Cap de Formentor Road

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Port de Pollenca

   Port de Pollença is the seaside half of a partnership, with the old hill town of Pollença six kilometres inland. The port sits on a wide, sheltered bay in the north of Mallorca, with the Tramuntana mountains on one side and the Formentor peninsula curving round the other, and the water is calm, shallow and a clear green-blue. A long, pine-shaded promenade runs along the waterfront, lined with cafés and ice-cream shops, and sailing boats and fishing vessels bob in the harbour. It has about six thousand people in winter, and many more in summer, and it feels like a holiday town without being too brash.

   Read the complete Near Port de Pollença write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Port de Pollenca is where the day begins. Next is Es Colomer.

2. 2. Es Colomer

   Es Colomer is the viewpoint that appears on every Mallorca postcard, and the postcards for once do not lie. The mirador stands on a bare rock ledge a couple of hundred metres above the Mediterranean, at the point where the Formentor peninsula narrows into a ridge of pale limestone, and the view down the cliffs to the little island of Illa des Colomer is dizzying. Gulls ride the updraughts at eye level. The water below is an unlikely shade between turquoise and navy, and the wind can be fierce.

   Read the complete Es Colomer write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Es Colomer comes up about 7 km into the recorded legs. Next is Formentor Beach.

3. 3. Formentor Beach

   The beach at Formentor is a pocket of sand and pines in a bay on the north coast, facing the open sea on one side and the long finger of the peninsula on the other. It is not wild; the little hotel above it, the Hotel Formentor, was built in the late 1920s and became a rendezvous for writers, artists and well-heeled visitors. It later gave its name to a literary prize in the 1960s. But the setting is lovely, and the water is shallow, clear and cool.

   Read the complete Formentor Beach write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 14 km into the recorded legs you reach Formentor Beach. Next is Cap de Formentor Lighthouse.

4. 4. Cap de Formentor Lighthouse

   The lighthouse at Formentor stands on the very end of the cape, some two hundred metres above the sea, in a spot that feels like the edge of everything. It was built in 1863, a squat white tower and keeper's house on bare rock, with only grass, thyme and a few twisted pines to soften the scene. On a clear day, you can see across the sea to Menorca on the horizon, and below your boots the cliffs fall in sheer walls to water so blue it looks artificial. The wind is almost always blowing, sometimes hard enough to rock a parked bike on its stand.

   Read the complete Cap de Formentor Lighthouse write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cap de Formentor Lighthouse closes the day.