Why this ride
From Maó it runs 228 km to Maó; allow about 4 h 14 of riding. On the way it passes C3: Western Migjorn area, C9: North-West area of Tramuntana, Talayotic Menorca and back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
C7: South-east area-Maó and Talayotic Menorca
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 228 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 14
- 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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. C7: South-east area-Maó
Menorca is the quieter of the Balearic islands, and Maó, at the eastern end, is its capital and main port. It sits on one of the longest natural harbours in the Mediterranean, a deep inlet that has been fought over by Britons, French and Spanish and that has left the town with Georgian sash windows next to Catalan balconies. The island itself is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and the south-east, around Maó and Sant Lluís, is where its prehistoric remains are most thickly spread.
Read the complete C7: South-east area-Maó write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
C7: South-east area-Maó is where the day begins. Next is C3: Western Migjorn area.
2. 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 comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is C9: North-West area of Tramuntana.
3. C9: North-West area of Tramuntana
Menorca is the quieter of the Balearic islands, and its prehistoric heritage is the reason it appears on the UNESCO list as Talayotic Menorca, inscribed in 2023. From around the second millennium BC until the Roman conquest, the island's people built massive stone towers called talayots, T-shaped stone altars known as taulas, and burial monuments shaped like upturned boats, the navetas. They did it on an astonishing scale for an island of this size, and the stone ruins lie everywhere, in fields and pine woods.
Read the complete C9: North-West area of Tramuntana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach C9: North-West area of Tramuntana. Next is Talayotic Menorca.
4. 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
Talayotic Menorca, about halfway. Next is back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana.
5. back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete C9: North-West area of Tramuntana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through C3: Western Migjorn area.
6. back through C3: Western Migjorn area
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through C3: Western Migjorn area comes up about 199 km into the recorded legs. Next is C7: South-east area-Maó.
7. C7: South-east area-Maó
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete C7: South-east area-Maó write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
C7: South-east area-Maó closes the day.
Leg by leg
C7: South-east area-Maó to C3: Western Migjorn area
C7: South-east area-Maó → C3: Western Migjorn area is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
C3: Western Migjorn area to C9: North-West area of Tramuntana
C3: Western Migjorn area → C9: North-West area of Tramuntana is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
C9: North-West area of Tramuntana to Talayotic Menorca
C9: North-West area of Tramuntana → Talayotic Menorca is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Talayotic Menorca to back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana
Talayotic Menorca → back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana to back through C3: Western Migjorn area
back through C9: North-West area of Tramuntana → back through C3: Western Migjorn area is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through C3: Western Migjorn area to C7: South-east area-Maó
back through C3: Western Migjorn area → C7: South-east area-Maó is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.