Mallorca: Serra de Tramuntana and the Legendary Ma-10

The Ma-10 running through the Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca from south to north is, by international motorcycling consensus, one of the five best motorcycle roads in all of Europe. The Serra de Tramuntana, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 as a Cultural Landscape, is a limestone mountain range rising to 1,445 meters (Puig Major) directly above the Mediterranean Sea, creating a coastline of vertiginous cliffs, hidden coves, and stone villages that have spent centuries cultivating olives, oranges, and dry-stone terraces on the hillsides.

The Ma-10 has everything a rider could ask for: more than 100 km of constant curves (some sources count over 2,000 turns), flawless asphalt maintained by the Balearic government, Mediterranean views at every opening in the landscape, villages like Valldemossa (where Chopin and George Sand spent the winter of 1838–39), Deià (a refuge for artists and writers such as Robert Graves), and Sóller (with its valley of orange groves and its historic tramway). The road winds constantly between mountain and sea, climbing and descending passes, threading through tunnels of Mediterranean vegetation, and offering viewpoints that take your breath away.

Valldemossa is probably the most visited village in Mallorca after Palma, and rightly so: its Real Cartuja (a 14th-century monastery where Chopin composed some of his Preludes while coughing with tuberculosis) is surrounded by cobblestone streets lined with stone houses decorated with flower pots, bathed in a golden Mediterranean light that painters have chased for centuries. Deià, a few kilometers further north, is an artists' village clinging to a hillside above a cove of turquoise waters that Robert Graves (author of "I, Claudius") chose as his permanent home in 1929.

Puig Major (1,445 m), the roof of the Tramuntana, has a military base on the summit that prevents access, but the Ma-10 passes through the Coll dels Reis (875 m) with spectacular views of the Gorg Blau reservoir and the north coast. The descent from the Coll dels Reis toward Sa Calobra is legendary among cyclists and motorcyclists: the Ma-2141 drops 800 meters of elevation in 12 km with constant curves, including the famous Nus de sa Corbata (the tie knot), a 270-degree turn that passes under itself.

Rider practicalities: the Ma-10 is rideable year-round thanks to its Mediterranean climate. Cycling traffic is very heavy (Mallorca is a world-class road cycling destination), so extra caution is essential on the bends. The ferry from Barcelona, Valencia, or Denia allows you to bring your bike. In summer, tourist villages like Valldemossa become overcrowded — best to go early. For accommodation, the Belmond La Residencia in Deià is pure luxury, but rural houses in the interior offer a more affordable alternative. For eating, the Mallorcan pa amb oli (bread with oil, tomato, and ham) is the perfect aperitif.