Cycling in Mallorca: Tramuntana Routes, Café Stops and What to Have in the Villa

Mallorca is the best road cycling island in Europe and it is not close. Around 150,000 to 200,000 cycle tourists come every year, the WorldTour teams run their winter camps here, and the Serra de Tramuntana gives you alpine climbs with a sea view about forty minutes from the airport. If you are planning a week here with a group, this is a guide to the routes worth building the trip around, where the cafe stops are, and how to sort the food side so nobody is hunting for a banana at seven in the morning. You will see Sóller written as Soller and Pollença as Pollensa or Pollenca depending on the listing; they are the same places.

The short version

Route	Roughly	What it is	Base it from
Sa Calobra	10km climb, around 7% average	The famous one. Down to the sea, then back up 26 hairpins and the tie-knot bend	Sóller, Pollensa, Alcudia
Puig Major	14km from Soller	The long steady one, up to the tunnel. The island's biggest sustained climb	Sóller, Port de Sóller
Coll de Sóller (Coll de Soller)	7km of hairpins	The old road over the mountain, now quiet since the tunnel took the traffic	Soller, Bunyola
Cap de Formentor	20km each way	Rolling coast road to the lighthouse. Wind is the difficulty, not the gradient	Port de Pollença
The MA-10 coast road	Valldemossa to Andratx	Cliffside road through Banyalbufar and Estellencs. The prettiest riding on the island	Valldemossa, Deia, Andratx
Sa Batalla and Lluc	8km steady	The classic Pollensa loop climb, gentler than most and beautiful	Pollensa, Alcudia

When to come

The season runs from February to May, and that is not a soft preference. February and March bring the pro teams and the almond blossom, with cool starts around 12 degrees and empty roads. April and May are the peak, warm and busy, and the Mallorca 312 sportive in late April fills the north entirely; it sells out in seconds and puts thousands of riders on the roads that weekend. June is still good if you start early. July and August are too hot for proper training unless you are out by six. October is quietly the best-kept secret, still warm, sea warm enough to swim after a ride, and a fraction of the traffic.

Local tip: in April and May, be on Sa Calobra or Formentor before nine. You will have the road to yourself and be back at the café before the late starters are queueing at the bottom of the climb.

Where to base yourself

Three areas do most of the work, and which you pick changes the riding more than anything else.

The north, around Port de Pollença, Alcudia and Playa de Muro. This is the cycling capital of the island and the base for the 312. Flat roads out of the door for warm-ups, Formentor on your doorstep, and Sa Batalla, Lluc and Sa Calobra all reachable on a normal day ride. The infrastructure is built for it, with bike garages, workshops and shops that stock proper spares. If it is your first trip, base here.

Soller and the Tramuntana. You wake up inside the mountains. Puig Major and the Coll de Sóller start essentially from the door, and Sa Calobra is a reasonable ride out. The trade is that everything begins with a climb, there is no flat recovery spin, and the villages are small. Best for a strong group that wants altitude every day.

The southwest, around Andratx and Calvia. Quieter than the north and the gateway to the MA-10 coast road, which is the most spectacular stretch of tarmac on the island. Good if you want scenery over sportive-style training, and handy if half the group is not riding.

Renting a villa as a group

Most groups of four to eight take a villa rather than a hotel, and it usually works out better: somewhere to store the bikes, a kitchen for proper breakfasts, a terrace for the afternoon, and no set dinner time when the ride runs long. The catch is the bit nobody plans for.

Villas sit up in the hills or down long lanes, not next to a supermarket. Spanish shops open around nine, which is after you want to be rolling out. If your ride starts at seven and you have not sorted food the night before, you are leaving with nothing in your pockets, or you are burning your first morning driving to a Mercadona instead of riding. On a week-long trip with a group, that is a real loss.

The things that catch people out, in order: ride food for day one, because nothing is open before you leave; enough water for six people who each drink three litres a day; and real breakfast, since a café con leche and an ensaimada will not get you over Puig Major.

What to have in the villa

Work backwards from the first ride. You want jersey-pocket food ready the night before, breakfast that is actually breakfast, and enough in the fridge that nobody has to shop on a rest day.

Prep'd does a pack built for exactly this. The Climb is €65 and covers a day's riding: bananas, energy gels, energy bars, isotonic sachets, raw mixed nuts, a bag of Mallorcan Quelitas for the café stop, and sport sunscreen, because the sun on Sa Calobra will find you. You can add CO2 cartridges, inner tubes, chamois cream or a bottle if you did not travel with your own.

For a group, Build Your Own usually makes more sense. You pick the items yourself from the full range, with a €50 minimum and no limit on how much you add, so you can order six days of gels, a crate of water and a proper breakfast shop in one go rather than working around a fixed pack. It is the option most people take. Pair it with The Sunrise at €120 if you want a week of breakfast handled, or The Cellar at €90 for the evenings, because the second half of a cycling holiday is sitting on a terrace lying about your times.

We time the delivery to your arrival, with your drinks chilled, and where the property gives us access before check-in everything goes inside and into the fridge. So you land, build the bikes, and ride in the morning. You can see it all on the shop page.

Practical things worth knowing

Bike hire is easy, and booking early matters. The island is full of good rental outfits and most will deliver to the villa. In March and April the decent bikes go early, so book when you book the flights.

The roads are shared, and locals notice. There has been friction lately about groups riding two abreast on narrow Tramuntana roads, with complaints about traffic backing up around Banyalbufar. Single out on the tight stuff and let cars past on the climbs. It costs nothing and it is the reason the island stays welcoming.

Cafe stops are part of the culture. Pollensa, Soller, Lluc and the bottom of Sa Calobra all have places set up for riders. Carry a bit of cash; not everywhere takes a card.

Descend carefully in the wet. The Tramuntana roads have polished surfaces in places and the hairpins on the Coll de Sóller are unforgiving after rain.

Frequently asked questions

When is the cycling season in Mallorca?

February to May, with April and May busiest. February and March bring the pro training camps, cool mornings and quiet roads. June is fine with early starts, July and August are too hot for training, and October is excellent and much quieter.

What are the best cycling routes in the Tramuntana?

Sa Calobra for the famous hairpins, Puig Major for the longest sustained climb, the Coll de Soller for the old hairpin road, and the MA-10 coast road through Valldemossa, Banyalbufar and Estellencs for the best scenery. Cap de Formentor and the Sa Batalla climb to Lluc are the classics from the north.

Where should a cycling group stay in Mallorca?

Port de Pollença (Port de Pollensa), Alcudia and Playa de Muro in the north are the cycling hub and the easiest first choice. Soller puts you inside the mountains if your group is strong. Andratx and Calvia in the southwest are quieter, with the coast road on your doorstep.

Can I get ride food delivered to a villa in Mallorca?

Yes. Prep'd's Climb pack is €65 and covers a day's riding with gels, bars, bananas, isotonic sachets and sport sunscreen, plus optional CO2, tubes and chamois cream. Build Your Own starts at €50 if you would rather choose the items and quantities yourself, which suits a group ordering for a whole week.

What is the Mallorca 312?

A sportive held in late April, starting and finishing in Playa de Muro, with 312km, 225km and 167km options. It has grown from 200 riders to around 8,500 and sells out within seconds of entries opening. If you are not riding it, expect the north to be full and the roads busy that weekend.

Do you only deliver to villas, or to fincas and apartments too?

Any holiday rental. Villas, fincas, apartments, townhouses and holiday homes booked through Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo or an agency are all the same to us. Rural fincas are some of our most common deliveries, because they are usually furthest from a supermarket.

Staying in the mountains? See our guide to shops around Sóller and the Tramuntana. Based in the north? See Pollensa and Alcudia. Or read the full guide to pre-arrival grocery delivery in Mallorca.