Serra de Tramuntana
Ninety kilometres of mountain above the sea, and listed dry-stone terraces.
Duration
5 hrs – 10 hrs
Difficulty
●●●○○
Best time
In April or October
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The Tramuntana runs ninety kilometres along Mallorca's north-west coast and tops out at one thousand four hundred and forty-five metres. It is World Heritage listed not for its relief but for its engineering: centuries of dry-stone terraces, channels and cisterns built by the Moors and maintained since, which made a waterless limestone mountain farmable.
The GR 221, the dry-stone route, crosses it in eight stages from refuge to refuge. The coast road between Andratx and Pollença strings together bends above cliffs hundreds of metres high, and the narrow-gauge train of 1912 climbs from Palma to Sóller through thirteen hand-cut tunnels.
Getting there
Historic train from Palma to Sóller, one hour. By car, the Ma-10 crosses the whole range from Andratx to Pollença.
Rules on site
The Ma-10 is narrow, without a barrier for long stretches, and heavily used by cyclists from February to May: it is driven slowly. The GR 221 refuges are booked weeks ahead.
