Campos to Santuari de Sant Salvador: elevated accommodation

April 6, 2013

Climbed 565 metres, 1853 feet

Weather: mixed sun and cloud, cold wind, high 11C

Rain fell overnight and was still coming down whle we ate breakfast downstairs in the small tiled dining room. Breakfast was served buffet-style and quite satisfying, with cheese, eggs, breads, fruit and plenty of coffee. We took our time, not keen on venturing out into the wet. It was after after 10:00 when we dressed up in raingear and carried our panniers outside to load up the bikes. Just as we were about to leave, the rain stopped, but the sky stayed cloudy and it felt quite chilly. We kept our jackets on and rode out of Campos towards the town of Felanitx with a cold crosswind/tailwind.

While planning our tour and studying the map of Mallorca, we had noticed a squiggly line just outside Felanitx leading to the Santuari de Sant Salvador. This was a four kilometre paved road with hairpin turns about 1000 feet up to a former monastery, a massive stone building now transformed into a hotel (Petit Hotel Hostatgería Sant Salvador) . Upon further investigation we found that the road looked quite scenic, the monastery/hotel was at the highest point of land in that part of Mallorca, and prices for a room and half-board (dinner and breakfast) were very reasonable. Since Felanitx was on our route to the coast, it seemed a no-brainer to detour to the Santuari and stay for one night. We were a bit concerned about tackling a 1000 foot steep climb with our loaded bikes on only the second day of the tour, but with a low total distance for the day we thought we could handle the uphill.

Looking up into the mist at our eventual destination, the monastery.

The 20 kilmetres from Campos to Felanitx were pleasant riding along paved lanes through orchard and farming country, the gradual uphill grade hardly noticeable. The monastery was in view for the last half of the way, since it was the highest point around, although sometimes it was obscured by cloud. We were ready to stop for lunch in Felanitx, and rode through the plain-looking town centre up quite a steep hill to a restaurant, Estragon, which Al had noted while checking out Google Streetview. It was still quite chilly and we stood in a small patch of sunlight while waiting about 15 minutes for Estragon to open for lunch. At 1:00 we entered the lovely warm restaurant and ordered hot soup to start—onion for Al and tomato for Eva—both very good and followed by chicken in tarragon cream sauce, a house specialty. (Estragon is Spanish for tarragon.) After a glass of wine each and coffee to finish, we felt ready to tackle the hill up to the monastery and were pleased to see that the sky was now mostly blue.

The pleasant, semi-hidden restaurant we stopped at for lunch

The highway out of Felanitx was unpleasantly crowded with heavy traffic. It had no shoulder and a drop-off into a ditch along the edge. Luckily we only had to cycle for a kilometre to reach the turn-off to the monastery, but tomorrow on our way to the coast, we would have to travel about six kilometres further along that highway. The smaller road to the monastery was less busy, with a fair amount of bicycle traffic as well as cars. The four kilometre switchbacked climb was well-graded (about 6% most of the way) and the cars were quite polite about passing. We climbed slowly and steadily, and the views got better and better as we cycled up. Finally on top at 510 metres, we could see across a patchwork of fields and orchards and small towns all the way to the coast.

The unobstructed views from the top were worth the climb

A nice surprise awaited us when we checked into the hotel for our overnight stay. The receptionist told us apologetically that breakfast on Sunday usually started at 8:30. but tomorrow it would be 7:30 because a triathlon would close the road up and down the mountain to automobile traffic from 8:00 onwards. Of course bicycles would not be affected by the closure! For this 'inconvenience” we received 15% off on our hotel bill. We were delighted to look forward to the ride down the hill tomorrow with no car traffic! Our simple room was white-painted and bright with private bathroom and windows overlooking the view. We cleaned up and went outside again to look around and take photos. It was completely sunny by now, but the breeze was cool because we were up so high.

The monastery, now a hostal, was an imposing structure

The large patio on the south side with views to the coast

Dinner for hotel guests was served buffet-style in a restaurant decorated like a cave with a pristine antique car at one end (??). We were used to ordering “agua sin gas” and “una copa de vino tinto” with our meals, but the waitress told us that a litre bottle of water and a whole bottle of wine (a nice Rioja) were included in the price of the dinner--an assortment of salads, fish soup and roast chicken, with ice cream for dessert. We talked with an English couple and their three young children who were staying at the monastery for a week as a base to explore the island. They planned to leave the hotel before 8 tomorrow to avoid the road closure. After another short walk after dinner, we returned to our room for an early night.

Looking north across the island to the mountains

The view down to the town of Felanitx , where we stopped for lunch

Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 90 km (56 miles)

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