Sa (or La?) Calobra by bus

My wife and I will be in PP in just a few days!

I see there is a bus service (Linea 5) which goes from PP to LLuc (stop 1 hour) then onto Sa Calobra (stop about 2 hours). On paper this looks to be a good day trip. Has anyone done it or has info. about it, please? Presumably there are refreshments to be had at Lluc (the monastry?) and at Sa Calobra?

I know from my visits to this site that you're a helpful, knowledgeable lot, so I'm hoping for lots of interesting advice!

Hi Brummie

It is a lovely day trip - the scenery is breathtaking but be warned that the drive from Lluc to Sa Calobra is via a narrow twisting road, hair-pin bends with steep drops on either side so not for the faint hearted even if you're not actually driving. Refreshments available at Lluc and Sa Calobra and from Sa Calobra you can walk through a tunnel to beach/gorge at Es Torrent. Another lovely day out would be by bus to Soller, tram from Soller to Port Soller and boat trip to Sa Calobra. Also make sure you take the short bus ride to Pollensa Town and to Cala San Vicente.

Enjoy - sure you'll love PP, I do

[JH02JLH]

I agree with easylife about the road down to Sa Calobra! We went down by car (another one of my hare-brained ideas...:rolleyes ) and I nearly got out and walked when we met a convoy of coaches! The road is very narrow and twisty but the views are beautiful and if the sheer drops don't bother you then it would make for a great day out.

Let us know if you decided to go!

Jane

[frito]

At this time of year it is the best idea to go by bus.
Let the bus driver do the driving, and then you don't have the experience of driving down to Sa Colobra, only to find it is "full" with nowhere to park, and having to drive out again.
(I speak from experience!)

Cheers!

Frito.

Thanks for your responses - I knew you wouldn't let me down!

You've encouraged me to give it a go - my wife will just have to keep her eyes tightly shut during the descent to Sa Calobra ...

I'll think about your other suggestion, easylife. BTW we have been to PP before - just over 2 years ago - and loved it. This is the first opportunity we've had to return. I agree Pollensa town and Cala S V are well worth visiting (last time we did them by bicycle - some lovely quiet back roads to Pollensa).

I'll let you know how we get on (looks like no one who responded has actually done the trip by bus, so I'll report on the advantages/disadvatages of this mode of travel - like the bus departing early on the return journey and leaving us stranded at Sa C. !!

Funny but it's spelt Sa Calobra on the map but La Calobra on the bus timetable - any ideas as to why this is, anyone?

[pollensa]

Re the La/Sa, I should think this is the difference between the Spanish (Castelano) & the Mallorquin/Catalan (catalano) - both will mean 'the' - it's like seeing either calle or carrer for 'road'. More on the language page www.puertopollensa.com/language.html & also all about the 'article': weib.caib.es/Recursos/abast/paginas/article-eng.html

Hi again Brummie

I have actually visited by car and by bus - in fact I've travelled all around Mallorca by bus and/or car and I have to say that Sa Calobra is one place I would never go back to unless it was on the bus. The road is so spectacular and the scenery breathtaking but a car driver can't really enjoy any of it - you need your eyes very firmly on the road. Also Frito is right about car parking which isn't a problem with the bus. I never had any problems with the bus timetable, they kept very much to the schedule.

Hope you enjoy if you decide to take the plunge (not literally of course!!)

Thanks, easylife, for your reassurances (well, at least about the buses sticking to the timetable, if not about the spectacular plunges!)

I'll report back in due course - now, back to the last-minute packing ...

Well, we did the trip and really enyoyed it. Even the weather was (comparatively) kind to us in a rather unsettled week.

Lluc monastery was impressive though a bit of a tourist trap. You'd need more than the one hour stop we had to properly explore the place but given the very cold conditions, we were glad to re-board the bus for the next stage of the journey!

We made our way through lovely mountain scenery - and then, the dramatic descent into Sa Calobra! Hairpin bend after hairpin bend with terrified motorists having to reverse to let through coaches. Spectacular views of the steep drops and of the road twisting below us. At one point we saw what appeared to be a bus that had gone over the edge (a few years ago by the look of it).

Sa Calobra itself looked rather tatty when we got off the bus. Loads of self-service cafes and hordes of day trippers (one never sees oneself as a tourist, have you noticed?). Away from this area, it was much better, with a nicely built walkway (esplanade almost) and tunnels through the rocks, leading to the real attraction The Torrent de Pareis. Still masses of tourists but they didn't detract too much from the marvellous view of the gorge, and, looking seawards, the opening in the cliffs, through which great waves came crashing.

At 12.50 euros per person return from Club Pollentia (hotel village between Alcudia and PP) we thought this was a bargain day out The bus kept to schedule (a few mins early at each stop, actually) but we noticed, coming back, the driver didn't stop at all the places it had on the way out (e.g. completely missing out Cala St Vincent on the return). Presumbaly this was because the driver knew there was no passenger on the return wanting CSV - but what about anyone who'd seen the 355 timetable and assumed they could get a connection from CSV to PP/Alcudia, etc.?

Certainly a highlight of the holiday. Another highlight was getting the bus from PP to Formentor beach and later catching the ferry back to PP. Best of all, though, were the many short cycle trips we did - I hope to write more about this in the appropriate section.