by Marian Camps, Guest Contributor

I have never been to Mallorca but is definitely on my list. I have asked my friend, Marian Camps to share with us her local tips. She recommends staying in Palma and renting a car to see the other sites in this very easy to tour island.

 

PALMA DE MALLORCA (CITY)

 Cultural tours:

• Cathedral: A must. It’s the only cathedral built in front of the sea. Construction started in XII century. Gaudí and Miquel Barceló contributed in the XX century. http://www.catedraldemallorca.info/principal/
• You can complete the Cathedral tour walking through the historical district. You can visit the Plaza de Cort (Town Hall), Plaza Santa Eulalia, Plaza de Montesion (this is my school, it was built on XV century) and Plaza San Francisco
• Casa Estudio de Miró. http://miro.palmademallorca.es/
• Museum El Baluard. The exhibitions are not very impressing, but the bar and the view it’s totally worthy http://www.esbaluard.org/es/
• Bellver Castle – Only if you are curious about castles (there is nothing really there more than the building). You also have a very nice view from Palma (it’s the only one in the world with a circular base)

What to do:

• Ramblas, Borne and Jaime III are the commercial area. You can have an ice cream at Can Miquel, and you must have breakfast (or an early dinner) in Can Joan de S’aigo (http://www.canjoandesaigo.webs-sites.com/ ) Best ensaimadas and ‘cuartos’ from Mallorca. You can order them with hot chocolate or ice cream
• If you want to walk across the sea line, the place is El Portixol. There are so many nice places to eat there: Hotel Portixol (expensive), Restaurante Club Naútico Es Portixol and Restaurante Club Marítmo Es Molinar (one of my favorites for fish and Paella), Cocco (modern and couzy place)
• The most typical bar in Palma is Bar Bosch. You should ask for a “Llagosta”, it’s based between Es Born and Jaime III (shopping area)
• Another great place to eat (breakfast, lunch or brunch) is Es Rebost, they have pretty good products from Mallorca http://www.es-rebost.com/es/
• If you visit Palma on Saturday, you should go either to Mercat de S’Olivar or Mercat de Santa Catalia. These are permanent markets, and on Saturdays you can have brunch there, a really nice experience.

Where to eat:

Palma has very good restaurants, so it’s very hard to choose without knowing your taste… This will be my first recommendation:

Palma Centro:

• Casa Maruca. http://www.casamaruka.com/ (rice, meat)
• Club Nautico de Palma (you can have lunch at the port) http://www.rcnp.es/web04/elclub/restaurantes_sp.php?menu_supe=elclub
• Es mercat, located in Mercado del Olivar. (one of my favorite
• Can Manolo. Paellas and fish. http://www.restaurantecanmanolo.com/
• Tast Club. Located in the ‘center’ of the city, another one of my favorites. You have to book in advance. http://www.tast.com/tastclub/
• Can Nofre. This is probably my favorite one. It’s not very well-known among the tourists because it’s not located in a concurred area. One of the bests places in Palma for typical food.
• SumaQ, (Peruvian but really good. You can walk from Es Baluard). http://www.restaurantesumaq.com/

Zona Portitxol (Frente al Mar):

• Club marítimo molinar- for paellas. http://www.restauranteclubmaritimomolinar.com/
• Pizzería in Portitxol. Very nice views. http://www.coccoportixol.com/#ad-image-0
• Restaurante club nautico Portitxol. Para paellas. http://cnportitxol.com/
• Restaurante del Hotel Portitxol. http://www.portixol.com/es/restaurant-bar/

REST OF MALLORCA

PLACES TO VISIT

Tramuntana Zone: (one of the most beautiful areas):

You can have a route among this places in 1-2 days. The views and the small villages are amazing.

• Deià
• Esporlas
• Banyalbufar
• Valldemossa
• Soller

Zona Nord-Este:

• Alcudia
• Pollença
• Orient

Another really nice tour could be Cabo Formentor, it’s a very nice road heading to the sea.

What to do

• Mallorca has amazing subterranean caves. They are very touristic, you can take a look at the websites and decide by yourselves:
  • Cuevas del Drach. http://www.cuevasdeldrach.com/
  • Cuevas dels Hams. http://www.cuevas-hams.com/
  • Cuevas de Campanet. http://www.covesdecampanet.com/home.php?lang=es
• Sa Foradada. Another must to visit. There is a very nice walk (4-5 kms) to get to the sea, or look at it from a balcony. Actually there is a restaurant with views (not excellent, you can see Trip Advisor reviews http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g580297-d1905405-Reviews-Mirador_de_Na_Foradada-Deia_Majorca_Balearic_Islands.html)
• Sineu Market (on Wednesdays). A typical Mallorcan market, very nice to see. There are many places to have a drink or lunch there. http://www.ajsineu.net/municipi/fires/index.en.html
• Pollença Market (on Sundays). Lots of typical crafts and a nice village. http://www.baleareslive.com/info_evento.php?p=mercado-semanal-pollensa&id=201&l=en
• Raixa tour and its gardens. It’s a typical old Mallorcan house, very nice (it has appeared in few movies). It’s run by the local government, so it’s open to everybody. Another typical place, at the entrance of Tunel de Soller, is Alfabia, but you will have to pay to visit it http://www.conselldemallorca.net/raixa.php?id_section=11612&id_lang=2
• If you like trekking there are many options in Mallorca, it will depend on what you want to see and how difficult/long you want to make it. http://www.senderosdemallorca.com/informacion/index.en.html
• http://serradetramuntana.eu/
• http://www.mallorcanwalkingtours.puertopollensa.com/WalkDests.html
• Lastly but not least, another very touristic place (but also worthy) is Valldemosa and la Cartuja (where Chopin spent a winter) http://www.cartujadevalldemossa.com/es/index.html . You should have “Coca de patata” there. There are few good typical restaurants there as well (another must of Mallorca)

Lunch and Dinner

•  Es Brollador. En Esporles. http://www.tripadvisor.es/Restaurant_Review-g1006061-d1501085-Reviews-Es_Brollador-Esporles_Majorca_Balearic_Islands.html
• Can Bonico. Ses Salines. http://www.tripadvisor.es/Hotel_Review-g616237-d1535935-Reviews-Hotel_Ca_n_Bonico-Ses_Salines_Majorca_Balearic_Islands.html
• Santi Taura. Lloseta. You have to book in advance, it’s probably the best restaurant in Mallorca (but not very expensive) http://www.restaurantsantitaura.com/
• Selva. http://www.miceli.es/ Another excellent restaurant that you have to book in advance. Better to go on week days, weekends are normally booked 2 months in advance, there are only 5-6 tables
• Ca na Toneta. Caimari. http://www.canatoneta.com/
• If you want to have an amazing experience at the beach, you must book at La Ponderosa (ask for a table at the terrace, and try to go in a week day to have a good table). You will have an amazing paella in front of the sea with your feed (literally) in the sand). The beach is called Ses Casetes des Capellans (Planza de Muro, Can Picafort). Also, you need to book in advance

Beaches

If you feel like, this is a short list (there are dozens of them, it will depend where you are staying)

• Playa de Es Trenc
• Playa de Ses casetes des Capellans
• Cala San Vicenç. Pollença
• Cala Deià
• Puerto de Banyalbufar
• Illetes (very close to Palma)

Only few of them, you can find much more at http://www.platgesdebalears.com/caplaibFront/portada_isla.en.jsp?cIsl=MA

WHERE TO STAY:

PALMA DE MALLORCA

Hotels  in the Historic Center

Expensive:

• Hotel Boutique Calatrava http://www.boutiquehotelcalatrava.com/ (pretty new). One of the better areas of Palma, in my opinion
• Hotel Santa Clara http://www.santaclarahotel.es/es/hotel-gallery.html. In the middle of the historic center

More affordable: all of them are very well located and they are good value for money

• Hotel Saratoga, http://www.hotelsaratoga.com/
• Hotel Palacio Avenida http://ur-palacio-avenida.hotel-rez.com/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIX6lvSJ2cMCFYRAaQod5RgAiw.
• Hotel Tryp Palma http://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/majorca/tryp-palma-hotel/index.html?gclid=CMOj4O-K2cMCFYNAaQodm4MACw&ef_id=VNrehwAABGZS9x3@:20150211044559:s
• UR Mision de San Miquel http://www.urmisionsanmiguel-palmamajorca.com/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIyq9KWL2cMCFQaSaQodlXEAiA
• http://es.somhoels.es/ -they have various hotels throughout the island and is well regarded.

Inexpensive:

• Hotel Colon http://www.hotelcolonpalma.com/es/. Cheap,comfortable and decent. Even though it is not located in the very center it is very convenient. Near the center, bus and train stations, etc.

Outside of Palma

• http://es.somhoels.es/ -they have various hotels throughout the island and is well regarded.
• http://www.fontsantahotel.com/es/hotel -located in the south of the island, closed to one of the best beaches, Trenc, are some ancient thermal baths reconverted into a a hotel and spa. This place is geared more for couples rather than families.

 

Further suggestions by NYTimes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/travel/what-to-do-in-majorca.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share