Serra Tramuntana: Esporles to Valdemossa – Hiking on the GR221, stage 5 – Majorca, Spain

At the end of October 2023, I went hiking on the GR221 in Mallorca. This blog tells about the 3rd and also last hiking day I would hike on the GR221. Hotel nights were twice as expensive as anticipated and my original plan was to hike on the GR92 in Spain. So after a nice try, I stopped in Mallorca after this beautiful hiking day.

Hiking on the GR221 – Majorca, Spain

Day 3 Esporles – Valdemossa

Because stage 2 and 3 had given me a lot to endure, I decided to skip stage 4 and take the bus to Esporles. With my hotel in Banyalbufar, I was already halfway through stage 4 and to do more than 1 stage again after such a tough day was not something I saw fit. At the bus stop, opposite the beautiful hostal Estonia, there were two more hikers I recognised from breakfast. They were also taking the bus to Esporles to walk to Valdemossa. That stage seemed nicer than the part we still had to do on stage 4. Well, that’s a good thing then!

In Esporles, I first bought a bottle of water, a banana and also found tape to tape off my new blister. For the water and banana, I paid 0.92 euro cents. The tape was very narrow but better than nothing. After this I walked towards the church in the centre of Esporles and there I found the red/white markings of the GR221. I went out of the village and soon the route started going up, into the Serra Tramuntana mountains. And also soon I was already getting beautiful views of the area.

Hiking on the GR221 – Esporles

After this, I found myself walking in a forest. Which was nice because it was already starting to get quite warm. The sun had come through and by walking uphill you soon get warm. Beautiful winding paths took me higher still. At one point I saw people sitting to my left. When I looked closer I saw that they were sitting next to a precipice, a precipice that went down by dozens of metres. This gave us a view of the land below but also of Mallorca’s beautiful coastline. I decided to take a break here too. By now it was almost noon and I could nicely eat my banana here.

As I continued walking, the GR221 went all the way around the valley I just had my view of. I walked in a wide arc, along beautiful forest paths, to finally get the view of the long high wall on the other side. I took this photo and realised I had already covered quite a bit.

It’s always faster afterwards than you think beforehand. When you look ahead you estimate it to be far and then when you look back you think, gosh I was there 15 minutes ago. It’s like that with everything, isn’t it? Just as Life is…

Meanwhile, I climbed higher and higher again and found myself walking on a kind of ridge. I had views down on both sides. When I was almost at the end of this walk at altitude, there were people again, now to the right of the path, enjoying the view. I decided to walk on, the path taking me down and eventually into Valdemossa where I sat on a terrace. The trip down into Valdemossa is a lot of steps and winding paths with loose stones. So caution again and careful walking. After this, I walked right into the old centre of this lovely town.

Valdemossa is very nice but unfortunately Valdemossa itself knows that. The prices are very high… When I looked at the menu I thought…well then I’ll just have fries, for 10 euros you must get a plate full, right? So no, a very small cone of chips!

After exploring Valdemossa a bit, I caught the bus to Soller. Which is also a super nice town. In the middle of town is a big cathedral and behind it is the station. The station where the old steam train but also the tram to Port Soller departs.

From there, I went back to Palma the next day on an old steam train. How fun is that! Highly recommended to do! Read more about it.

Length, height and time – Esporles to Valdemossa

The walk was only 9.1 km in length, yet you still take at least 3 hours. There was an ascent of 580 metres and descent of 360 metres. Still a nice challenge on this last hiking day on the GR221,

Weather conditions end of October

This day again I had perfect weather. During the day I just felt really warm with 20+ degrees and in the evening it cooled down nicely. To the point that I find the flip-flops a bit on the cold side and find it nice to put on the sneakers I also have with me. During the day at altitude, I wear a windbreaker because it can be quite windy, and in the evening I even wear a sports jacket. For a brisk walk, it is perfect weather in Mallorca at the end of October.

Stay  in Soller

I stayed in Soller at Hostal Nadal where I paid €58.90 for one night. Fine hotel which is close to the centre, the cathedral and the train station. I had a room there with its own sink but shared the toilet and shower with other guests. Toilet and shower were two different rooms which is nice. In the corridor, there was only 1 toilet and 1 shower. Fortunately, the hotel was not full. There is a nice courtyard garden and I saw that a family had a room/apartment by this garden. In the morning, you can sit here nicely and have your breakfast.

Do also read about day 1 of hiking on the GR221

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I hope you enjoy this world as much as I do