Olive groves, hidden gorges, panoramic views and the most beautiful mountain villages of the island: a charming long-distance hiking trail leads away from mass tourism across Mallorca's wild Tramuntana mountains.
Seems like a stroll, but it isn't
In Spring, before the sun really burns over Mallorca is the best time to discover the island, which is known for beaches, discos and alcohol abuse. The best way to do that is with hiking boots firmly laced. Follow me all the way to the other side of a well known and complete unknown isle.
Mallorca is well known, but it isn't
Across the Tramuntana Mountains leads the picturesque long-distance hiking trail GR 221, the so-called Trans Tramuntana Tour. It is almost 150 kilometers from Port d'Andratx in the southwest to the extreme northwest to Port de Pollença. We set off on our stockings and grabbed our hiking boots to see the unknown side of the party isle.
Walking in the morning through Andratx
Deep down in the southwest
The tour starts in Andratx deep down in the southwest. The small town, in its present form is mentioned for the first time in 1236 documentarily, is the starting point of an island crossing. From one side to the other, all along the mountain chain named Tramuntana.
The paths are mostly private, but you can go along. If you find them ;-)
In the Middle Ages, the town was repeatedly raided by North African pirates. Today, below the remains of the former monastery of La Trapa, 270 meters above sea level, lies a center of Mallorcan tourism. More noble than at the Ballermann in Palma people lie here in the sun and sat in the Cafè. No loud music. No disco beats.
Fences are equiped with ledders to climb
On an old road
But we walk on the old road out of the village in the direction of Estellencs. Just a little later, every hiker would be lost for the first time without a local guide: We turn sharp right onto a narrow, overgrown path. Right through the undergrowth, which has grown in winter, while no hikers have bothered nature.
My old hiking watch, made in 2005. After the summit we're back on 400 meters altitude
It's an insider thing: A hike in Mallorca seems like a very easy thing. But it isn't. It's more a puzzle with mother nature, you have always look for the right path, climp over ledders and ask your guide where the way has gone lost.
The summit from down under
Shortly after the marina, the path already loses itself in hilly pine forests. The view is magnificent, falling on the former fishing village of Sant Elm and the "dragon island" of Sa Dragonera in front of it. Through pine forests it then goes steeply uphill again. At the farm "Ses Alquerioles" begins the steep climb to the summit of S'Esclop.
The sea from above
High on 928 meters
May some laugh about Mallorca as a mountain hiking area: It goes up to 928 meters. But! Because we are coming from sea level in the bottom, this is quite far and quite steep to walk. Not a stroll as we have thinked before our start. For the rest of the day, the panoramic views of the rugged west coast of Mallorca provide enthusiasm. At the Mirador d'en Josep Sastre viewpoint, the cliff drops dramatically 450 meters into the blue sea. The horizon is wide, the sky is blue too. Green trees and grey stones. A perfect view.
Hiking under nice trees
The landscape offers a variety of views. Over paths peppered with boulders, it goes up, in the middle of almond tree forests. There are about seven million almond trees in Mallorca today, and hundreds of thousands adorn fields and mountainsides on the west coast.
Looks like a painting
Under wild growing trees
These are not plantations, but wild-growing trees that offer a magnificent spectacle of color when they bloom between the end of January and the beginning of March. The bitter almond trees have pink blossoms, the sweet almond trees white. Depending on the region, they bloom with a time lag, but the sight is always intoxicating.
Sheeps are allway with us
Passing the blossoming almond trees, the orange trees and imaginatively grown olive trees, we finally climb up serpentine paths into the unknown.At the top, we are offered the first beautiful distant view of the southwest of Mallorca and over to the neighboring mountain Galatzó.
Having a break
Slowly hiking towards
Down at the foot of the mountain lies our stage destination, the mountain village of Estellencs, which we slowly hike towards after an extensive rest in blazing sun on a broad, barren ridge. The last stretch of the trail runs for about an hour through dense holm oak forest and olive groves.
Downwards
How nice it is to sweat outdoors again after a long winter. Especially in the first months of the year, when in Germany the winter still has the country fully in its grip, spring is already moving in here with pleasant temperatures, a wonderful splendor of flowers and Mediterranean scents.
Upwards
For example, the peculiar scent of the "asphodel" can only be experienced in spring, as the plant withers in summer. When we arrive at the Hotel Maristel, we too are parched. Quick, a beer! Tomorrow it goes already further.
Down, down, down
Thank you for reading and if you like my work please follow me on Hive, Travelfeed or Steem or visit my homepage koenau.de
A few more pictures for you:
The goal of the day Estellencs
A lonely building in the mountains
The summit
I have some friends who moved to Mallorca last year but had no idea what awesomeness they have so close to them! I'd love hiking there one day ☺️
It is wonderful to be able to walk through the trails and be able to see the beauty of these mountains 😍
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Discord Server.This post has been manually curated by @bhattg from Indiaunited community. Join us on our
Do you know that you can earn a passive income by delegating to @indiaunited. We share 100 % of the curation rewards with the delegators.
Here are some handy links for delegations: 100HP, 250HP, 500HP, 1000HP.
Read our latest announcement post to get more information.
Please contribute to the community by upvoting this comment and posts made by @indiaunited.
Thank you!
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Daily Travel Digest #1541.
Become part of our travel community:
- Join our Discord
- Learn more about our travel application
Hiya, @choogirl here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!Amazing nature
Congratulations @koenau! You received the biggest smile and some love from TravelFeed! Keep up the amazing blog. 😍 Your post was also chosen as top pick of the day and is now featured on the TravelFeed.io front page.
Thanks for using TravelFeed!
@smeralda (TravelFeed team)
PS: You can now search for your travels on-the-go with our Android App. Download it on Google Play
Haven’t been to Mallorca yet but it seems like I should visit it one day.
The scenery is impressive.Beautiful hike @koenau 😊
You should try it. It's worth the trip
Posted via D.Buzz
Not that far from south Spain where I live… hehehe 😉
Congratulations @koenau! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 2250 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Hi @koenau, your post has been upvoted by @bdcommunity courtesy of @rehan12!
Support us by voting as a Hive Witness and/or by delegating HIVE POWER.
JOIN US ON
beautiful landscape