Why this ride
From Palma it runs 1029 km to Palma; allow about 17 h 44 of riding. On the way it passes C2: Southwest Area, Talayotic Menorca, C1: Plains of Ciutadella and C3: Western Migjorn area. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palma long day · C3: Western Migjorn area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1029 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 17 h 44
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palma
Palma is a city built around a cathedral that looks like a stone cliff. La Seu, as everyone calls it, rises directly above the seafront, a Gothic mass of pale limestone begun in the early fourteenth century by King James II of Mallorca, with a huge rose window and buttresses that seem to leap toward the sea. It took centuries to build, and in the twentieth century the architect Antoni Gaudí was called in to rework the interior, hanging a great canopy above the altar. The reflection of the building in the long pond in front, at dawn, is one of the great sights of the Mediterranean.
Read the complete Palma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palma is where the day begins. Next is C2: Southwest Area.
2. C2: Southwest Area
Ciutadella is the old capital of Menorca, a handsome town of nearly thirty thousand people at the western end of the island, with a small harbour lined with fish restaurants and a cathedral built on the site of a mosque. The south-west corner of the island, below the town, holds some of the finest prehistoric remains on Menorca, including the burial chamber known as the Naveta des Tudons, a stone structure shaped like an upturned boat that is among the oldest roofed buildings in Europe. It belongs to the talayotic culture that built towers and T-shaped sanctuaries across the island over many centuries.
Read the complete C2: Southwest Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
C2: Southwest Area comes up about 451 km into the recorded legs. Next is Talayotic Menorca.
3. Talayotic Menorca
Menorca's prehistory is stranger and more abundant than its tourist image suggests. From around 1000 BC, the island's people built huge monuments of unmortared stone, and the big circular towers called talaiots, which probably served as lookout posts, houses or meeting places, dot the island by the hundred. The culture that built them is called Talayotic, and the sites were listed by UNESCO in 2023 as a group of outstanding prehistoric settlements and sanctuaries. This stretch of land, west of Ciutadella, is not far from some of the best examples, among them the Naveta d'es Tudons, one of the oldest roofed buildings in Europe.
Read the complete Talayotic Menorca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 478 km into the recorded legs you reach Talayotic Menorca. Next is C1: Plains of Ciutadella.
4. C1: Plains of Ciutadella
West Menorca is a low, open plateau of limestone, and the plains around Ciutadella are the island at its most pastoral. The land is divided into small fields by dry-stone walls, thousands of kilometres of them, built over centuries by hand without mortar, and the walls give the whole landscape a stitched, patchwork look. Cows graze in the meadows, and farmhouses called llocs, painted white, sit among clusters of pines and wild olive trees. The soil is red in places, grey in others, and the sea shows at the end of almost every lane.
Read the complete C1: Plains of Ciutadella write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
C1: Plains of Ciutadella, about halfway. Next is C3: Western Migjorn area.
5. C3: Western Migjorn area
Menorca has more prehistoric monuments per square kilometre than almost anywhere in Europe, and the south-west of the island is a good place to see why. The people who lived here in the Bronze and Iron Ages built talayots, round towers of stacked stones, and taules, T-shaped stone altars, and navetas, burial chambers shaped like upturned boats, in a culture that lasted for over a thousand years. In 2023 UNESCO added the Talayotic Culture of Minorca to its list, and the western Migjorn area, the south-west of the island, is one of the zones included.
Read the complete C3: Western Migjorn area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
C3: Western Migjorn area sits at 516 km, about halfway. Next is back through C1: Plains of Ciutadella.
6. back through C1: Plains of Ciutadella
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete C1: Plains of Ciutadella write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through C1: Plains of Ciutadella comes up about 554 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Talayotic Menorca.
7. back through Talayotic Menorca
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Talayotic Menorca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 554 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Talayotic Menorca. Next is back through C2: Southwest Area.
8. back through C2: Southwest Area
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete C2: Southwest Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through C2: Southwest Area, late in the day. Next is Palma.
9. Palma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 1029 km.
Leg by leg
Palma to C2: Southwest Area
Palma → C2: Southwest Area is 451 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
C2: Southwest Area to Talayotic Menorca
C2: Southwest Area → Talayotic Menorca is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
C1: Plains of Ciutadella to C3: Western Migjorn area
C1: Plains of Ciutadella → C3: Western Migjorn area is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
C3: Western Migjorn area to back through C1: Plains of Ciutadella
C3: Western Migjorn area → back through C1: Plains of Ciutadella is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Talayotic Menorca to back through C2: Southwest Area
back through Talayotic Menorca → back through C2: Southwest Area is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through C2: Southwest Area to Palma
back through C2: Southwest Area → Palma is 451 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.