Home | Travel | Air Travel

Walking In Mallorca And Menorca

By: Mark Bartley

Read More About Air Travel

If your ideal day would be to dig out your hiking boots and set off for the mountains then you will know many of Britain's best walking areas such as the Lake District, the Brecon Beacons and Dartmoor. While these places offer great scenery and perfect countryside for walkers they are at the mercy of the temperamental weather patterns these places enjoy. In fine mild weather there are few places to better these regions, but cooler, wetter weather is often just around the corner and can ruin an otherwise perfect opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. Many people are now happy to travel abroad for their walking and remove the weather threat. Places like the Austrian Alps and the Italian Dolomites are popular, as are the Balearic islands of Mallorca and Menorca which both have some amazing hiking terrain.

For many people Menorca and Mallorca represent budget family beach holidays and that still holds true for certain areas. In fact whole resorts have been developed on Mallorca to cater for a huge demand over the past 20 years. Similar developments on Menorca have been on a smaller scale and have remained within the styles and traditions of existing buildings. That has helped the smaller Menorca retain much of its native charm, but it hasn't meant the local authorities have been averse to investing money in scenes to attract visitors to the island.

One of those schemes is the renovation of the island's Cami de Cavalls or Path of Horses.. Lookout posts and small forts were constructed all around the island's coastline to prevent attack and invasion and in order to transport supplies and ammunition to those posts a track for horses was created. Once the need for these forts and posts disappeared the pathway was no longer need and gradually fell into disrepair.

But, seeing the history and cultural value of this important transport route, the local council have gradually acquired access rights to the land and repaired the footpaths so that they now form one continuous route around the coastline of Menorca. The renovation work has taken many years and involved numerous disputes with landowners, some of whom objected to the scheme, but the work has now been completed and the Cami de Cavalls is proving a big attraction to serious walkers to the island. It is also helping to extend the holiday season because walkers are happy to visit the island during late autumn and early spring now, when the path is quieter.

On the larger island of Mallorca, the issue of large-scale development was not such a problem as it only took place in certain restricted areas. Away from these popular holiday resorts Mallorca already had plenty of wonderful inland areas for hikers to enjoy. Walkers have always enjoyed the mountain regions of Mallorca and there are now two recognised footpaths that welcome international walkers at all times of year.

The GR network of footpaths is recognised throughout Europe by various names, namely Gran Recorrido in Spain and Grande Rota in Portugal. In the UK we would probably refer to them as Grand Routes, although we don't have any yet.

On Mallorca the Ruta de Pedra en Sec or Route of Dry Stone due to the terrain it traverses is now known also as the GR221. Some of the route is still undergoing renovation but it is possible to walk the whole route – not all in one go normally – stopping at different overnight hostels or more traditional accommodation.

The GR222 route is even newer, travelling east-west across the island, with signposting and renovation still be in progress at the moment. The distance is similar in length at 126km, again making a trip over several days advisable. This route passes through some of Mallorca's inland towns such as Inca and Santa Margalida.

So walkers looking for alternatives to the typical British areas could easily hop onto a cheap flight to Mallorca or Menorca and benefit from great walking terrain, better weather for sure and well marked routes designed to showcase the best these islands have to offer.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Just by taking one of the many short flights to Mallorca whole new walking regions become available. Flights to Menorca are equally short and well priced. Mark provides informative guides covering holiday destinations across Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Air Travel Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Travel | Air Travel
Sign Up for a free account.
Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum
Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap
New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

counter easy hit

Powered by Article Dashboard