Majorca help please!

[LittleGreenDuck]

I'm planning a short break in Majorca next July for my family of two adults and three teens. This is an add on to our main holiday so will likely be there only four or five days.

I don't know Majorca at all. Please could anyone recommend an area that has a few restaurants, shops and a decent beach, but not a full on clubbing area or endless streets of English pubs etc. Just looking for a bit of pool and beach downtime and nice meals out in the evening, maybe a trip into Palma as well. Areas to avoid would also be helpful!

Ideally we'd like to be within 40 minutes taxi ride of Palma, as we're not staying long and won't have a car, we don't want to be spending time and money travelling across the island.

Specific hotel or apartment recommendations would also be very welcome!

Thank you.

Calla Millor is lovely, busy, lively but not too brits abroad. Hotel Protur Playa Calla Millor is nice, adults only so depends how old the teens are. It's an hour by taxi from the airport.
Palma Nova is much nearer the airport, lovely beaches, a waterpark, busy but not too ott. Magaluf is the next town along if they do want clubs.
I know other lovely resorts but they are further away from airport.

We love Puerto de Soller and think it meets all your requirements. The hotel Esplendido is right opposite the beach.

Thank you, I'll have a look at these. Youngest child will actually still be 12, the other two 14 and 16 so definitely no clubbing or adults only places.

Another vote for Cala Millor. Beautiful beach and lots of shops, bars, restaurants along the front. Cala Bona is walkable from there too and is a lovely resort but the beach is a bit crap.

I too was going to say Puerto de Soller.

Pre-covid, DH and I stayed near Palma. The hotel was fine, with a pool, but maybe a 15-20min walk from Palma itself and on a hill. It had about 1 million steps to get to anything!
1 highlight was a day trip on the small gauge train that travels from Palma to Soller and back. I highly recommend it. When we got to Soller- I thought it was beautiful and really wished we'd stayed there! A little port with boats and a beach. Taverna type cafes, a little market on and just a lovely vibe. Its about 40mins drive from the airport.

https://trendesoller.com/eng/routes/train

I was also going to say Puerto de Soller! And you can get the cute train up to Soller, which is gorgeous

I’ve just come back from Cala Bona, which is walkable from Cala Millor. My DDs are 12 and 15 year and we loved it. We stayed at Hipotels, which wasn’t luxury, but was really really chilled… only place I’ve ever been to that has a huge pile of floaties that you can help yourselves to any time 👍

Also Puerto de soller! Just got back.
Lovely family friendly place (though prices have gone up recently - but haven't they everywhere!)

I’ve just come back from playa de Muro, beach is fantastic and meets your criteria although 10 mins further away. Food and service was outstanding. https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/majorca/iberostar-playa-de-muro-village/?ad-machina=8kH-1JX:396-1JY:3Ag-1J8:3E5-1J7:3EB&ds_rl=1299487&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0Oq2BhCCARIsAA5hubXB8jBErvzCwRS726OhyCnIRdssGHsJ1RHVPeL0rNH9q-Si8O5n11saAuQIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Puerto de Soller from me too!

Just looking at Puerto Sóller, looks lovely! Thanks folks.

Just back from Soller and it was lovely. We stayed in the town but Port de Soller was lovely. Getting the tram back and forth between the two was lovely if a bit pricey! The train into Palma from Soller was great as well, beautiful views. Got the bus back. Lots of beautiful walks and plenty to do. Really recommend!

Thanks all, I'm just looking at the Eden Nord hotel. We're on a bit of a budget, so the Jumeirah was out!

Love a train ride! Looks awesome.

I mostly second the recommendation of Puerto Soller. It's beautiful and there are very few football shirts or full English breakfasts. However, it's not the best base for touring. There is a sandy beach which is wide but not very deep (10 metres or so from the road to the sea) - check it out on Street View - and it has loungers, parasols, boat trips, all you need. For 4-5 days it's perfect, but the next nearest sandy beach is nearly an hour away by any form of transport.

Taxis will be awkward with five of you because most taxis take only 4 passengers. One or two companies have a 7-seater van, but it's quite a hassle to arrange. For the transfer from the airport I'd recommend a pre-booked private transfer as they can provide vehicles of any side.

Fortunately Majorca's bus network is great. For example, Puerto Soller to Palma takes 40 minutes and there is a bus every half hour. The total one-way fare for 5 people is €11.30.

Thanks for this, really helpful to know. This is going to be a fly and flop few days after a busy week of activities elsewhere in Europe, so we won't be touring around much, though usually we'd be avid explorers! I had already scoped out the bus situation and we're happy to do that to save a bit of money.

Port de Pollensa. Beautiful beach, variety of restaurants, pine walk buzzing at night with normal people. Maybe an hour from Palma but worth it.

I would recommend Puerto pollenca but it is on the north coast. Will you be hiring a car? It took us about 90 mins on the airport bus.

Isn't Majorca one of the places that is vehemently anti-tourist atm? Maybe the news is exaggerated, but I think I'd be a bit nervous about going somewhere I wasn't wanted. But if you have a thicker skin than me, you should be ok!

I've only been to the capital and it was lovely. The beach resorts look beautiful too so I'm sure you can't go wrong.

Sa Coma is really nice as is Cala Millor (right next to each other) - lovely beaches and quite quiet. A good 40 minutes from Palma though so you might want something closer. Alcudia is a good place for teens...lots to do.its bigger but at the port end is really nice. I think other end of Alcudia is a bit more 'brits abroad'

We were a bit worried about this, but everyone was more than lovely - even the passport control officers stopped to chat to my son

Maybe the news is exaggerated

It is.

The restaurants, hotels and shops are anything but anti tourist.

Sa Coma is lovely, very family friendly. We have stayed at one of the Protur hotels. Lots of activities for all ages or likewise just sit around the pools or lovely beach.

We enjoyed Santa Ponsa. It’s not the most ‘authentic’ resort but there a a fabulous big beach and some lovely places to eat.
We found it a very easy resort to get to and navigate.

No. Not remotely.

There have been a couple of anti-government demos demanding better access to housing (and yes, Airbnb was mentioned), and then three tiny ironic beach gatherings, protesting about the comments of a local fascist councillor who said "Let's face it, Majorcans shouldn't expect to be able to go to the beach in July and August". At two of those, more journalists than protestors turned up.

During all of these events a total of zero people have been arrested and a total of zero tourists have been assaulted.

Meanwhile, like every summer, dozens of tourists have been arrested for assaulting other tourists and local residents. But because that's "Dog bites man", whereas "People in nice warm place ask nicely if they can please be able to afford to live where they grew up" can be sold to editors as "Man bites dog", the shite "content providers" of the click-based media have been recycling the "Tourists could be murdered in their hundreds by rampaging locals if this escalates for about 10,000 years" line.