Mallorca - best things to do?

[Maboscelar]

We've just booked to go to Mallorca in early July, we have kids aged 11 and 16, and will have a hire car.

Wondering what must-sees there are? We love a bit of culture.

(In case anyone wonders, we can go in term time because one will have finished exams and the other one is home educated)

Old town Alcudia in the North. Stunning Roman walled town with lovely restaurants and little shops in shady streets. The teens will enjoy walking the walls ( like a sunnier York!) and shopping in the lovely little boutiques.
While there in the North and if you’re not staying there already, Puerto Pollensa is I think one of the prettiest seaside resorts in the world - walk the ‘Pine Walk’ alongside the beach and have a drink at the Hotel Illa D’Or at the end ( Agatha Christie connections). Often a lovely breeze there to counter the July heat. Old town Pollensa ( 3-4 miles inland from the Port) is also worth a visit. Climb the Puig Maria hill with the goats or go into town to climb the Via Calvari steps to the famous little church and see for miles.
Palma - Bellver Castle ( excellent museum about history of the island and the Romans); hop on / off bus exciting for complete lack of any relationship between guide numbers and stops (😁)and need to duck on top deck to avoid tree fronds in lovely streets; cathedral v interesting etc etc.
People will recommend Soller and little train to port de Soller. Ok but v busy.
Prefer Valldemossa - stunning town in the mountains.
Arta - inland town. Very atmospheric/ very pretty; lovely walk up to old abbey.
It’s very beautiful.
Be careful - may start a lifelong love affair with the island.

Sant Elm is a lovely resort in south west- no packages so few Brits and a lovely beach

I agree with valldemosa and Arta, llucmajor also nice,

Caves of Drac- very touristy but still lovely
Deia- bit of a one street town with gorgeous restaurants- but so fabulously set

I'm a huge Mallorca buff- it's my happy place

Oh and as @EvelynBeatrice says- beautiful Pollensa and it's lovely resort 3 miles away

Went to Mallorca for the first time in the summer and fell deeply in love with the place!! I loved Pollensa and Alcudia and Palma itself was so lovely. Hoping to go back this summer and cannot wait! Such a beautiful island.

Ah these are great! We are staying in Alcudia but I'm happy to drive around to see stuff. We have done Menorca numerous times and Lanzarote, I love a Spanish island!

I’m glad you asked. I despaired of friend who stayed all inclusive on the strip in Alcudia with the Irish bars and bucket and spade shops and never ventured into the old town. She ever after declared that it was an ugly touristy island and would never go back 🤔

Caves of Drac are brilliant

Yes - the caves - I was dubious as don’t care for enclosed spaces / claustrophobic- but it’s big inside and numbers are controlled, so not a worry in the end.

St Elm is a pretty village on the coast, I think it’s delightful.
you can visit Dragonera (a small island) from there.
You could also hike up to La Trappa from St Elm, although in July it’s perhaps too warm to do that, apart from in the early morning.

I have a long list of places to visit and things to do in cooler months (spring and autumn winter ) but in July I hang out in my pool and beach and don’t go anywhere, it’s so hot and there are so many people. I would find it too irritating to travel around much. And have the privilege of being able to be there at other times too.

we do go into palma in the evening to walk and to drink or have a meal
a few nights a week and to mercat Olivar, to buy sea food to bbq.
That market is a great feast to behold. And there are some great places to eat inside as well as produce to buy to cook later.

Aqualand is great fun. And not the tacky hellscape that I expected and had avoided for 20 years. My kids has a blast, I discovered I loved flumes and water rides. and we were there from the moment it opened til the last minutes it was opened.
getting a cab after was a nightmare, so either book one in advance and make sure to get it, or better yet hire a car. And don’t go to Arenal after for a meal, it’s pretty grim afaic.
You can take a cool box with all you want for the day. And it felt safe leaving possessions on a lounger whilst you were off riding rides. If you wear glasses make sure you have prescription googles. And have proper water shoes because you’ll need them to walk on the hot ground.

Binisalem is a pretty inland town, accessible by train, with a lovely square, lots of old buildings. But it is a real place where people really live. So there are authentic places to eat.
there’s vineyards there too that can be visited . Santa Maria del cami is also a characterful lived in town.

The port in Alcudia is lovely, we weren't so keen on the mega tourist areas where all the AI hotels were. The best thing we did there with similar age kids was the speed boat trip from Alcudia, it was so much fun and the kids still talk about it (also about the random family that booked the speed boat trip and spent the whole time asking him to slow down to a crawl)

If you go to valdemossa it's worth seeing the Chopin and George sand museum and the piano on which Chopin composed some of his music.
I've also done a couple of fantastic early morning hot air balloon rides, wonderful.

Caves of Drach are absolutely amazing, I'm claustrophobic on was very concerned about it, but they are huge inside and it was a brilliant experience. We also went for a fabulous meal at Cala d'Or yacht club

I think we are staying near the strip which is definitely not my cup of tea really, but we wanted to be near things after a few recent holidays where we ended up too far from shops or restaurants to get anywhere without me driving.

@EvelynBeatrice problem is with Alcudia it has lots of the big cheaper family AI type hotels and playa de Muro is a very attractive beach , so on paper it looks great - and the old town is indeed very nice and interesting. I guess if all you want is cherish, AI and a beach it suits many's needs but to declare it all ugly and touristy is madness.mind you if anyone looking at this page wants a resort snd a big hotel and doesn't wanting go to pollensa or Alcudia or Cala d'or - we did have a perfectly nice holiday in Paguera -

Caves of drach

Head into the port area of Alcudia for the evening... depending on whether you like to walk, it can be pleasant to walk down the beach. Loads of lovely restaurants etc there, and not tacky!

Also, if you have a car and want to venture to Sollèr, I would recommend starting at the port end, rather than driving into the town. We found a great car park a short walk from the port, and then got the tram up into the town and back again. It was pretty crammed tho!

Porto Cristo, where the caves of drach are is pretty, with some lovely waterside restaurants.

We went for a week, and still have loads to discover... hiring a car was defo the best way to get around!