Route from Alcúdia · start & finish Alcúdia
Alcúdia – s'Albufera – Muro
- Easy
- 45 km
- 150 m
- ≈ 1½–2 h
Map and elevation profile
Move along the elevation profile to see where you are on the map.
Food & coffee stops
Tried-and-tested places where cyclists like to stop for coffee, food or water.
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Café 15 kmCasa Miss Sa Pobla
Family-run bar on Plaça de la Constitució, open since 1967 and named after the founders' daughter, Miss Mallorca 1966. About 250 m off the route at km 14.8: coffee, the house vermouth Miss Vermut, variat and tapas. Closed on Tuesdays; Monday hours differ between listings, so check ahead.
Open in maps ↗ -
Restaurant 39 kmBike Point Cafe Platja de Muro
A cycling institution in Platja de Muro, right on the Ma-12 at km 39.1: rows of bikes out front, racing on the screens, shakes, burgers and dishes named after pros such as Indurain. Opens at 11:00 (Sundays until 17:00), closed on Mondays.
Open in maps ↗
Flat s'Albufera Loop via Sa Pobla, Muro and Can Picafort
Route summary:
The easiest loop in our Alcúdia collection: ideal for day one on a rental bike, a recovery day between mountain rides or a spin with family members who are confident in traffic. It is 44.7 km with just 150 m of climbing, and the high point is Muro at 60 m. Quiet farm roads skirt s'Albufera, the largest wetland in the Balearics, and cross the potato plain to Sa Pobla and Muro. Then you drop to the sea at Can Picafort and ride home along the Bay of Alcúdia. Allow about 2 hours of riding. Refuel at Casa Miss in Sa Pobla (km 15), in a bar on Can Picafort's seafront (km 32) or at the cyclists' favourite Bike Point Cafe in Platja de Muro (km 39).
Cycling route summary:
Km 0–6: From the roundabout by the old-town walls, quiet lanes and the Ma-3470 lead you south out of Alcúdia, with a 15 m bump around km 4.5.
Km 6–14.8: The Ma-3433 runs dead flat, 1–3 m above sea level, on long straights between potato fields and drainage canals, then rises imperceptibly to Sa Pobla. Narrow, no shoulder, tractors.
Km 14.8–19: A short stretch of the Sa Pobla ring road, then the Ma-3430 to Muro and the day's only real effort: about 800 m at roughly 5%, topping out at 60 m (km 18.8).
Km 19–29: Roll down the Ma-3431 across the marsh plain south of s'Albufera, with one 15 m rise near km 26. No shade and nothing to stop the wind: with the sea breeze up, this eastbound stretch is the hardest of the day.
Km 29–33.4: Through Can Picafort over a gentle 20 m rise, then down to the harbour and 1.3 km of seafront bike lane. In summer, walking pace.
Km 33.4–44.7: Back along the bay on the Ma-12, past Platja de Muro and the s'Albufera entrance (km 38.2). Hotel traffic, roundabouts, no continuous bike lane: ride single file on the shoulder. From the Rotonda del Cavall (km 43.5) a short rise takes you back to the walls.
Tourist summary:
A ride through the farming heart of the north. Alcúdia's 14th-century walls and the Roman ruins of Pollentia see you off. Then come the reclaimed marshes where Sa Pobla grows its famous potatoes: the first 25 tonnes for Britain were shipped to Liverpool in 1924. Its Plaça Major hosts a Sunday market, and every January the town goes wild for the Sant Antoni fire festival. Muro's church of Sant Joan Baptista, with its free-standing bell tower, can be seen for miles. The second half belongs to the sea: the promenade of Can Picafort, the dunes of Platja de Muro and the Pont dels Anglesos, gateway to s'Albufera, where more than 300 bird species have been recorded.
Tips from our guides
- Start between 8:30 and 9:30 in summer. The plain has almost no shade, and on hot days the sea breeze usually builds from late morning; you feel it most on the open marsh road from Muro to the coast. From November to March this is a perfect spin for any sunny day. If you linger by the wetland at dusk, bring insect repellent.
- The Ma-12 from Can Picafort to Port d'Alcúdia carries heavy hotel traffic and a string of roundabouts. The bike path planned around the bay has never been built through Platja de Muro, so ride single file on the shoulder and signal clearly at the roundabouts.
- The Ma-3433 and Ma-3431 are narrow farm roads with no shoulder, so expect tractors and farm vans and drop into single file when something comes up behind. On Can Picafort's seafront bike lane pedestrians cross all the time in summer: slow to walking pace.
- Want to see s'Albufera up close? Turn in at the Pont dels Anglesos (km 38.2). The park is open 9:00–18:00 from April to September and 9:00–17:00 from October to March; pick up the free permit at the Sa Roca information centre (9:00–16:00). Bikes are only allowed on signed trails, at up to 10 km/h.
- Any road bike will do, and this is the ideal loop to fine-tune a rental on day one: saddle height, brakes, gears. In summer carry two bottles, sun cream and a spare tube. Sunday is market day in Sa Pobla and Muro (Tuesday and Sunday in Alcúdia, Friday in Can Picafort), so walk the bike if you detour into the centres.
Did you know?
- S'Albufera was the first natural park declared in the Balearic Islands, in 1988. Some 3,000 species have been described in its roughly 17 km², and more than 300 bird species have been seen there. source
- In 1863 a British company set about draining s'Albufera, at one point with around 1,500 workers. The first two harvests from the reclaimed land were oats, exported as feed for horses in the Franco-Prussian War, and the Pont dels Anglesos on your route still carries the Englishmen's name. source
- Sa Pobla's potato trade with Britain took off in 1924, when 25 tonnes were shipped to Liverpool. By the 1960s about 85% of the town's 15,000-tonne harvest went to the UK. source
Places along the route
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10 km
Alcúdia – old-town walls
You start by the medieval walls, completed in 1362 with 26 towers along a circuit of about 1.5 km. The Roman city of Pollentia, founded around 123 BC, lies just outside them. Tuesday and Sunday are market days, so expect crowds around the gates.
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29 km
The marjal – reclaimed plain
Between Alcúdia and Sa Pobla you ride across former wetland barely above sea level, right along the edge of the natural park. Farmers raised their small plots, called veles in Sa Pobla and rotes in Muro, with mud dug from the drainage ditches. Sa Pobla and Muro are among the Mallorcan municipalities with the most water-pumping windmills.
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315 km
Sa Pobla
The farming capital of the north, famous for its potatoes and for the Sant Antoni fire festival on 16–17 January. Plaça Major, about 300 m off the route, fills with the Sunday market. The Can Planes mansion houses the town's contemporary art museum.
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419 km
Muro
The only climb of the day brings you up to Muro at 60 m. About 300 m off the route stands the parish church of Sant Joan Baptista, begun in 1570 and completed in 1611, with a bell tower standing apart from the nave. Muro's weekly market is on Sunday.
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525 km
Southern edge of s'Albufera
The Ma-3431 crosses the marsh plain just south of s'Albufera, the largest wetland in the Balearic Islands; the park boundary is only a few hundred metres away. Reed beds and canals line the road, so keep an eye out for herons. It is open, shadeless country where the wind decides your speed.
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631 km
Can Picafort – harbour and promenade
A small resort with a little harbour and a seafront promenade that you follow on a segregated bike lane. If you have time, the Iron Age necropolis of Son Real, with more than 100 stone tombs, lies on the shore east of town, about 20 minutes' walk along the beach from Son Bauló. Market day here is Friday.
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738 km
Pont dels Anglesos – s'Albufera entrance
The 'English Bridge' over the Gran Canal is the main entrance to the Parc Natural de s'Albufera, named after the British company that drained part of the wetland in the 1860s. Entry is free with a permit from the Sa Roca information centre (9:00–16:00). Bikes are allowed only on signed trails, at up to 10 km/h.
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839 km
Platja de Muro
Around 6 km of fine white sand, backed by dunes and the protected land of s'Albufera. Its southern stretch, Es Comú, which you passed between km 34 and 37, has only pines and dunes behind it, well away from the hotels.
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