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.

@Midpmcoffee it’s 6pm here and supper time

Don't know if it's still there, and I can't remember the location (yes, useless I know) but we stumbled upon an ostrich place in Mallorca a few years ago. It looked really scruffy from the outside and I was all for just driving past, but the kids wanted to go in and it was absolutely brilliant. The owners were really knowledgeable and clearly loved the birds and we learned loads. If you can find it, it's definitely worth a trip.
Agree the caves are great, also the train to Port Soller though it could be tricky without a car. A day trip to Palma is another possibility which may be easier by public transport.

Definitely Peurto Pollensa. Lovely beach, lovely prom and great restaurants.

I’m surprised at the love for Puerto Pollensa - I didn’t like the hidden rocks in the water and the rancid sulphur emitting rotting seaweed ‘floor’ when you get to about waist deep in water. Maybe we were unlucky. But yes absolutely Formentor beach, and Puerto Soller + tram if you can.

I know this is random but we were in similar situation a few years back. We ended up going too old Alcudia most evenings as it was so lovely and a short bus or taxi ride. Anyway there’s one of those famous doors of Instagram in old Alcudia - as well as gorgeous bars, restaurants, boutiques and market etc - the restaurants in the town square were great with kids as it was pedestrians only so they could run about a bit with all the other feral kids!

We swam quite far out and didn’t encounter this, maybe it’s only at certain parts of the beach.

Yes pine walk is definitely in pollensa. I've been warned off Alcudia by people who know I'd hate it. Have lots of friends who seem to love it though.

Alcudia activities

Someone on my Facebook has just been to Alcudia and did a boat trip looking for dolphins. Her kids loved it.

I think her actual organiser was called Speedboat Alcudia.

Puerto Pollensa has a bit more of an upmarket feel to it, so I'd imagine that is why it's popular. The pine walk along the beach is nice, I agree that the beach isn't the best I've been to but it's huge and so you can find a quiet spot.

Personally I've given up trying to have any kind of cultural holiday with children in tow, mine just want to jump in the pool and play on the beach. Even the teenager.

My idea is lovely walks and sightseeing but this time I just embraced the all inclusive. I think the furthest we went was out on a pedal boat, but the dc were happy and didn't complain.

Definitely try and get bus to pollensa!!
There is a boat trip from pollensa out to a peninsula...its beautiful. Cannot remember the name of the boat trip.
Alcudia is Definitely not my idea of relaxation.

Yes, all this is good advice. Our kids at that age didn't want to join in organised activities or anything so places like that were a waste of time. They liked going out and about and seeing things. I must admit, so do I. Can't lie on a sunbed all day like some of them in those places. I get itchy feet after a couple of hours and want to go and see something different.

I've been. Ds loved it and it's ok but we've been to better water parks.

ha ha @Sunnydayatthepark 's last post has just proved that they're all different!

Just for future reference if you don't mind driving, our most successsful hoiday with kids around the age of 10 was self-catering on a gite site with shared pool and shared games room etc in the Dordogne. Lovely and quiet, kids free to roam but also had other children on site to play with, but not too many people as only about 3 or 4 other gites so only a few other families. Owners on site who were really helpful. Loads of kid-friendly stuff to do in the local area, includig all the prehistoric stuff. I found it very relaxing and even found myself chatting to other guests at the pool sometimes (I avoid that like the plague in big resort type places, I'm just an introvert really and get overwhelmed at everything going on).

No beaches though, so if you like beaches that's a huge downside I suppose. After a certain age mine could take or leave them. They just want to be DOING stuff all the time, as their default mode if not DOING STUFF is sitting on their tablets.

Bus routes and times

Majorca is small and the TIB service is awesome. Air conditioned, seat belts, comes at the times it says on the timetable. Very cheap. You could get anywhere you fancy with a bit of research on the connections!

Use one bank card, so one adult gets on, and dings the card once, it goes beep, one child or other adult goes past them, beep again for the second person etc. The reason for this is one bank card can be used for up to 5 tickets at a time, but the prices are on a sliding scale so each subsequent person is cheaper than the one before. When you reach your destination you have to ding the card for each person getting off too!

sorry link didn't work
Bus routes and times

I'll 572nd this. It really is lovely. The buses are good and easy to use, so make use of them and have a little tour around. I love Palma, I imagine you can get there easily from Alcudia on a bus or guided coach trip.

We went to the Hidropark about a decade ago when mine were something like 10, 8 and 5. It was a bit run down, but the slides were quite good and we stayed for several hours. I think you have to pay entrance whether you swim or not.

Food was of the fairly bad nuggets and chips variety, would recommend taking a picnic.

We went to Alcudia and found the beach was lovely. Massive and plenty of space. Which part are you at? If you head down towards Platja de Murray

If your budget stretches to it, I’d highly recommend the Pirate Show in Magaluf. They do a family show and an over 18s show. Think Cirque de Soleil with a pirate theme! It’s not cheap (we paid £206 for the mid-price tickets for 2 adults and 2 children), but you get transfers (we booked through Tui) dinner (chicken and chips!) and soft drinks included.

If you’re not booking through an agent they do a bus pickup for €15 per person from most major resorts.

www.piratesadventure.com/en

Haven’t read the whole thread but I know Mallorca very well and am a bit flummoxed by people recommending Puerto Pollensa - it’s not far off Alcudia in terms of touristy/tacky IMO! Pollensa old town is quite nice, but if you want truly gorgeous you want to head over to Deia/Soller/Valdemossa areas….

Puerto pollensa is lovely and there is also a good aquarium in Palma .. it’s about 10 years since we went though

I second this. Lovely place

We holiday in Cala D'Or. So much classier.

We went to Alcudia and although the town isn't pretty we found the beach was lovely and sandy and nice warm shallow sea. Beach was cleaned every night. Massive and plenty of space. Which part are you at? If you head down towards Platja de Muro end it might be less busy. There's a bus all the way down there.
We got a taxi to Alcudia old town in the evenings a few times as loved it there. It is very traditional and picturesque.
We also went on a boat trip to Formentor beach, booked with no frills excursions. It was a beautiful boat trip and you can also get buses to Formentor.
You can get the bus to Puerto de Pollenca - I liked the town compared to Alcudia but we really liked our hotel in Alcudia as it had alot if space and some pools were very quiet and plenty of space and lovely staff.
We didn't go to the waterpark so can't comment on that.
We did go to palma one day which I enjoyed and did it by train and taxi but it was hot so possibly not one for kids.
You can get excursions to Soller and the tram etc if you aren't driving.

I don't think sea swimming is for you, then. Maybe stick to pools!