt like the right fuss-free option to sort everything in one go. Plus, once we saw the photos of our villa’s view over the bay, it was a no brainer!

Cala Galdana, and Menorca in general, also has ideal weather in September; warm and sunny without being overwhelmingly hot.

Where to stay in Cala Galdana

We chose a villa holiday but Cala Galdana has several hotel options too. I’ve linked some of the most popular on this handy map.

Villa Mascaro, our home for the week, overlooks the bay – an absolutely ideal location for a family holiday. Set out across two levels, each floor has a kitchen, living area, master bedroom with ensuite and air conditioning, main bathroom and two further bedrooms with a fan.

I’ve written up a whole article on everything we packed for holiday with a baby – the list was LONG this time.

The outside dining areas were the biggest hit, with a large table, BBQ and spectacular beach views. Once we’d parked ourselves here for a leisurely meal, it was hard to tear ourselves away. But we did because, as well as the beach, the villa has a decent size pool with a shallow section at one end that’s perfect for younger children. There are plenty of sunbeds, a couple of umbrellas and a basic pool shower – ideal to let us enjoy our holiday, even when the baby was napping inside.

There was a decent mini market about 10 minutes walk from the villa area for essentials, with plenty of larger supermarkets such as Mercado, Aldi and Lidl around 20 minutes away near Ciutadella. Stock up when you arrive and spend the rest of the time relaxing!

How to get to Cala Galdana

I wanted to quickly cover the different ways to get to Cala Galdana, from when you’ve parked up in one of the many areas at the top of the hill – it’s very limited by the beach itself.

FYI – if you haven’t hired a car, the bus heads down the road to drop off and pick up closer to the beach.

From the main road, there are a couple of different staircases down the cliffs to the beach – some steeper than others – which take around 5-10 minutes from road to sand.

If these steps aren’t accessible to you, there are decent pavements on the road all the way down which takes around 20 minutes. It’s hilly on the return journey, I won’t lie, but doable even with a fully loaded pram in tow!

Everything you need to know about Cala Galdana’s beach

The glorious beach is the main reason to stay at Cala Galdana, with a sheltered bay and calm, mesmerisingly blue water. The white cliffs, dotted throughout with lush trees, unexpectedly reminded me of Thailand, as did the gorgeously warm water that was the perfect temperature for swimming.

Throughout our stay, the beach had plenty of room for visitors with both sunbeds and spots to rock up and pitch umbrellas available. If you head down in the morning, it’s pretty easy to find shade under the trees growing along the shoreline before the sun swings around in the afternoon and evening. Honestly, sunbathing under a fig tree growing from the sand is a pretty unique experience!

The vibe is chilled, with a mix of families, couples and friends, a handful of beachfront restaurants and a couple of boat rental spots that give it a slightly more touristy feel than some of the tiny, less accessible coves.

However, Cala Galdana with a baby is the ideal spot for a family holiday when you’re still finding your feet, without worrying about parking, steep walks to the beach or a lack of changing and feeding facilities.

Facilities on Cala Galdana

Where to eat in Cala Galdana

We didn’t eat out a huge amount, a big step change from our usual trips where the meals are the main event. But with our five-month-old’s bedtime to consider, we cooked at the villa for many evenings and treated ourselves to just a few meals out where we threw naptime caution to the wind.

Beach House by Cape Nao

Beach House by Cape Nao was our favourite lunch spot of the trip, with excellent tapas and a price tag that reflects its prime beachfront location. However, the food was consistently good – we highly rated the garlic prawns, bacalau (fried fish), patatas bravas and my all time favourite, croquetas – and the vibes were nice for couples and families alike.

As I mentioned earlier, you could also get takeaway smoothies, coffee and cocktails to take onto the beach, as well as a small selection of their food menu. Perfect for if you don’t want to miss a second of those rays!

Lacala Pizzeria

A highly-rated Italian restaurant with a whitewashed, Ibiza-coded interior, we stumbled upon Lacala Pizzeria on our very first walk in Cala Galdana. We dipped in for a quick lunch and returned for dinner on our final evening – a gorgeous way to round off the trip.

This has more of a couples and friends vibe to it, but they accommodated our pram and son with great service. The pizzas are genuinely delicious, as are the Hugo Spritzes, and if you visit at the right time, you can even see a beautiful sunset from virtually every table.

We tried a couple of other beachside restaurants but were disappointed, so I won’t name them here! Instead, I’d recommend checking out the cluster of restaurants just behind the beach – you’ll find tapas, seafood and more with great reviews on many.

Places to visit near Cala Galdana

While getting out and about proved more difficult than pre-baby (if we wanted to stay relaxed anyway!), we spent one morning visiting two excellent places, located just 20 minutes drive from Cala Galdana.

Lithica, Pedreres de s’Hostal

Earlier this year, I saw a clip of Lithica on Instagram and immediately hit save for our trip. What was once a sandstone quarry now looks utterly remarkable, with steep cliffs, what you’d imagine a garden to look like in a desert and an angular labyrinth. Honestly, I’d never have believed you if you’d told me that a quarry was a must-visit site in Menorca but once they stopped using the site for stone in 1994, it was turned into something genuinely unique.

Or between this and my love for Krakow’s Wieliczka Salt Mine (see my post on the best things to do in Krakow for more on that gem), I’m just really not young any more.

Recommended visiting time is 90 minutes but in just 30 we managed to cover some of the gardens before heading down the ramp into the quarry itself. I’d have loved more time here but an honest note for families with young babies: the quarry is very exposed and even first thing in the morning with an umbrella for makeshift shade, our boy got uncomfortable in the heat very quickly.

Lithica is open from 09:00 until sunset from April to October and until 14:00 during low season, excluding January when it is closed entirely. Current prices are €10 per adult, with under 15s eligible for free admission.

Ciutadella

If you’re after a different taste of Menorca entirely, the nearby Ciutadella would actually make a lovely city break.

After starting with a traditional ensaimada (a Menorcan pastry with lightly sweet dough), we explored the old town streets lined with gorgeous independent shops – although we sadly didn’t make it inside the cathedral. To my untrained eye, the architecture in Ciutadella is really reminiscent of Spanish cities like Palma or Malaga so it’s a great place to wander around, grab a bite to eat and a less tacky souvenir than your classic fridge magnet or shot glass.

Combined with Lithica, it’s the perfect half day excursion before heading back to the island’s shores.

Neighbouring beaches

For me, the toughest part of our trip was sacrificing exploring the nearby beaches with less facilities than Cala Galdana. Cala Mitjana, Cala Mitjaneta and Cala Macarella are all within an hours walk of Cala Galdana and promise even more translucent water and unspoiled sand. Maybe next time when we’re more confident!

Who is Cala Galdana best for?

If you’re after a lively nightlife scene or a public transport hub, I’d choose a different location – while there are some buses to Cala Galdana, it’s limited.

Would we go back?

Without hesitation! Honestly, I was really impressed by Cala Galdana with a baby, especially as it was our first visit to Menorca. For our first holiday with a young baby, the warm water, easy beach access and chilled vibe gave us enough to keep us happy without needing a huge amount of energy to leave the house each time.

Some evenings, as we watched the sunset over the beautiful bay, it felt just like a real holiday again.

And when our boy is older, I’d love to go back and explore even more of Menorca. But for now, exploring Cala Galdana with a baby was a darn good first trip.

Laura x