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| A stunning view of the wild Peninsula of Cap Formentor on Mallorca's northern coast from Mirador Es Colomer. It's one of the most popular views in Mallorca and is actually fairly accessible to get here as you will find out. |
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| Approaching Formentor beach by boat - one of Mallorca's finest sandy beaches and home of one of Mallorca's oldest and exclusive hotel's - the Formentor Hotel |
A great thing to do from the tourist areas of Alcudia or Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca
Most of my blog posts involve quite strenuous hikes in the UK - but this one is a little different and far more leisurely - ideal for the hot Mallorcan summer when you just want to relax - yet still offering some stunning sights, so I thought I would share a bit about it.
While on holiday for a week with my young family in the resort of Alcudia, we took the opportunity of an afternoon trip called the 'Alcudia Xperience'. Basically it was a 4 hour trip, with an open top bus picking us up from the hotel in Alcudia - then taking us to Puerto Pollensa to catch a boat to the amazing Formentor Beach. After spending an hour or so there - with me walking the length of the beach - the bus picked us up again and took us to the spectacular viewpoint at Mirador Es Colomer. From there the bus took us back to the hotel.
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| On this trip the bus picked us up from the hotel in Alcudia and then took us to Puerto Pollensa where the boat made it's way (as shown by the dotted line) to Formentor Beach. The bus then picked us up again at the beach and took us inland to the Mirador Es Colomer Viewpoint as shown in red. If you ever holiday in the area of Alcudia or Puerto Pollensa - I really recommend visiting the beach and Cap Fomentor whether on a guided trip or via your own means |
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| The open top bus for the afternoon - it was fairly small and maybe only 12 people where on this trip. |
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| We had 30 mins to take a look around Puerto Pollensa and the beach here was picture perfect too. |
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| Here comes our boat |
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| The boat was quite packed when it arrived bringing people back from Formentor Beach - but because our trip was in the afternoon with the boat leaving around 4pm - it was fairly quiet for us. |
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| Heading to Formentor Beach |
Formentor beach
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| Arriving at Formentor Beach - the colour of the azure water here is idylic, and it's flanked by a narrow white sandy beach which was quite busy in places by the time we arrived. |
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| We had a hour to ourselves on this trip to Formentor beach and I decided to walk from one end to the other which was maybe about 1500m and was much quieter at either end. |
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| Formentor Beach is well known as one of Mallorca's finest and many yachts had anchored for the day |
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| With the straw umbrellas and turquoise seas and fine sand the beach has a touch of the Caribbean about it |
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| Formentor Hotel - built in 1926 it is one of Mallorca's oldest and most exclusive hotels |
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| Most of my walk along the entire Formentor Beach was on the sand or rock and occasionally on higher up well marked footpaths |
Cap Formentor and Mirador Es Colomer Viewpoint
From the beach our bus picked us up and took us up the steep and windy roads to the Mirador Es Colomer Viewpoint. There were plenty of people taking a similar journey by car and quite a few by bike!
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| Following the path from the car park to the Mirador Es Colomer Viewpoint |
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| The Mirador Es Colomer Viewpoint is around 200m up a sheer cliff and as well as the tourists there are often rock-climbers tackling the surrounding the cliffs. |
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| What a view of Cap Formentor. I'd seen a picture of this exact view previously and is what made me want to visit - fortunately the conditions where clear (a more common occurrence in Mallorca than the UK!) and the view lived up to expectations. |
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| Here you can see the old watch tower where there is another path opposite to walk up too to get amazing views of Alcudia and Puerto Pollensa. We only had 30mins stop here so not enough time to hike up to the watch tower. |
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| I couldn't get enough of this view! |
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| Looking out to the deep blue sea |
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| Heading back to catch the bus |
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| On our way back to Puerto Pollensa and beyond to our hotels! |
For a 4 hour trip this was a nice little way to spend an afternoon and see some amazing sights and all I needed to wear was my flip-flops. I'd come on holiday for relaxation - but still managed to bring back some nice landscape images to share with others.
I booked this trip with No Frills Excursions, priced at €25 per adult. I had seen it online before my holiday here http://www.nofrills-excursions.com/excursions-tours-thingstodo/pollensa-port/excursion-to-formentor-with-bus-and-boat/ - but booked in one of the local No Frills shops in Alcudia the day before. I'm told sometimes this morning trips sell out - but the afternoon trips should be fine to book whilst you are on holiday.
As ever I hope you have enjoyed that little write up and photos and it inspires you to want to visit the area and give it a go. If you have any questions about this trip - just post a comment and I'll try and answer.
Blog Post by Stuart Hodgson, 'The Hiking Photographer'
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If you enjoyed this blog post you might like to subscribe to my monthly email newsletter to stay up to date with my latest posts, just follow the link below, cheers Stuart.