Mallorca - Bikes on trains

[delstron]

Going to Puerto Pollensa (base) again later in the month and fancy venturing further afield from the north of the island.
I see that trains run from Palma as far as Sa Pobla & Manacor and take bikes. Has anyone used these as a way of getting around? Any tips or suggestions welcomed please. Thanks

[eileithyia]

yes indeed, infact we used a train from Manacor when staying at Cala Bona to give some different scope to cycle.
Main problem is; some trains are cycle restricted at certain times ie i think something like the 3pm onwards trains out of Palma direction, Indeed we could get back to Manacor quicker by bike than the next bike allowed train did.
You are ok after about 10 am with trains from Sa Pobla/Manacor going in the direction of Palma.

Other thing to remember is you can buses quite readily in Mallorca and we did this last time in the Porta Pollensa area, we caught the 9.15 to Palma then rode out to Soller, up and back to Porta Pollensa. again need to be aware of bus times, they significantly reduce in frequency from Palma back after 5pm and some Germans who gave us the original idea, were back quite late when they did this journey in reverse due to how late a bus they caught.
This is why we did this way round in order to guarantee we were on the bus out and could getting back was within our capabilities.

[mr riff raff]

Pollensa to Palma and back through the mountains both ways would be a quality day out.

[delstron]

Eileithyia, more details please on the 'bikes on buses' option, have searched and can't find anything on this. Where do the bikes go? Carriers on the back? Thanks

[eileithyia]

Hi Delstron they go underneath in the 'luggage' space, we just laid them on their sides. I think they might have restrictions on numbers, ie when there are hordes of cyclists on the island in March - May they probably do not want a whole training group turning up, but 2-3 is no problem.
The beauty of catching the bus from Pollensa as we did, we were 1st on so had guaranteed we had space for the bikes etc.
The bus goes from just by the port next to the roundabout on the front.
Obviously it is a fairly tough ride back from Palma taking the route we did, Soller then over the top to Luc. We were just pushing daylight in November, but there are other options.
To do it the other way around we had to guarantee we would be back in Palma for 5pm or else wait until 8pm, but this was a Sunday with fewer buses.
When the german lads did the route in reverse, mid-week, we noticed they were came straight into the hotel restaurant at a little after 8pm still in their cycling kit clearly having only just got back.

We did double check with one of the drivers before we did it, and he gave us a timetable and eveny explained it to us. Then on the day we just rolled up to the bus stop on bikes, he saw us coming and just opened up the space for us, absolutely no problems.

On the train there are some special racks in the carriages to hold bikes, about 3 in each carriage I think.
The hotel we were staying on that occasion had a timetable. At the station in Manacor there is a special gate for you to take bikes through, wider than the ordinary pedestrian ones.

As I said best checking with timetable as some trains are bike restricted. But otherwise it is a good service.

[Helen]

Here's the daily train timetable from Palma to Sa Pobla and Manacor (in Catalan).
Feiners means workdays (Mon-Fri unless it's a feast day).
Red dots are the trains where you CAN'T take bikes (rush hours).
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST330ZI45282&id=45282

And here's the timetable for Saturdays, Sundays and Feast Days:
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST330ZI45280&id=45280

Here's the Mallorca transport website:
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/contenido.do?idsite=330&cont=8689&lang=ca&campa=yes

If you need help with tranlation, PM me!

[delstron]

Thanks eileithyia & Helen for the information.

[delstron]

Been and come back. Just to confirm the Mallorca train service is good, cheap, uncrowded and the facilities are A1. The ability to jump on a train vastly extends the range for day rides when based in one place. Pay the guard on the train, each coach with bike storage has a symbol next to the door - seemed like every other carriage.

[eileithyia]

Glad to hear you had a good time, hope the weather was kind.

[katerina90]

Here's the daily train timetable from Palma to Sa Pobla and Manacor (in Catalan).
Feiners means workdays (Mon-Fri unless it's a feast day).
Red dots are the trains where you CAN'T take bikes (rush hours).
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST330ZI45282&id=45282

And here's the timetable for Saturdays, Sundays and Feast Days:
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/archivopub.do?ctrl=MCRST330ZI45280&id=45280

Here's the Mallorca transport website:
http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/contenido.do?idsite=330&cont=8689&lang=ca&campa=yes

If you need help with tranlation, PM me!

Hi!
I'm going to visit Mallorca with group of my friends (something about 15-20 people) in September. We'll stay in Palma de Mallorca but we want to see Cap Formentor and i'm thinking about how we can get there with our bikes.
Is there any chance that we can fit in with all of bikes in one train or we will have to split up?
And how much is ticket for bike or this is for free?

P.S. I'm sorry for my English and potencial mistakes