Alcudia / Pollenca

dormer88

Hi,

I am looking to go to Mallorca in late May.

I am undecided on either staying in Alcudia or Pollenca (I have car hire), through previous experiences, which would you recommend?

I've stayed further south before and fancy a change.

Any hotel recommendations would also be great.


Cheers

Solis

Porto Pollenca or Pollenca, Alcudia is no fun getting into or out of on a bike.
If you want a cycling orientated hotel would look at Duva.

wiznaeme

Porto Pollença has plentiful supply of bikes for hire, great routes, and tolerant motorists. Careful that the car hire people don’t supply a damaged car. Have a good time 8)

napoleond

Have a look at Port de Soller too. Stayed there last April and going again this April. Beautiful.
Alcudia is indeed no fun to navigate. I stayed in C’an Picafort last August and riding through Alcudia was like Blackpool rush hour. The main drag from Alcudia to C’an Picafort is horrendous, there was a high speed head on car crash a couple of minutes earlier on one of the rides.

sh3p

Stayed in Alcudia in October ..and when i go back it will be to Porta Pollenca or Pollenca....although I did enjoy the ride from Alcudia to Porta Pollenca .

crescent

Not trying to be pedantic, but Pollensa is different to Porto Pollensa, it is a few miles inland - Soller and Port de Soller is the same. Not a big issue but worth pointing out if you don’t know the area and want somewhere on the coast. I’d agree with the above, the main road through Alcudia is not pleasant to cycle on, it is very busy, seemingly all day. I’ve had great non-cycling holidays in both resorts but would definitely prefer PdP for a cycling based holiday, it just feels like it’s more of a hub for cyclists. I stayed in Port de Soller last year and it is a lovely place and we had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday but when we travelled through to Port de Pollensa for the day I felt a bit of regret that we weren’t staying there again. In Port de Soller you have almost instant access to Puig Major and Col de Soller as well as some smaller climbs towards Deia and Valdemossa. Basically, you will have to go up a fairly sizeable climb to leave PdS regardless of which direction you go, sometimes I just fancied an easier start to the ride which isn’t really possible. You can also get a boat round to Sa Calobra and cycle back to Port de Soller if you fancy a change. We stayed in the Eden Nord hotel in Port de Soller and the Daina Hotel in Port de Pollensa, both were nice hotels and had great facilities for cyclists - secure storage rooms, tools, pumps, work stands, laundry facilities for cycling kit etc.

dormer88

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the replies, much appreciated.

I've been fortunate enough to stay further south so looking forward to spending time in the north and the bigger mountains.

Crescent, I'm also looking at Daina hotel, is there anything to be aware of? I'll be doing some work while away, is wifi in the rooms ok?

mrb123

Neither - Port de Soller would be my preference.

crescent

dormer88 wrote:

Crescent, I'm also looking at Daina hotel, is there anything to be aware of? I'll be doing some work while away, is wifi in the rooms ok?

As far as I can remember the WiFi was fine, I don’t remember speed or bandwidth being an issue and it was sufficient to watch the Giro on Eurosport Player and FaceTime the kids to make sure the house was still in one piece. The Daina also has a lovely saltwater swimming pool and bar area on the pine walk/promenade at the front of the hotel which was very pleasant for easing tired legs and blowing the froth off a few cold ones after the day’s exertions on the bike. They have apartments as well, these are located in the street behind the hotel, we stayed there in 2012 when they had just been refurbished and they were spot on if self catering is more your cup of tea. You still have access to all the hotel facilities when staying there. The bike storage area is located under the apartment building and in 2012 it was pretty poor, very lax security and basically just a basement full of junk with some bike hooks on the wall. We went back in 2016 and it had been converted into a proper bike garage - lockable bike hooks, door entry system, tools, water, pumps, washing machine etc, a really excellent facility.

napoleond

Crescent wrote:

Not trying to be pedantic, but Pollensa is different to Porto Pollensa, it is a few miles inland - Soller and Port de Soller is the same. Not a big issue but worth pointing out if you don’t know the area and want somewhere on the coast. I’d agree with the above, the main road through Alcudia is not pleasant to cycle on, it is very busy, seemingly all day. I’ve had great non-cycling holidays in both resorts but would definitely prefer PdP for a cycling based holiday, it just feels like it’s more of a hub for cyclists. I stayed in Port de Soller last year and it is a lovely place and we had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday but when we travelled through to Port de Pollensa for the day I felt a bit of regret that we weren’t staying there again. In Port de Soller you have almost instant access to Puig Major and Col de Soller as well as some smaller climbs towards Deia and Valdemossa. Basically, you will have to go up a fairly sizeable climb to leave PdS regardless of which direction you go, sometimes I just fancied an easier start to the ride which isn’t really possible. You can also get a boat round to Sa Calobra and cycle back to Port de Soller if you fancy a change. We stayed in the Eden Nord hotel in Port de Soller and the Daina Hotel in Port de Pollensa, both were nice hotels and had great facilities for cyclists - secure storage rooms, tools, pumps, work stands, laundry facilities for cycling kit etc.

Not meaning to be pedantic but Soller and Port de Soller are different

Soller a beautiful old town 4-5km inland of Port de Soller. However, either are perfectly situated IMO. Easy to get to from Palma too.

cld531c

We've booked to stay just outside Alcudia to the left (near where MA17 intersects MA2201). Never been before so any route suggestions? Preferably circa 30 miles as not to offend the OH :-)

crescent

NapoleonD wrote:

Not meaning to be pedantic but Soller and Port de Soller are different

Soller a beautiful old town 4-5km inland of Port de Soller. However, either are perfectly situated IMO. Easy to get to from Palma too.

Ha ha, yes, I see what you are getting at. I didn't word that very well. What I meant was Port de Pollensa and Port de Soller are a few miles inland from Pollensa and Soller respectively, not that Port de Soller and Soller were the same place. I agree, Soller is lovely and well worth visiting, the tram journey is very pleasant between the town and the Port.

Solis

Crescent wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

Not meaning to be pedantic but Soller and Port de Soller are different

Soller a beautiful old town 4-5km inland of Port de Soller. However, either are perfectly situated IMO. Easy to get to from Palma too.

Ha ha, yes, I see what you are getting at. I didn't word that very well. What I meant was Port de Pollensa and Port de Soller are a few miles inland from Pollensa and Soller respectively, not that Port de Soller and Soller were the same place. I agree, Soller is lovely and well worth visiting, the tram journey is very pleasant between the town and the Port.

Not meaning to be pedantic but Pollensa and Sollier are inland from the Ports as opposed to the other way round

napoleond

Lol

Heh, either way, it’s gorgeous there

crescent

Solis wrote:

Crescent wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

Not meaning to be pedantic but Soller and Port de Soller are different

Soller a beautiful old town 4-5km inland of Port de Soller. However, either are perfectly situated IMO. Easy to get to from Palma too.

Ha ha, yes, I see what you are getting at. I didn't word that very well. What I meant was Port de Pollensa and Port de Soller are a few miles inland from Pollensa and Soller respectively, not that Port de Soller and Soller were the same place. I agree, Soller is lovely and well worth visiting, the tram journey is very pleasant between the town and the Port.

Not meaning to be pedantic but Pollensa and Sollier are inland from the Ports as opposed to the other way round

Ha ha, I’m overthinking it. All four places are lovely..........

To put an end to the pedantry, I’ll let you away with Sollier and assume it was a typo

Solis

Crescent wrote:

Solis wrote:

Crescent wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

Not meaning to be pedantic but Soller and Port de Soller are different

Soller a beautiful old town 4-5km inland of Port de Soller. However, either are perfectly situated IMO. Easy to get to from Palma too.

Ha ha, yes, I see what you are getting at. I didn't word that very well. What I meant was Port de Pollensa and Port de Soller are a few miles inland from Pollensa and Soller respectively, not that Port de Soller and Soller were the same place. I agree, Soller is lovely and well worth visiting, the tram journey is very pleasant between the town and the Port.

Not meaning to be pedantic but Pollensa and Sollier are inland from the Ports as opposed to the other way round

Ha ha, I’m overthinking it. All four places are lovely..........

To put an end to the pedantry, I’ll let you away with Sollier and assume it was a typo

dormer88

Crescent wrote:

dormer88 wrote:

Crescent, I'm also looking at Daina hotel, is there anything to be aware of? I'll be doing some work while away, is wifi in the rooms ok?

As far as I can remember the WiFi was fine, I don’t remember speed or bandwidth being an issue and it was sufficient to watch the Giro on Eurosport Player and FaceTime the kids to make sure the house was still in one piece. The Daina also has a lovely saltwater swimming pool and bar area on the pine walk/promenade at the front of the hotel which was very pleasant for easing tired legs and blowing the froth off a few cold ones after the day’s exertions on the bike. They have apartments as well, these are located in the street behind the hotel, we stayed there in 2012 when they had just been refurbished and they were spot on if self catering is more your cup of tea. You still have access to all the hotel facilities when staying there. The bike storage area is located under the apartment building and in 2012 it was pretty poor, very lax security and basically just a basement full of junk with some bike hooks on the wall. We went back in 2016 and it had been converted into a proper bike garage - lockable bike hooks, door entry system, tools, water, pumps, washing machine etc, a really excellent facility.

Thanks for this, much appreciated. Looking at the reviews as well it seems a pretty good option.

What is parking like around Pollenca? I won't be using the car a great deal but am hoping it isn't too much trouble.

crescent

I’m pretty sure the Daina does not have a car park and, from what I can remember, there is only street parking available. I might be wrong, I rarely hire a car so can’t really say I noticed what the parking was like.

twotoebenny

theres a decent car park a few streets back near the school, never had any problems parking nearby.

mamba80

Hotel Hoposa Uyal is a fantastic hotel, sea front, parking, great wifi, secure bike storage and tools, lovely food too.

Another hotel we ve used, considerable cheaper too, is Habitat Apartments, parking, bikes in the room, the fixed menu was surprisingly very good, 10min walk to the seafront, wifi last year was dodgy in our room but great any where else, ask for pool view room.

Both hotels are outside of the main centre, which could be good or bad....

Solis

Parking and hotel location no real worry late May, the cyclist onslaught will have died down and the holiday makers are only just starting to arrive.

jongooligan

cld531c wrote:

We've booked to stay just outside Alcudia to the left (near where MA17 intersects MA2201). Never been before so any route suggestions? Preferably circa 30 miles as not to offend the OH :-)

Stayed at Alcudia Beach Hotel last September so all our rides started on that busy road between Alcudia and Can Picafort. Got to say I didn't find it a problem at all and there were lots of cyclists using it.

As for routes, there's a huge area of flat land to the SW of Alcudia with some really good routes to a number of inland towns and villages. Many of the villages are on small but steep hills overlooking the plain so make excellent viewpoints. Muro is a good spot for cyclists with bars & cafes in the square all with huge cycle racks outside.

The mountains are a bit out of reach if you're going to stick to <30miles, which is a shame as they are stunningly beautiful.

Go to any bike shop (we used Bicimed) and pick up a copy of the Mallorca cycle map. All the quiet roads are marked in green and they are generally the most scenic routes. It's printed on waterproof paper so won't disintegrate if it gets sweaty. You may be able to order it from http://www.mallorcabike.info before you go.

crescent

The lighthouse at Cap Formentor is about a 25 mile round trip from Port de Pollensa (add another few miles each way from Alcudia) and has a decent climb as you leave PdP (and come back up the other side). It is a beautiful route, especially early in the morning. The top of Col de Femenie (the road that takes you out towards Lluc) is also about a 25-30 mile round trip with a good climb out and a great descent back towards Pollensa.

twotoebenny

The stock answer to this is out to selva/caimari up the col de Sa batalla turn right after garage and descend the Femenia before returning to Alcudia.

Plenty of nice wee loops out to Petra, Muro, Sineu (outdoor velodrome) and dozens of other lovely wee towns.

sh3p

TwoToeBenny wrote:

The stock answer to this is out to selva/caimari up the col de Sa batalla turn right after garage and descend the Femenia before returning to Alcudia.

Loved that loop

durhamwasp

Spent a week cycling in Mallorca a couple of Easter's ago and stayed in Alcudia. Found the ride to Port de Pollenca no problem at all, and Alcudia was good for restaurants and a few beers afterwards.

Flew with Jet2, found cheap accommodation online and hired high spec bikes with Max Hurzerler, think it all came in at less than £300. Hoping i'll be back early 2019.

Heres a report I wrote... https://snookcycling.wordpress.com/mallorca/

napoleond

TwoToeBenny wrote:

The stock answer to this is out to selva/caimari up the col de Sa batalla turn right after garage and descend the Femenia before returning to Alcudia.

Plenty of nice wee loops out to Petra, Muro, Sineu (outdoor velodrome) and dozens of other lovely wee towns.

My fave climb on the island.

twotoebenny

NapoleonD wrote:

TwoToeBenny wrote:

The stock answer to this is out to selva/caimari up the col de Sa batalla turn right after garage and descend the Femenia before returning to Alcudia.

Plenty of nice wee loops out to Petra, Muro, Sineu (outdoor velodrome) and dozens of other lovely wee towns.

My fave climb on the island.

Sa Batalla? Mine too...

cld531c

Thanks all - will take a look
May even manage to sneak out for longer :-)