Exploring Mallorca on a Moped

We went to Rent March bike hire in Puerto Pollenca where the smallest scooter is a 50cc and cost us €31.50 for the day. Be aware that the prices do change depending on the time of year, and the cost per day goes down the more days you rent them for. A full days rental is from 09:00 until 20:00 and if you wish to keep them over night you can, but you pay a percentage of the daily rental on top of the day cost.

You will need to take your passport, drivers license, address of where you’re staying locally and a credit card to cover the deposit. For the 50cc bikes its €150, the card isn’t charged but the number is kept until you return. You fill in some basic paperwork, get issued with a helmet and are given a short tutorial of how to ride - it couldn't be simpler. The small scooters have no gears and so it's just ignition, throttle, front and back breaks and how to use the lock, access the under seat fuel tank and storage area which will comfortably hold a standard sized day/beach bag. You pick the bikes up with a full tank and agree to return them full also.

We took a quick circuit of the port to get used to the machines and found them surprisingly easy to use. We spotted the signs for Cap Formentor and off we went up the windy hair pins, passing cyclists and runners and holding up cars and buses, such is the circle of life. We soon realised why mopeds are the best (if not the fastest) mode of transport for the Cape as its notoriously tricky roads can be terrifying if you’re not a strong driver, but on a moped you have the freedom to enjoy rather than fear the hairpins.

We also realized we’d scored when we saw how the cars were backed down the road at each view point trying to manoeuver around each other waiting to park, whereas we could tuck in our bikes into any small space out of everyone’s way, in this way we also saved ourselves the €9 car park fee at Formentor beach.

We had planned to spend the full day at Formentor but having cruised the length of the road and spent an hour at two different beaches we had plenty of time left in our day and wanted to make the most of the machines. So we went back down to Puerto Pollenca for a late lunch and then out to Cala Sant Vincenc, where we explored the 4 little coves dotted around there.

Still having a few hours to spare and loving life on the open road, we visited Alcudia old town and then explored the coastline and the beaches of Manresa and Mal Pas before wending our way back to Puerto Pollenca filling up on fuel (€12 across three bikes) and dropped the bikes off with 10 minutes to spare. The guys at the shop did a perfunctory check over our machines, relinquished their hold on our credit cards and waved us on our way.

Definitely an easy, fun and cool way to see the sights of this beautiful coastline, these 50cc’ers do not go fast so you won't be winning any drag races, but you can cover much more ground than you’d expect. We could easily have fully explored Cap Formentor and Cap des Pinar in one day or gone further afield in any direction. If you want to hop between beaches, ports and old towns on your own schedule or just to find your favourite spot off the bus route and chill out for the day, scooters are the way to do it in style.

We rented from Rent March in Puerto Pollenca but check out our scooter hire page to find a shop that suits you.