Please help salvage our holiday - Mallorca…

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I know IABU. I didn’t research properly (I thought I had, but clearly didn’t…)

We’re staying in Alcudia. I have name changed because outing. I have two children who are 7 and 11.

Our hotel is fine but I hadn’t realised how big it was, so it’s loud and although there are 846 pools (slight exaggeration) there are only two that are fun to play in

We walked to the beach today (5 min walk) and it was a bit grim. Lots of shops selling fake sunglasses etc, not very clean beach, just a bit… hmm…

I need to make a plan for the next 4 days. PLEASE HELP AND TELL ME WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO DO?!

1. I thought we could go into the old town of Alcudia - would love any recommendations
2. Is the Hidropark worth it?
3. Where can we find a beach that is clean and calm??
4. Anything else?

Before anyone tells me I’m a snob, yes probably I am a bit. We normally stay in much smaller and calmer hotels or rent a villa/house. We rarely come abroad so this is meant to be a real treat.

I will be so grateful for any good ideas so I can make a plan. Please don’t tell me to embrace the hotel aqua aerobics/disco/etc. It’s really, really not my thing (although v happy for my children to take part in anything they’d like to, but the childrens club seems aimed at younger ones really).

THANK YOU! And yes, I’m grateful to be on holiday but want to make it really great for my children and at the moment we’re all a bit underwhelmed.

Oh yes also on Playa De Muro beach they had inflatable obstacle course type thing you could go on. That was about €5-€10 euro and there is aquariums.

Gosh is Alcudia really awful?

We went to Puerto Pollensa a few years back and it was just gorgeous. Recently got back from Playa de Muro which is close to Alcudia and I thought that was lovely too, though not much there.

Don't mean to be rude but aren't most of these touristy places full of overpriced tat shops? I know that some places are louder and more Brits abroad than others.

Market days for local towns attached. Buses are busy then and often drive past without stopping. There's a bus to Palma too, about £4pp each way but it gets busy otherwise No Frills do a trip bus. Masks are still mandatory on buses including for children.

To an extent it's what you make of it. I'm just back from Crete, and my kids would have hated a car journey when they just wanted to dick about in the various pools.

Would I go there in a couple? No

Would I go there with children these ages? Yes

Sorry to jump in on this thread but you all know so much - where should I be booking for next year (all adults, we are middle aged, 20 something kids are more boring than us going out) would like bars with music ideally rock or folk (I know asking a lot) and restaurants but not places people are vomiting in the street and full of stags and hens. Villa with pool will have rental car(s) and a motorbike.

The hidro park is fine , its not classy but fun day out.
Alcudia old town is really lovely , you'll be much happier if you go there, I'm sure will be few euros in taxi.
Local bus really easy to pollenca try and go early on market day, it's brilliant then maybe on to port de pollenca for a swim.
You'll find your spot , don't worry

Oh and yes to boat trip to formentor. Nice beach and cafe there and trails in the forest if you can be bothered with that in the heat. Nice to get out on a boat

I can’t really help on tips for Mallorca, but a similar thing happened to us a few years ago. Husband booked this awful apartment with a really sad looking pool in the canaries. Not what I had in mind at all. However we hired a car and toured the island for the week trying out all the lovely beaches and villages. I actually look back at that holiday really fondly now. I think if we stayed somewhere nicer and not ventured out as much the holiday wouldn’t have been as good.
The holiday is salvageable!

I think we went to a bird reserve near Alcudia? Nice for a walk round somewhere quieter.

Get a car and explore! Soller is lovely, and Valldemosa.

The Pirate show in Magaluf is fantastic - great for kids and adults too. There are normally coaches from all over the island that go, so you could ask about those.

Not on Mallorca but Nerja might fit your bill ? I like the vibe there. Lots of villas around and can go to Malaga or Marbella with a car

You miss the key part of the jigsaw

budget

You might be surprised that car hire is less than you think. I did it one year in Menorca on the day and was really surpised at the cost. If you have your driving licence with you it might be worth popping in the hire place and asking.

We loved the hidropark, plenty of sun beds if you don’t fancy the rides.

Another vote for Puerto Pollensa - we got the ferry from there to Formentor beach (25 min trip), you can stay a couple of hours on the beach and kids can snorkel (the fish come right up to the shore).

Yep, I took my DM & a nephew, neither of whom stopped whinging there but we hired a car & found some lovely quiet beaches. The mountains are nice too.

There is a train too?

Porto Pollenca is nice tho I still have mental flashbacks to the poor horse pulled a carriage in high teps without water. It was a long time ago, so hopefully if is still this happening, the horse welfare is better. I was young & didn't do anything...

Buses are fab and easy in Mallorca . Get a bus down towards Can Picafort ( or walk down the beach) to Playa de Muro . Beach gets so much nicer . Get bus or walk to Alcudia old town. Get bus to Pollenca old town , walk up Spanish steps etc . Hire sup boards from Alcudia or Puerto Pollenca . Day out in Palma etc

I feel your pain, it's so easily done, I've been going to Majorca for 20 years and still managed to book a villa which was advertised as Pollenca but was actually Alcudia. We rented a car but if you're getting the bus to Puerto Pollenca (which is one straight road along) get off at the entrance to the marina and walk down the pedestrianised bit until you get to the Hotel Sis Pins, the beach there is lovely and that's where the sunbeds though you don't actually need to rent one as there is plenty of sand just to sit on.

We haven't been since 2019 but we normally stay in Pollenca old town and there are lots of lovely restaurants and a market on Sunday which is definitely worth a look. Doesn't sound like you'll need a swimming pool but there are nice public pools which are not busy at all just outside Pollenca and a bit further afield in Buger.

If you're looking for a more budget food option in Pollenca town (some of the restaurants can be quite pricey especially when you've already paid a lot for hotel meals) then I can recommend the Chinese restaurant that's just off the square. We often ate there then got an ice cream in the square for desert.

Further afield Soller and Valdermossa are lovely towns and if you want to splash out Port de Soller has a naice hotel called the Hotel Esplendido which does a great lunch and is right by the beach.

The caves of drach are fantastic - you might find somewhere doing a tour to them? We went when we were in alcudia and the bus went to a market and maybe a candle place (?) Then to the caves. The market was fun, candle place was a bit meh (just looking to sell you it) but it was worth it for the caves

We stayed in the Iberostar Ciudad Blanco in Alcudia and I remember the beach there being lovely. The old town is nice. The main drag is rotten but can just use for handy Spar shops and bus routes. Car hire was very cheap and could be done by the day from local operators, lots of amazing places are a short drive away.

This one?

en.balearsnatura.com/parque_natural/parc-natural-de-salbufera-de-mallorca/

I was going to recommend that too, although I'm not sure the small people will be particularly interested. We did watch an osprey eating its lunch, and saw some water snakes, but still not sure it's great for little ones.

Check out Arta if you want a bit of culture - beautiful town - pretty sure the bus goes through the Alcudia strip to there - also some iron age ruins at the bottom of town if you want education as well!!

Pollensa old town is fab - walk up the calvery steps. If you can be bothered walk up puig de Santa Maria just outside the old town for fab views (be warned - it is a tough walk) - can get the bus from the port.

@Midpmcoffee they love a good pool. But it’s crazy busy and the sun loungers are all taken by 7am (I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not) so it’s quite unrelaxing

We went to Cala Mesquida last year and loved it! Stayed in the Zafiro hotel there - one quarter full at the end of August. It was bliss! The only benefit of Covid! 😀 The landscape is so beautiful there, loved the beautiful wooden walkways along the beach. Really feels away from it all.