Serra de Tramuntana North to South

Mallorca's defining mountain road, with sea views and repeated passes.

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Why this ride

Mallorca's defining mountain road, with sea views and repeated passes. The road: MA-10. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Pollenca start

   Pollença sits in a shallow bowl at the foot of the Serra de Tramuntana, the limestone mountain range that runs down Mallorca's northwest coast, and it is one of the island's best-looking towns. Pale stone houses, green shutters and plane-lined squares fill the old center, and above it rises the Puig de Maria, a hill topped with a small monastery. The town has the confident, slightly arty air of a place that painters have loved for a century, and its main square, the Plaça Major, fills with a market on Sundays.

   Two features are almost obligatory. The Calvari, a long stairway of 365 steps lined with cypress trees, climbs to a chapel on a hill, and the climb is cooler at dusk. The Roman Bridge, an old stone arch over a dry stream bed just outside the center, is one of the few reminders that this area was settled in antiquity. In summer the town hosts a festival of classical music in the cloister of a former convent, and the cafes on the square are the place to sit with a coffee and watch.

   For riders, Pollença is the northern gateway to Ma-10, the road down the spine of the Tramuntana, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage cultural landscape. It runs south past Lluc Monastery, one of the island's spiritual centers, and on through terraced olive groves, rock walls and high passes, with long views to the sea, and the tarmac is mostly good, with tight bends. The road is hugely popular with cyclists, especially in spring, and with tour buses in high season, so it can be busy and slow, and early morning is the time. At the north end, the road to Cap de Formentor, a narrow ribbon cut into cliffs above the sea, is a classic, though it is crowded in summer.

   The town has everything: fuel, supermarkets, banks and restaurants, and Port de Pollença, a short ride away, has a seafront promenade. Alcúdia, the other main town nearby, has an old walled center. The best months are April, May and October, with mild weather and fewer visitors. In summer the heat is fierce by midday and the traffic heavy, while in winter, rain and rockfall can affect mountain roads. Watch for loose gravel on corners and for cyclists on the bends.

2. Soller stop

   Sóller lies in a basin of orange and lemon trees, enclosed by the highest peaks of the Serra de Tramuntana, and it is the nearest thing in Mallorca to a green bowl. For centuries the only way in or out was a mountain pass or a boat, and the isolation made the valley rich and strange. Local merchants sold oranges to France and returned with money and ideas, and some of the town's buildings show it, including a modernista church front and a bank in a style borrowed from Barcelona. The old wooden train from Palma, which opened in 1912, still runs through tunnels and viaducts to the station in the middle of town, and a small tram carries passengers down to the harbour at Port de Sóller.

   For motorcyclists, the road to Sóller is one of the great pleasures of the island. The old road over the pass, the Coll de Sóller, climbs in a long series of hairpins through olives and pines, with views down to the sea, and it is a lovely, demanding ride. Since the late 1990s, a toll tunnel has offered a quicker route under the mountain, and traffic has thinned on the old road accordingly. From Sóller, the Ma-10 runs north-east along the spine of the range, through Fornalutx, a village of stone and green shutters that is often called one of the prettiest in Spain, and on towards Lluc and the northern coast.

   The Tramuntana was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 as a cultural landscape, because of the centuries of terracing and water management that shaped the slopes. You can see the stone terraces from the road, rising in steps above the town. Spring is the most beautiful time, with almond blossom early and wild flowers later, though cyclists crowd the roads then, so ride with care. Summer brings heavy tourist traffic, particularly on the coast road, and the best hours are early morning and evening.

   With almost fourteen thousand people, Sóller has fuel and every kind of food. Order the freshly squeezed orange juice, which is made from the local fruit, and a sweet ensaïmada, the spiral pastry that is the island's emblem. A leisurely coffee on the square, beneath the church, is a good place to rest between passes.

3. Andratx finish

   Andratx is the south-western gateway to Mallorca's Serra de Tramuntana, the mountain range that runs like a spine along the island's north-western coast, and the start of the Ma-10, the island's most famous road. The town is a quiet inland place of about twelve thousand people, with a church fortified against pirates, narrow lanes and a lively Wednesday market, and the sea is a few kilometres away at Port d'Andratx, a smart harbour lined with restaurants and yachts.

   The Tramuntana was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2011 as a cultural landscape, because for centuries farmers have shaped the steep slopes into terraces of olive and almond, held up by dry-stone walls, and watered by an ingenious system of channels. The mountains rise to over 1,400 metres, and the coast is a rugged line of cliffs and small coves. The road to the north-east passes the villages of Estellencs and Banyalbufar, whose terraces drop to the sea, and Deià, a village that has long attracted artists and writers. Valldemossa, with its Carthusian monastery, is where Frédéric Chopin and George Sand spent the winter of 1838 and 1839, an unhappy stay that nevertheless produced much of his music.

   The Ma-10 is one of the great motorcycle roads of Europe, a ribbon of bends, tunnels and hairpins cut into the slope, with fine views over the Mediterranean. It is also very popular with cyclists, tour buses and rental cars, particularly in spring and summer, and overtaking is difficult. Surface is generally good, though some stretches are rough, and the road is narrow, with a few tight tunnels. In winter and early spring, it is much quieter, and the light on the sea is very clear.

   Fuel is easy in Andratx and Port d'Andratx, and less so on the mountain road, so fill up before leaving. Cafes and restaurants line the harbour, serving fresh fish, paella and the local ensaïmada pastry. Camp de Mar, a small resort a few kilometres away, has a sheltered beach.

   The best months for riding are April, May, June, September and October, when the days are mild and the crowds thinner.

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