Mallorca for adults

[Pigsinspaaace]

Heading to Mallorca for the first time in early Sept with my new husband (a part two to our honeymoon). Staying inland (Alaro) and we've hired a car. Any recommendations, please, on interesting places to visit? We like scenic walks, local history, markets, good food. DH not much of a beach person. (I love a quiet-ish beach myself) Neither of us are fans of hugely touristy spots. Thanks!

Alaro is lovely but not much to do there. There is a restaurant up a hill behind it that you have to walk to and it’s a bit of a hike. That’s nice. There is a market there in the weekend but it’s food oriented (amazing vegetables!) the cafe at the back of the square next to the Pilates studio does great coffee and food.

walking on alcudia beach is great and the pine walk in porta pollensa is also lovely (stop at the hotel Illa d’or for a drink). Calla Vicente is an interesting place to visit too and has a massive feral cat population if you like feeding stray cats.

the town of pollenca is also a lovely place to stroll and the massive flight of steps is good to crawl up if it’s not too hot. There’s a market there on Sundays.

go to Palma for a day. The cathedral is beautiful and the shopping is great!

I also recommend hiring a boat with a driver for a half day as seeing mallorca from the sea is always interesting and it’s cooler out there. September is still quite hot.

soller is also worth a visit. Just drive - there’s lots to see. But do not get a large car as they do not fit well down the tiny streets of some towns! E.g pollenca, campanet, alaro. Also parking is difficult in general.

have fun - it’s a great island.

i must say it is a very beach in mind place . they are beautiful and the water is crystal clear . it would be a shame to avoid them .

Some fantastic suggestions, thank you @whirlyhead ! 😊

Who said they were avoiding beaches @pavillion1 ? What an unhelpful comment.

Soller is lovely but very busy this time of year. If you get the train from Palma (there’s an underground car park very close to the train station) it’s a nice journey through the mountains. You can then get the tram down to the Port where there are cafes. It’s pretty touristy but still nice. Lots of walks around the South East corner. Pollensa town has a good market.

The train journey sounds interesting thanks @LooksLikeImStuckHere

Deia is beautiful. You can do some hiking, shopping, eating in the gorgeous restaurants…

Pollença is a lovely town, as is Valdermossa.

I love Mallorca.

@Pigsinspaaace the drive through the mountains is also spectacular, but the parking at the other end is painful.

Sa Calobra is beautiful but with quite small parking space so you’d need to get there early and if you aren’t beach people, there isn’t anything else to do, although I think there may be a walk. Same with Formentor - stunning but mainly a beach.

If you are ok with boats, I’ve read that the Isla de Cabrera on the South East coast is worth a visit. You can get boats from Colonia Sant Jordi, I believe. Quite a trek from where you are though.

Thanks @LunaNorth - they're all going on our list :) I'm looking forward to visiting. We went to Menorca last year and fellow MNers recommended some amazing places to visit. (The former quarry turned gardens being something we might never have found ourselves)

That's worth researching @LooksLikeImStuckHere - we both coastal row so we're often on the water at home!

If you like walks, there are plenty of signposted walking routes. I found some online, a helpful person has put details online in English. Sorry I'm useless at links but I'm sure you can find them if you Google. We stayed just outside Soller. Soller itself is an interesting, busy little town. The train ride from Palma is beautiful. There are walks all around that area. Puerto Soller is busy and touristy, but there are lots of lovely restaurants there with a beautiful view over the bay, it's a great place to finish a walk (and one end is quieter and more laid back). We made the mistake of walking several hours to a beach restaurant featured in The Night Manager. The deserted little cove we saw on TV was so mobbed we couldn't get near but luckily we found a brilliant vegetarian cafe in the town on the hill behind! Then caught the bus back to Soller.

That must've been disappointing @Crikeyisthatthetime but it sounds like you found a cracking veggie restaurant instead!

Sant Elm is particularly lovely, as isAndraitx , also Cala Ferrara , all the previous places mentioned are all lovely but all the lovely places are all touristy, you kind of have to accept that - inland- Inca is good for the market

Thanks @Crikeyalmighty I do agree but there's a huge difference between seaside towns that cater for tourism alongside locals and purpose built resorts or places taken over by miles of hotels and water parks. Presumably most people responding on this thread understood that nuance.

Also, as you’re in alaro, I would recommend going to one of the best restaurants on the island, mare nostrum, which is in sa pobla not far from alaro. Their tasting menu is amazing, but it does book up well in advance so book now.

sa pobla is a working town so not much else to see there but it’s quite fun to walk through. Brendan Cole (from strictly come dancing) lives up the road near pollensa so sometimes you see him around in sa pobla.

sant elm is fab and there are some excellent restaurants there. Tim’s bar in port Andratx is a great place to spend the evening. Often live music and watching the sun go down is a lovely way to spend an evening.

The market at Santanyi on Sat and Wed mornings is nice but very busy. We were there last week by 10am and it was a bit quieter than usual due to the heat. It's full of tourists but as Santanyi is a classy little place its worth a visit anyway.

@Pigsinspaaace oh I do get that totally- if you haven't been to majorca it's my favourite island- to be honest if you avoid Magaluf and Arenal ( and even they have lovely beaches) and some of Alcudia (old town is lovely) I'm fine with almost everywhere else.

Some of the loveliest 'spots' are very touristy - because other people think so too, puerto pollensa , Deia and Valdemossa and Formentera being amongst those. All are pretty classy though.

Cala Ferrara was rather a nice gem when we went there, lovely street of classy bars and restaurants set above an almost fjord like setting- quite close to Cala d'or. Sant Elm too- classy big village , only 1 hotel so touristy as has a lovely beach and fab restaurant ants, but not egg and chips- Cala San vincente- very good for swimming as sheltered cliff type setting and a nice lunch- soller itself is beautifully attractive .

If I can recommend somewhere classy and a great spot with kind of an Ibiza vibe- we love Roxy's beach bar in portals Nous-

And Lilas in same area- it's a gorgeous upmarket vibe and food- but not extortionate and very very popular - lovely at lunch !!

www.lila-portals.com/en/

You could have a trip out to Manacor, market day on Monday, traditional town, nice church and one tower left of a royal palace, that is now in the courtyard of a block of offices, but interesting. On the outskirts is Rafa Nadals Tennis Academy which has a small museum, a lovely bar overlooking the facilites and you can walk round the courts watching the players. Rafa does train their sometimes. It is a fantastic facility. Then drive down to Porto Cristo, a lovely small port with Rafas big black caramaran in the harbour, and some goid bars and restaurants along the harbour side. The Caves of Drach are just outside town and is worth a visit. They are always busy, but pre book a time slot and you won't have to wait long. There are some lovely coves on this side of the island, and some big resorts. The coves are worth a visit.

These are all great suggestions and insights, thank you so much @Lincslady53 @Crikeyalmighty @whirlyhead @PrimalLass I really appreciate it 😊

@Pigsinspaaace have a great time- Majorca is my happy place

I too was going to suggest the train from Palma to Soller (or the other way around). Its not like a UK train, but a small gauge, open air one. It goes into the mountains, through olive groves and its very pretty and relaxing. It stops at the top for a few minutes to get off and take photos.

This was pre-covid, and there was a market on in Soller at the time. This might be daily, I have no idea. Handbags, belts, hats and the local tipple etc. You can get the train back again, but its rather slow. We caught a local bus. From memory it was cheap, on time and possibly air conditioned. It was also much quicker than the train.

Train to Sóller - Discover Mallorca (abc-mallorca.com)

We were staying in Palma, so this was close. Its near the port in Palma. It is the biggest carrefour I've ever been in. Some staff were wearing roller skates to get around- honestly! Not only a massive selection of ham products, but also touristy items, gifts, and great value saffron, paprika, alcohol etc. Just check what the rules are for bringing food/alcohol back to the UK now.

Carrefour Porto Pi - Carrefour Spain

The market in soller is nice and there are some good restaurants there and in port de soller. Biniaraix is a village to the east of soller and there are some good places to eat there as well as some good walks up into the mountains.

Walking trails are really well marked in Mallorca and are all online

The drive from Pollensa to Soller over the mountains on the Ma-10 road is absolutely spectacular. Dodging the cyclists on narrow, twisting mountain roads can be challenging, though.

Me too - we've always stayed in one place as the kids were small but I'm now ready to ditch them and explore more!

If you like wine, I can recommend a tour and tasting with tapas at Bodega Ribas in Consell : https://bodegaribas.com/en/inicio-english/

Consell also has a great bakery, Can Moranta. The bread is amazing and DH says they do his favourite ensaimada on the island.

We also really like Banyalbufar, a gorgeous little bay at Cala Banyalbufar and then the town is also worth an explore. Had a great meal at Restaurant Ca’n Poco.

The citrus orchard at Ecovinyassa is also worth a visit - we ate the best oranges of our life and there is a self-guided tour.