Tried and Tested: Segway tours in Palma de Mallorca
Sightseeing in Palma on two wheels
Palma city sightseeing is an understandably popular pastime for visitors to Mallorca. Palma Cathedral, Es Baluard Art Gallery, the Passeig des Born and the beach front are on nearly every visitors "to see" list but in the midday sun walking between these sites can be a sweaty affair and driving through city traffic and finding a space to park takes all the fun out of your day. Fortunately you can see all these sights on a Segway.
Now, I will concede that segways are, to quote Weird Al Yankovic; "White and nerdy". No one cool uses one on a day-to-day basis. Brad and Angelina are seldom "papped" coming out of night clubs and hopping on their two wheeled stallions and setting off to a late night party.
That said they are remarkable machines. The physics behind what keeps them upright has something to do with some clever things that are frankly not important. What is important is that they are really, really good fun.
I took my tour of Palma with Kico, Alex and Byron from Segway Palma. Tours can be organised any day of the week and at a time to suit yourself. The tours last for between one and three hours depending on the route you decide to take and cost upwards of €35.
Our route took started in La Lonja where we were give our segways and showed how to move forwards, steer and stop. It really is very simple. It's just a question of leaning your body weight in the direction you want to travel and after a few minutes even the most tentative of our group looked comfortable and ready to move off towards Portixol.
We took the beach front promenade to the small fishing port and glided effortlessly past cyclists, joggers and skaters who all looked like they were trying very hard to move at all. A cool breeze was blowing off the mid-day heat as we cruised smoothly and quickly to the garden at the end of the strip for a play around on our new steeds.
We then headed back towards the city, up past the Cathedral, through the old town towards Placa Major, down towards Passeig des Born and along more narrow streets to Es Baluard before heading back to La Lonja via the Passeig de Sagrera.
Riding the segway is effortless and comfortable and weaving through the back streets of Palma on your way to see the Cathedral or Es Baulard is great fun. You may not look cool while you are riding one, but to be honest you'll be having too much fun to care.
