GR221-A week Hiking on Mallorca

Start of March I looked at some hikes, which I would like to hike this year. One of them was the GR221 on Mallorca. Because I didn’t want to do this hike in summer, I decided I will do it at the end of March when the temperatures are still nice.

Because this trip was a little spontaneus, I couldn’t book the “Refugios”(Mountain huts/Hostels) in advance. So I decided that I will wildcamp most nights.

I arrived in Palma de Mallorca in the evening and took the bus to my hotel in Port d’Andratx, the town were the GR221 starts.

Day 1 (25,6 km / 15,9 mi, 1450m / 4800 ft elevation gain)

I started my hike in Port d’Andratx with good weather and some nice views of the mountains and the city Andratx. I did a small stop at the beach in Sant Elm and bought some food for the evening. After that I continued to hike up the hill to the old monastry La Trapa. Because it was a little bit crowded there, I hiked a little bit further until I had a beautiful view of the mountains at the coast. I sat down and read some chapters in my book. Next I headed down into the valley again and I was walking through different fields and tree plantages. From my next reading spot, right after hiking up again, I had a beautiful view over the valley. I just hiked a little bit further and found a great camping spot with a nice view of the sunset. Because I was camping on a mountain, the temperatures in the night were unexpected cold. (3°C/37°F)

Day 2 (25,2 km/ 15,6 mi, 620m / 2000 ft)

After opening my tent in the morning I could not see anything because I was in the clouds. I had some rain in the night and while packing up, I saw dark clouds coming from the ocean. While hiking down I was speeding up a little bit, because I wanted to be in the next town before the rain. But the rain started about 30 minutes before I could reach the town. While I was waiting in Estellencs until the rain stopped, I bought a little bit of food and water for the day. After that I continued through a beautiful forest and had a small lunch break in Banyalbufar. On the next part of the hike there were some beautiful drystonewalls. One of the things this hike is famous for. When I arrived in Esporles, I decided that I will stay a night in a hostel.

Day 3 (27,4 km/ 17 mi, 1400m/ 4600 ft)

I had a nice breakfast in Esporles and the day started with some very good weather. While hiking over the hill to Valldemossa I had wonderful views over the fields to the ocean. Here I got some very tasty avocado sandwiches, which were a great lunch. After Valldemossa I had to hike up again. Sometimes I was hiking in the clouds and just one moment later I got nice views. Before the steep downhill I could enjoy the view to Palma and the southern part of the Island. I got some water in Deià and continued a little bit until I found a nice camping spot with a nice view on the the sunset.

Day 4 (25,3 km/ 15,7 mi, 1000m / 3300 ft)

In the morning today I got nice views over the ocean. When I checked the weather forecast my mood changed a little bit. Because it should start to rain 1 hour, I wanted to be in the next city fast. The rain started right while I was hiking into Sóller. I drank a coffee and had a nice breakfast there while waiting until the weather was getting better. In the cafe I had to notice that my powerbank didn’t work. Because they had no outlets there, I had to switch places. I found a nice bar where I could charge my phone. I talked there with another hiker, who also planned to camp at the “Cúber lake”. I was hiking up the mountain and we met again at the lake. In the evening we decided that we take a small swim in the lake to cool down after a sunny afternoon. We set up camp together near the lake.

Day 5 (18,7 km/ 11,6 mi, 950m / 3100 ft)

The day started cloudy, but after 1-2 hours the sun came out. After the first uphill we did had a good sight of the highest mountain of Mallorca, the “Puig Mayor”. We continued down to the refugio Tossal Verds, before we had to climb up to the second highest mountain. We decided not to get to the peak, because there were a lot of dark clouds and some raindrops hit us. After hiking down from the mountains again, we arrived at the old monastry Lluc. There is a campsite here, where you are allowed to set up your tent for a small fee. We met three other hikers here. Together we had a nice dinner in the restaurant.

Day 6 (19,7 km/ 12,2 mi, 250m/ 800 ft)

The next day 4 of us hiked together to Pollença. The first kilometers were on a nice forest path. After that we were hiking next to a small creek. The last part was just next to the road until we arrived in the town. We ended our hike at a small bakery, where we could have some coffee and cake. One of us (Tobi) had to leave here, because he had to be in Palma again in the evening. The rest of us took the bus to Port d’Pollença. The official endpoint of the GR221. The part between Pollença and Port d’Pollença is just walking next to the road, thats why we decided we skip that part.

Stats:

Distance: 142 km(88 mi)

Elevation gain: 5610 m(18405 ft)