A Day Trip to....Beyond Alcudia to the Victoria Peninsula

The blog I wrote prior to this one was about taking a bus for a day trip to Alcudia.  Right next door to Alcudia is the amazing Victoria peninsula.  There are two large peninsulas that jut out from the northeastern corner of Mallorca...Formentor and Victoria (see map below).  I've toured Forrmentor on my scooter before, and wrote about it here:  Click here to see photos of the Formentor Peninsula

On this day, Febuary 2nd, with sunny skies and temps reaching 72F, I hopped on my trusty scooter at 11:30am and whizzed across the island to explore Victoria.  45 minutes later, I arrived back in Alcudia.  

Like Formentor, there's only one primary road on the entire peninsula.  It's incredible how much territory on both peninsulas are inaccessible.  On Victoria, the road mainly followed the northern slope and always well above the water.  The end of the peninsula is military property which cuts short being able to fully explore the peninsula to the end, unlike Formentor.  The southern slope was not accessible at all, except for some hiking trails I spotted.

Victoria is an excellent location for bicyclists, hikers, and rock climbers.   I ran upon a large property identified as a 'campground' but couldn't tell whether people can actually pitch tents there or not.  The only offshoot road led to a dead end promoted as a mirador (viewpoint) and a restaurant with a large outdoor deck overlooking the the bay and across to Formentor.

Ok, let's get on with the photos and another Raspberry award-winning video!!   Sorry to say, these photos don't do the senses justice.  But, better than nuttin!!!

In this map you can see my path from Palma, across the island to Alcudia, out the Victoria peninsula, back to Alcudia, then down the coast a bit through Port of Alcudia, Playa de Muro, and Can Picafort, then slice back across the island to rejoin my original route back to Palma.  A total of 110 miles.

The Victoria Peninsula

(scroll left/right...hopefully you're not looking at these photos from a tiny cell phone screen!!)

Turning around and looking back towards Alcudia, across the Bay of Pollenca.

At the end of a short off-shoot road was a parking lot, viewpoint, this building (not sure what it is...museum?), and a restaurant.

This snap was taken from the back side of the restaurant (which was closed and inaccessible)

Looking across the Bay of Pollenca to the Formentor peninsula.

Dead End.  

Through that tunnel and to the end of the Victoria peninsula is a designated military zone.

Looking across to the UNESCO Tramuntana mountain range.

In any of the mountainous areas such as Formentor, Victoria, and Tramuntana, you'll see plenty of these guys.
or, are they military spies??

Now for another RIVETING video!!!

I was back home by 5:30pm, after totalling 110 miles for the 6-hour day trip.

Next up... 
You'll have to wait and see!

Dano

A Day Trip to...Alcudia, Mallorca

Alcudia is a town of about 20,000 in the NE part of the island of Mallorca.  It's on the opposite side of the island from where I live in Palma.  I've been there before, on my scooter, but I found out after the fact there was a an old town area within ancient walls.  So, I needed to go back and check it out.

It was a nice day in late January with temps about 65 degrees.  This time I decided to take a 1-hour bus ride from Palma to Alcudia at the cost of $2.75.  The bus stopped directly outside the entrance to the medieval walled old town.  Perfect!!

After I passsed through one of the arched entries of the wall (which was built in the early 14th century though the town existed back to 6th), I immediately walked to the church of St Jaume...but it was closed.  

I decided to wander around the maze of narrow streets lined with centuries-old well-preserved buildings.  Clearly, this was an area of actual homes, businesses, cafes, and small boutique hotels...a village within the walls within a town outside the walls.  But, where was everybody???  It was deader than a doornail!  

I found a cafe that was open and a server was standing in the doorway.  He spoke English.  I asked him why it was so quiet?   He told me it was because of it being low season (winter) and it would be filled with throngs all throughout high season.  I was well aware this occurs in the beach resort villages, but Alcudia seemed like a regular ol' town not solely dependent upon beach tourism.

Let me 'splain something here.  In Mallorca, you'll find many towns and ports with the same name even though they may be separated by miles.  Waaaaaay back when, there were mean ol' pirates that would sail in and pilfer the towns.  So, the locals decided to build their towns inland away from the sea.  Along the coast, lookout towers were constructed and manned to watch for enemies coming in from the sea.  When they spotted such, they would build a fire on top of the tower to send signals to another tower so they could, in turn, warn the townsfolk.  In more modern days, when the towns realized there was tourism value in the beaches, they built ports and marinas and named those areas after the town.  Thus, the inland town is named Alcudia and the seaside area called Port of Alcudia...which eventually became almost a full-blown town of its own.

Now, back to where I left off.

Because the Port of Alcudia...the beach area...was a few miles away, I presumed it would be the dead spot (which it was) during winter, not the inland town.   In the case of Alcudia, the two are so close together they're impacted the same during low and high seasons.  Living in Mallorca, I've learned there's a LOT of people who have second homes here, especially the Germans and the Brits.

Ok, so the streets were very quiet while I roamed about.  I admired how nearly everything inside the walls was kept in perfect condition...no grafitti, no garbage, no potholes, and very little vehicle traffic.  I guestimate about 2,000 people reside within the walls.

The City Hall

I ran upon a long section of the wall that had been restored and the public was allowed to walk on top!  That afforded great views inside and outside the town, towards the bay, and the Tramuntana mountain range.  

Here's a video (6 mins mas o menos) of my walk atop the town wall.

After a few hours, I caught the bus back to Palma where I enjoyed the smooth, quiet ride, looking out the windows as we passed olive, orange, wine, and almond orchards (loaded with blossoms) until the route ended just 2 blocks from my apartment.

This kind of day trip is one of the great things I love about Mallorca.  There are sooooo many places you can visit around the island....other towns, parks, cathedrals/castles, festivals, mercados, beaches, hikes, ruins, etc....and they're all easily done in the course of a day and it won't break your wallet.

Next up... a few days later...another day trip,
but on my moto, back to Alcudia, 
but past it onto the Victoria peninsula.

Drop...Dead...Stunning!!

Dano