Road Spotlight: Sa Calobra, the Winter Road

From October to May, while the alpine passes are under snow, the roads of north-west Mallorca are dry, quiet and about 18 degrees. That is why you will find European sports car owners there every winter.

The road

The MA-2141 drops from the Coll dels Reis to the cove at Sa Calobra: 13 km, around 680 m of descent and a 270-degree loop called the Tie Knot where the road passes under itself. It was designed in the 1930s to follow the terrain without tunnels, which is why it winds as it does.

It is a dead end. You drive down, have a coffee by the sea, and drive back up. The climb is the better half.

Timing is everything

In summer, coaches run down in convoy from mid-morning and need the full width of the road at every hairpin. In winter there are far fewer, and if you are at the top by 8.30 you may have it nearly to yourself. From February the cycling teams arrive for training camps, so mornings get busier again.

The rest of the island

Sa Calobra is the famous part, but the MA-10 along the spine of the Serra de Tramuntana is the real prize: about 110 km from Andratx to Pollença with hardly a straight. The sections from Sóller up to the Puig Major tunnel and on past the reservoirs are fast, smooth and beautifully sighted. The road out to the Formentor lighthouse is another to do early, before access restrictions and traffic apply.

Getting there

Overnight ferries run to Palma and Alcúdia from Barcelona and Valencia. Book a cabin, tell the crew the car is low, and you wake up on the island. From the UK it is a two-day drive to Barcelona, which can take in the Route Napoléon or the Pyrenees on the way.

Full details are in our Sa Calobra trail guide.