BICYCLE TOURS & MOUNTAIN BIKING

Backroads of Mallorca Cycling

In the heart of this area, Joy and Spencer Rennie’s converted Mallorquin finca, Es Passarell, is strikingly lovely. The rambling sandstone farmhouse is set amid carob tree and orange orchards with extensive shady terraces front and back, perfect for sunny breakfasts and candlelit dinners. Each of the ten rooms is completely individual, filled with high quality fabrics and artwork. Honesty bars operate inside and out by the pool, and the intimate and welcoming atmosphere is so seductive that you almost believe this beautiful place is yours – and it is for the week! Evening meals are often outside, and in addition to the food that grows in the gardens, Joy’s fresh local ingredients are sourced the same day in local markets, while Spencer’s excellent desserts deserve a special mention.

Throughout the week you can enjoy incredibly varied cycling showcasing many different sides of Mallorca, with most days offering a choice of distance. You’ll meet farmers walking clanking herds of sheep and goats down back roads, (very difficult to overtake!), and coast along quiet lanes to noisy markets, prehistoric sites, time capsule museums, and small town bodegas. Each day is packed with new discoveries, and you can choose to lunch in restaurants every day, or take picnics in the shade of giant hay bales with views of the Tramuntana Mountains, or on white sand beaches with enticingly blue water.

Tour Details

Day 1 - Saturday: Arrive in Crete
A company representative meets you at the airport and takes you to Es Passarell (45 minutes). Time permitting, you'll be kitted out with bikes before dinner.

Day 2 - Sunday: Felanitx Market Loop 23km/14mi or 43km/27mi
Felanitx has a cracking market just a flat 7km away. Lock up the bike and wander the narrow streets packed with stalls overflowing with fragrant oregano, cheeses, peppers, melons - even silver jewelry and North African fabrics! A short loop leads back past lonely country churches, or follow a longer route between scattered fincas - this is ideal picnic country with fields perfumed with yellow asphodels. Heading home, you can see the smoky Tramuntana in the distance as you wind back through vineyards.

Day 3 - Monday: Country Roads to Petra 36km/22mi or 42km/26mi
Sail north through a rippling sea of golden wheat to Petra. This sun-kissed town hosts a display of relics and photos devoted to Junipero Serra, the 18th century missionary to California who founded San Diego and San Francisco - he is big news in Petra! Enjoy an ice cream under the palms by the central fountain and then coast back through poppies, returning to the hotel. Enjoy a swim before dinner, or why not take the two hotel Labradors, Penny and Tess, for an evening stroll.

Day 4 - Tuesday: Serra de Montission 32km/20mi or 36km/22mi
Today’s route encircles the nearby pine-scented Serra de Montission hill. The church of Santuari de Montission, with a touching Chapel of Promises, is perched on the crest. You can walk or ride from olive groves to the summit to picnic with Mediterranean views, or if you don’t fancy the climb, enjoy market day in Porreres’ main street. Either way, don’t miss Jaume Mesquida’s barrel-filled bodega to taste delicious local wines, before coasting back to relax on the terrace with a book.

Day 5 - Wednesday: Eastern Promise Routes 39km/24mi or 51km/32mi
Sweeping limestone valleys of vines lead east to give options today: some excellent restaurants beckon for lunch on the way to Oratorio de la Consolació viewpoint - you can see the entire southeast of Mallorca! Choose to continue to pretty Santanyi village, or carry on to dive into the turquoise ocean from sugar-spun beaches that surround a pretty horseshoe shaped bay in Mondrago National Park. Tonight, you’ll eat out in a local restaurant, (transport provided).

Day 6 - Thursday: Mallorca Past and Prehistoric 35km/22mi or 41km/26mi
En route today, discover how Mallorquin aristocrats used to live in Finca Els Calderers - a restored 18th century mansion and now a fascinating time capsule museum near St Joan. You can also visit Hanne Holz’s art gallery. Tramuntana views follow you to Montuiri where a fascinating collection of prehistoric talaiot pottery is displayed in a converted windmill. You can picnic at the talaiot site on the edge of the village or, after a restaurant lunch, wind back along poppy-dusted lanes to the Finca.

Day 7 - Friday: Windmills and Beaches Route 23km/14mi or 44km/27mi
The forest of typical Mallorquin windmills around Campos to the south used to help feed this entire region! A shorter day stops for lunch in Campos, but it is worth continuing along dead flat windmill-dotted country roads to Es Trenc’s amazing 5km sandy beach - it looks like it has escaped from the Carribean! The clarity and color of the water is stunning, and you can pick a restaurant or picnic on the sand.

Day 8 - Saturday: Depart
You are driven back to the airport today for your flight home.

• This is a unique single-center cycling holiday featuring coastal views, country lanes, olives, poppies, and vines.
• Stay in a converted Mallorquin finca enjoying it's delicious food, lovely pool, and delightful hosts.
• Cycle along interest packed routes with historic mansions and monasteries, colorful museums, stunning beaches, and wine filled bodegas.
• A choice of cycling routes every day with an optional day trip to or extra nights in cosmopolitan Palma.

Independent Tours:
Independent tours allow you to follow any route you choose using maps and detailed notes. Breakaway Adventures suggests routes using quiet country lanes, and going by the places they think are most interesting. There are route options for avoiding hills, and suggestions for detours and off-road explorations.

"Independent" doesn't mean unsupported, though. Local staff will greet you at the train station and take you by mini-van to the hotel. You'll attend a briefing session, where your Breakaway Adventures representative will fit you with your bike, tell you all about the things to see and do, and help you map out a route if you have a special side trip you'd like to make. During the briefing session, you'll also have a chance to meet any other travelers who are booked on the tour. Although the tours are not intended as a group experience, people often make friends on these independent tours and enjoy the opportunity to meet others - but if you’re not so inclined you're free to travel at your own pace. There are rarely more than six or eight people on any independent cycling tour, so you can be as sociable, or otherwise, as you choose.

On independent tours Breakaway Adventure’s staff clean and carefully check every bike before it goes out, so don't expect many problems. If anything does go wrong, your rep come out to your hotel and put it right. And your Breakaway Adventure reps are only a phone call away if you have any problems! They’ll also give you a puncture repair kit. Due to hygiene and safety concerns, cycling helmets are not provided. However, it is strongly recommended that you bring your own cycling helmet.