Overview
- Name: GR221 (dry stone wall path)
- Country: Spain (Mallorca)
- Length: 145 km
- Altitude: 5700m
- Difficulty: T1 – T3 (SAC mountain hiking scale)
- Stages: 7-11
- Best time to travel: Spring, Fall
Route
The GR221, also known as the Dry Stone Trail, is a 145 km long-distance hiking trail on Mallorca in Spain, which leads through the Tramuntana mountain range in the northwest of the island. Created as a connecting path between the terraced fields, it now serves as a hiking trail through the beautiful landscapes of the Balearic island and attracts many hiking enthusiasts to Mallorca every year.
Video
Arrival
Theoretically, of course, it’s possible to get there by boat, but for most people it’s more likely to be by plane to Mallorca. I’m lucky that there’s a cheap direct flight from Baden Airpark to Mallorca several times a week, so it’s relatively easy to get to the Balearic island. In addition to Baden Airpark, there are direct flights to Mallorca from most of the larger airports in Germany.
From the airport, you first go to the Plaça d’Espanya bus station before taking bus 102 to the actual starting point of the hike in Port d’Andratx.
At the end of the adventure, you can easily take the L340 line from Port de Pollenca back to Palma, from where you can fly back to Germany.
Details
The best time for this hike is usually spring and fall, as the temperatures on the island are mild during this time. While it is usually too warm to walk in the blazing midday heat in the summer months, you can also expect snow in winter.
The stage planning on this long-distance hiking trail varies greatly. While some people plan 14 stages, others walk the entire route from south to north or vice versa in 8 days. I myself spent a total of around 6 days hiking. The short days in winter didn’t leave me much time for hiking, but it was still enough. In summer, I could probably do it in 4-5 days.
Essentially, the trail itself leads through the mountains and there are always nice ups and downs. However, the climbs are limited and I was often rewarded with beautiful views. There are always views of the sea on the hike and you pass a few dry stone walls and charcoal kilns.
Reports
As always, I also recorded my experiences on this adventure. You can find my daily reports on the individual stages and what I experienced there on my blog. Have fun reading 😉
Gallery
Here are a few impressions of my tour. If you want to know more, have a look at the reports on the individual days.
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