Majorca- advice needed. Where to visit, excursions, adventure and fun.

[peoplepleaser1]

We (two families with two kids between us aged 10and 12) are going to Majorca in August. We've never visited before and are staying in a self catered Villa in the central mountainous region. There is a small village nearby and the nearest main twin is Inca.

We have hired a car.

I'd really appreciate tips about things to do and visit. We like boat trips, nature, watersports, adventure, kayaking and would like to see some of the traditional type villages. Also maybe an aqua park or theme park.

I've heard about cave trips, trips to a nearby island where you can swim and explore and a train journey but I don't have any further details as yet.

I'll have a google but any recommendations from mumsnetters would be brilliant.

We used No Frills excursions last year. They were excellent although we were based just outside Alcudia. Robinsons boat trips in Puerto Pollensa were good fun.

We went on a sunrise and dolphin boat trip from Alcúdia in June. It was expensive but good. We spent about 30 minutes amongst the dancing dolphins.

Valldemossa is a beautiful old town up in the Tramuntana mountains with an old monastery and cultural centre. Gorgeous views from up there!

The beach at Cap de Formentor is definitely worth the drive up the steep winding roads to get there, beautiful clear water and white sands. Perfect day trip.

The train journey you've heard about is probably the one on the old train from Palma to Soller which is lovely but wouldn't make sense for you as you're much closer to Soller than Palma. Soller and Port de Soller are great to visit though.

I love Palma too, the cathedral and the old town are fab.

There's a water park in El Arenal (which is a resort v popular with Germans) and another one in Magaluf (which is more popular with Brits) and you'll find water sports offered from most beaches in the main resorts so you could pick one that's easiest to get to for that.
It's a wonderful island am sure you'll have a great time!

Platja de tormentor is the great beach, Cap de Formentor is the lighthouse at the top right tip of the island. Both worth a visit especially the beach.

Sa Colabra is a drive and a half then walk to Torrent de Pareis and explore/swim in the sea. Only you can judge if the kids are up to exploring the canyon inland. You can hire guides I think.

Pollenca has the Carrer del Calvari - 365 steps to the small church at the top. Cafes at the bottom for the well earned drink.

If you can get an automatic car, saves a load of hassle on the clutch/gears especially with the mountain roads.

We are there right now, beautiful place but very busy. We have really liked port d pollensca and Cala d Or and port de sollier best so far. You can get the tram from port de sollier to sollier but get it from the stop at the end of the beach rather than the middle stop as it's goes past you to collect passengers further down the beach and then is full when it gets back so we could get on. This happened three times so we gave up! Deia is a gorgeous little town in the hills and ca's is a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the hills and sea, apparently the night manager was filmed there. Not cheap but amazing seafood.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I'm busy making a list. Sounds like a lovely place.

We are off to Majorca in August, watching with interest!

Can anyone recommend car hire for Mallorca? I’m overwhelmed looking on the internet.

There are loads of car hire companies at Palma airport. We got good rates with Enterprise and there was no queue at their desk last time we visited in peak season, unlike other companies’.

Lots of the car hire companies are off site from the airport which is fine but make sure you know in advance where the minibus picks up from (speaking from bitter experience!).

The Caves of Drach are amazing and great for taking a break from the heat. We went with a couple of 2 year olds and even they liked it 👍🏻

Loads of boat trips from most places. The glass bottom boats are good but not as many fish as there used to be.

Whilst you are closer to Soller, the trip through the mountains can be really awful for people in the back of the car. Having done it several times, we decided to go from Palma last time and it was far more enjoyable. Agree you should get the tram from Soller to Port de Soller, though there isn’t much to do down there it’s a nice stroll.

Sa Calobra is beautiful. Definitely worth the drive if you can face it.

Pollença (old town) has a lovely market but can’t remember which day, will be somewhere online!

Palma is worth a day trip, nice place to wander around 👍🏻

Hiper or Centauro are good for car hire in Mallorca. Both off airport, but they pick you up in the minibus, all very efficient and probably quicker than the worse on airports like Goldcar or Record.

Pick up point is out the front of the airport and across the other side of the car park.

The island you can swim to is off Portal Nous, I think it's about 400 metres. When we did it, we had to swim through a shoal of fried egg jelly fish and it was only afterwards that I found out that they don't sting, so it was pretty terrifying as I hate jelly fish. I'd wear water shoes as the terrain on the island is pretty rocky and we would have liked to explore a little but it was too painful on the feet.

If you go to the Formentor lighthouse, go early as it gets very busy and the road is very narrow. Well worth the trip though.