Menorca, Spain vs. Sicily, Italy in September for a Couple

TLDR: We’re looking for insight and comparisons for Menorca, Spain vs. Sicily, Italy (+ Aeolian Islands) for our 2027 trip in September as a young 30s couple. We are mid-tier travelers with a focus on value and unique, worthwhile experiences. We want a warm climate for water activities and a trip that balances beaches/swimming/boating with history/culture/local wonders. I am gluten free and we both love seafood so that’s always a plus. All respectful opinions and itinerary recommendations are welcome!

**

What we’re looking for in a trip (10-12 days):
– Good food, adaptable for gluten free, ideally with lots of seafood options or variety
– A mix of beaches/coves/swimming spots and history/culture
– Sunny and warm enough climate for water activities
– Some local unique experiences like Stromboli/natural wonders, local wineries, or boat tours
– Ideally minimal driving/needing a car to get to place to place since we just did a Scotland road trip and we are totally fine with renting a car locally to reach less crowded spots but would rather not have to rely on one
– Overall good value. We are not budget travelers but also are not luxury travelers. We’re looking for somewhere that our money goes far so we can choose comfortable accommodations and a few unique experiences.

Looking for honest thoughts, insight, ideas, and perhaps (respectful) reality checks lol as we look to our next travel destination! My husband and I (30 and 32, from Chicago in the US) are looking to plan a warm, coastal trip for 2027 in early September (but flexible on timing). For travel history context, we got engaged in mainland Italy a few years back (Rome, Florence, and Venice), eloped and honeymooned in Greece last year (Santorini, Naxos, Paros, and Athens), and just got back from a road trip in Scotland. We’re chasing climate, history, unique experiences (small local boat excursions), and THE FOOD reminiscent of Greece but wanted to do something different. I am gluten free (Celiac disease) and I’m craving a trip where the food isn’t as stressful and I can eat lots of seafood mixed in with other local cuisine.

Thoughts on Menorca: Recent interest mostly because the food is super exciting to us and we haven’t been to Spain before so it would be a totally new experience. Paella is one of my favorite foods and my research seems to point to Menorca having a bit more variety of local fresh proteins, vegetables, and seafood than Sicily. The beaches and coves look beautiful, Mahon looks like a lovely capital with beautiful local stores (we aren’t major shoppers but do love to window shop local stores and support small businesses), and the size of the island feels perfect for a 10-ish day trip. I’ve seen we’d need a car here too which is fine since it doesn’t seem like the distances would be as far as between towns in Sicily. Would love to know must-dos for Menorca and unique experiences or excursions by boat!

Thoughts on Sicily: Caught our eye because of Stromboli Island eruptions and the unique experiences of the volcanic Aeolian islands and unique boat tours. Seeing/hiking and learning about an active and erupting volcano feels like a dream for my nerdy heart. Italy is typically good for gluten free food and we’ve seen that seafood is plentiful on the coast/islands of Sicily, although we know that most foods will involve pasta which is a limit in some ways if GF isn’t available. We were considering a base in Cefalu, with maybe a day trip to Palermo, and then spending a few nights in the Aeolian islands (Lipari, Salina, or Stromboli) but there’s so many different combinations of bases that we’re overwhelmed with the size of the island and getting to each city without too much time in a car. We’re also not sure if we should even stay on the Aeolian Islands or just do a day boat trip from the mainland if we go this direction. Honestly, seeing some of the negative experiences with Sicily on Reddit has us questioning ourselves, but we aren’t usually picky travelers outside of my dietary needs. We’ve had people say that Athens or Rome was dirty and shabby (some things I’ve seen said about Sicily) and we absolutely loved it. I will say we really did not like Naples when we stopped in on our last trip to Italy and would like to avoid similar vibes.