Revving up the pleasures of Majorca – on a scooter
ZIPPING along Majorca’s northwestern coast, there’s nothing between me and the Mediterranean on my left, terraces of orange groves on my right.
And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. No windscreen or car door to cut you off from the outside world. On my moped, I’m directly in touch with the outside world.
As I putt-putt along at 37 mph, from the hillside town of Deia to the harbour of Port de Soller, I can smell the oranges and the petrichor – that blissful scent (‘the rocky blood of the gods’).
Forget the tedium of car travel. Every journey on my 125cc moped is a delight – whether it’s a five-minute flit from the villa for coffee in Fornalutx, an ancient hamlet in the Serra de Tramuntana foothills, or a 22-mile drive through the flat midlands to Palma, the island capital.
Mister Scooter, the hire firm, provides a magical service, leaving your moped just outside the airport arrivals door when you arrive. The key’s in a box with a combination code. You just walk through customs and there sits your transport.
The moped-at-the-airport option isn’t ideal if you’re Joan Collins, with her 45
Louis Vuitton suitcases. But if you’re a travel-lite obsessive, it’s perfect, with room for a small bag under your seat and one in the top box behind you.
And it’s easy to drive – just twist the handle to go, and brake like on a bicycle. There’s room on the back to play Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953), with your version of Audrey Hepburn riding pillion. Plus, the parking is heaven – and it’s free.
When we got to Palma, we pulled up a five-minute walk from the cathedral, practically in the shadow of its 13th Century Gothic pinnacles. The next day, we parked right outside the house of Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius, in Deia.
When we went to the little cove of Cala Deia for a swim, our smugness levels hit new heights. Cars had to be left some distance away. Mopeddrivers are given parking closer to the sea and the beach restaurant, Ca’s Patro March, which featured in The Night Manager, the 2016 adaptation of John le Carre’s book.
A moped isn’t so good on mainland trips where you drive hundreds of miles, but on Majorca no journey was longer than the 23 miles from the airport to the villa. On the seaside roads, you can keep up with any car. On the main roads (mopeds aren’t allowed on Majorcan motorways), you hug the edge of the tarmac as cars overtake. And it’s cheap. Mine cost just under £50 for three days. I paid £26 on top for full insurance – charmingly named ‘comfort insurance’. And it sipped petrol – it was £9 to fill up before returning it, having covered more than 100 miles.
It’s such a small price to pay for such glorious freedom.
MMr Scooter costs from €58 for three days, plus €30 for full insurance. See mister scooter.eu.