Mallorca Cycling Tour: Southern Beaches to the Plains

With this self guided cycling tour, you will cycle through winding roads and a patchwork patterns of ancient farms, linking agricultural villages that reveal a traditional Mallorca. This is a side of the island that few tourists experience, and cycling here is a true delight, especially when combined with the tour’s hand-picked accommodation, including two enchanting agroturismos – intimate country estates offering comfortable rooms, outdoor pools and delicious home-cooked food. According to the season, expect to enjoy the freshest of vegetables and fruit produced on this abundant isle.

The route leads you from the Migjorn, the unspoiled coastal plain of sand dunes and salt flats, up into the very heart of the island through the rolling inland plain known as Es Pla, a landscape of tiny farms, ancient windmills, and pretty villages with bustling markets that has remained unchanged for centuries. Each day there is ample opportunity to stop and linger over a coffee and delicious pastry while you cycle from one village to the next. On your final days, you enjoy magnificent views of the peaks of the Tramuntana Sierra as you reach the heart of the island.

Itinerary
STARTING POINT: Es Torrent, near Campos.

DAY 1
Circular route (recommended option): 22km
Longer option to Sant Jordi: 37km

The tour begins with an easy warm-up ride that winds along quiet lanes between the fascinating inland lagoons and salt flats just behind the coast, which are home to many birds. Your target, reached after a section through pine woods, is the island’s longest natural beach, Es Trenc, a great swimming spot with fine white sand framed by sand dunes. From here, you can choose to extend your ride and visit the small port of Colònia de Sant Jordi, before returning to Es Torrent.

DAY 2
Es Torrent to Porreres: 26k

You start by cycling north to the market town of Campos, renowned for its windmills, before skirting the hill topped by the Sanctuary of Mont-Sion. You can complete the optional, challenging ascent to the summit for stunning views over the rolling plain, before continuing to Porreres. You then follow quiet lanes across large estates dominated by orchards to reach Can Feliu just north of the town.

DAY 3
Circular route via Felanitx: 32km

Today, you head out on a delightful circuit through timeless agricultural countryside to reach Felanitx, another traditional town, famed for its capers or ‘green pearls’, that you can buy at the Sunday morning market. Enjoy a relaxing lunch in the colourful central square, before a gentle ride back to your hotel.

DAY 4
Porreres to Sineu: 22km

You pedal through the gently rolling countryside of the island’s centre, with wonderful views of the rugged peaks of the Tramuntana Sierra opening up as you ride. On your way, visit the charming village of Montuiri, surrounded by old stone windmills used for grinding flour in days gone by. On the last leg you ride through almond groves to reach Can Joan Capó, where you spend your final two nights.

DAY 5
Circular route: 34k

You could finish your holiday in a leisurely fashion, strolling around the town in the morning (Sineu is one of the oldest settlements on Mallorca and the site of a beautiful Gothic church and a renowned farmers’ market every Wednesday) and spending the afternoon by the pool. Alternatively, you could follow a delightful circular ride along country lanes lined with dry stone walls and a profusion of wildflowers, passing through villages with houses of golden stone and green painted shutters – perhaps the most idyllic countryside of the week.

DISCOVER PALMA
As a contrast to the countryside, why not add on a couple of nights to your holiday to explore the historic city of Palma. We can recommend a number of excellent hotel in the city, please ask for further details.