Mallorca Voyage Tips and guide

Mallorca or Majorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands, and a classic among European travel destinations. Mallorca is known as an easy-to-reach destination for fans of sunny beaches, amazing landscapes, wonderful mountains and affordable Mediterranean food, with a coastline of more than 550 km.

Serra de Tramuntana The mountain range along the north western coast of the island, including Soller and Lluc.

Palma de Mallorca The area surrounding the island's capital and its only city, Palma, which has a massive cathedral, a charming old town, and lots of hotels, shops and restaurants.

Pla de Mallorca The agricultural plains of the island.

Raiguer The region of the Raiguer and in particular the city of Inca are known as the centre of the shoe and leather craft in Mallorca.

Migjorn The southernmost region of the island has many beaches and bays for swimming and sunbathing.

Llevant Hills and mountains, fertile fields, cliffs with embedded bays and sandy beaches make the landscape a kind of Mallorca concentrate.

39°31′48″N 2°55′12″E

Map of Mallorca

• 39.5666672.6497221 Palma de Mallorca is the island's capital, with lots to see and do, and a long beach strip.
• 39.5666672.5166672 Calvià is the municipality that includes Magaluf, Palma Nova and Portals Nous.
• 39.7663442.7153023 Sóller is best known for its heritage train and tram.
• 39.8772053.0164344 Pollença has a well-preserved old centre.
• 39.85253.1191675 Alcúdia retains its old city walls and has a long beach strip.
• 39.6052783.3861116 Cala Millor is the main resort on the southeast coast.
• 39.573.217 Manacor is a typical inland town, and hosts the Nadal tennis academy.
• 39.3172.9938 Colònia de Sant Jordi has a cactus garden and boat trips to Cabrera.

• 39.8229172.8844441 Santuari de Lluc is a monastery in the Tramuntana mountains.
• 39.84362.79252 Sa Calobra and Torrent de Pareis are Mallorca's "Grand Canyon".
• 39.455533.185453 San Salvador Monastery sits atop a mountain near Porto Colom and Felanitx.
• 39.1583332.9666674 Cabrera is the largest island of an uninhabited archipelago and National Park 20 km south of Mallorca.

In high season the island receives about 8 million tourists from around the world. This is both a blessing and a curse for the inhabitants, and they are well prepared for it and provide a very well-organized tourist infrastructure.

Nevertheless, Mallorca can show another face when you leave the coastline and take a look at the inner country. Prices fall with each kilometer you move away from the coast, and reach the usual Spanish standards in the centre of the island or even some parts of the mountain area.

Geographically the 3640-km² island can be divided into three parts. The Serra de Tramuntana rocks extend from southwest to northeast, while the Serra de Llevant stretches along the eastern coast. Between them lies the central plain (Es pla).

The climate of Mallorca is Mediterranean, with mild and stormy winters and hot, bright, dry summers. Precipitation in the Serra de Tramuntana is markedly higher. Summers are hot in the plains, and winters mild, getting colder in the Tramuntana range, where brief episodes of snow during the winter are not unusual. The two wettest months in Mallorca are October and December.

Catalan and Spanish are the official languages in the Balearic Islands. Most people can speak both languages, although the natives converse amongst themselves in Mallorquín, a sub-dialect of the "Balear" variety of Catalan.

In tourist areas, you will frequently come across people speaking English, German, French and other common European languages.

Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI ^IATA) is the island's only commercial airport, and where most visitors arrive. It has frequent scheduled flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. Flights from other countries are mostly on budget airlines / package tours, especially from Britain and Germany. These arrive every few minutes in summer but are sparse in winter.

There are also flights from Menorca and Ibiza, but these are double the price of the equivalent ferries yet only save an hour.

The airport is 8 km east of Palma city.

Ferries sail to Mallorca from Barcelona (7 hr), Denia (5 hr) and Valencia (7 hr). Most sailings are to Palma, but some call at Alcúdia on their way to Menorca. Inter-island ferries sail to Palma from Ibiza (2-4 hr), Formentara (4 hr) and Mahon on Menorca (6 hr).

Ferry lines are Trasmed, Baleària and GNV. There are no ferries to Mallorca from France, Italy or North Africa.

Cruise liners often call at Palma as they tour the Med.

With your own boat, Palma is the Port of Entry to clear immigration and customs if your last port-of-call was in a non-Schengen country.

Toll-free highways radiate from Palma. The principal routes are:

• Ma-1 west to Magaluf and associated resorts,
• Ma-11 north to Sóller,
• Ma-13 northeast to Inca and Alcúdia,
• Ma-15 east to Manacor and Cala Ratjada,
• Ma-19 southeast past the airport to Campos and Cala d'Or.

Car hire is available at the airport and main resorts.

TIB buses run to all the main cities from Palma city and airport, roughly hourly, daily. For a few small places such as Lluc or Colònia de Sant Jordi, you change buses at an inland town.

TIB trains run every 20 min from Palma to Inca, where they either terminate or branch to Sa Pobla or Manacor.

A heritage train runs from Palma to Sóller, where you change to the wooden tram to the port. These are so crowded with tourists that they're no longer practical for locals, who complain mightily, while secretly preferring the bus which hurtles through the Ma-11 tunnel.

• Palma old town is centred on its cathedral. Medieval city walls still stand, with narrow streets within. There are several museums.
• Churches are the centrepiece of many other towns, often 17th century Baroque. The oddest is in Sa Servera near Cala Millor: the shell of an uncompleted Gothic church.
• Valldemossa Charterhouse was originally a royal palace then a monastery, then accommodation where Frédéric Chopin once stayed with George Sand.
• S'Albufera is a salt marsh near Alcudia, where many bird species can be seen. Bird life can be seen at many other spots around the coast, such the cliffs of Formentor.
• Caves: several are open to the public, such as the Dragon Caves near Cala Millor.

• Hiking: the principal trail is Ruta de Pedra (GR221, taking eight days along the northwest coast from Andratx to Port de Pollença.
• Cycling: the main roads are ratty, get off into the lanes, and the gradients of Serra de Tramuntana will get your attention. Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca is four days of racing in Jan / Feb, which pro teams use as a warm-up for their coming season.
• Golf: some 18 courses are mainly in two areas, the Andratx - Calvià - Magaluf resorts west of Palma, and the Cala Ratjada - Sa Servera strip along the east coast.
• Tennis: the Nadal tennis academy is at Manacor.
• Beaches: much of the coast is rocky. Sandy stretches attract a scrummage of boxy hotels and may be crowded. The best compromise may be in secluded coves, where the gradient to access and exit deters the crowds.
• Scuba diving is ideal for beginners and occasional divers. There's no river outflow so the water is clear, warm especially in late summer, and non-tidal. The convoluted coast means there's always a sheltered cove if the wind and waves pick up, as they often do in the afternoon. Mallorca main island suffers the usual Med problems of stripped coral, fished out, and unregulated coastal development. Cabrera island has the best diving, as it's a national park with protected habitat.

Non-divers can also see Cabrera on boat trips.

• Music: classical and other concerts are especially in summer, with some held open-air.

• Climbing: the limestone bluffs of Serra de Tramuntana have plenty of climbing routes. "Psicobloc" is the specialty of rock climbing above deep water.
• Fiestas mostly have religious roots, with great Madonnas teetering in pomp down ancient streets. A few have always been secular: in Sóller, Es Firo in May involves pirates, enraged women, treacle and catapults. And Correfoc in August sees Sóller invaded by hellfire demons, until doused by the fire brigade.
• Sailing and yachting: there are marinas at all the main coastal towns. Boat charter may be available.

All the towns have supermarkets around their fringes, open M-Sa and part of Sunday.

See individual towns for details of their weekly Farmers Market.

Petrol, diesel and EV charging are widely available, at a 5%-10% price premium to mainland Spain.

Majorcan cuisine, like that of similar zones in the Mediterranean, is based on bread, vegetables and meat (specially pork), and uses olive oil throughout. A simple popular dinner, especially during the summer, is the Pa amb Oli: Bread with olive oil, tomato, and any available condiments such as cheese and tunafish. Another one is Trampó, the same but with various vegetables instead of bread.

Other local dishes include Frit Mallorquí (meat and vegetables cut up in small pieces) and Sopes Mallorquines (a simple, healthy dish made of bread and vegetables, optionally with meat, eggs, wild mushrooms, etc.). The seafood version of Paella is very recommended while in Mallorca.

Sobrassada, a sausage made of pork, paprika, condiments, etc. is eaten plain or toasted, on a slice of bread, and it's also used in preparing other dishes. It is normally not spicy.

For breakfast, instead of croissant, try the typical Ensaïmada (a spiral-shaped bun made of dough with pork fat), and for dessert the Gató (a cake made with almond) with almond ice cream.

Bunyols (sweet pastries)- they are typical only in autumn. Bunyols are commonly made of boiled potatoes, flour, eggs, butter or lard, yeast and sugar; they are fried in hot oil and then sprinkled with sugar. (A fried Donut)

Palma is most known place for dining, having probably more restaurants than the rest of the island.

For out-of-cities dining, head to Algaida: there are several great restaurants around the village.

Most restaurants are happy to host children, even infants, but make sure to ask at the more expensive restaurants if they have a specific policy to that effect.

Water from the tap is safe to drink, but tastes flat and lukewarm, as it comes from desalination. You might prefer bottled.

Drinking alcohol is allowed if you are 18 or older, as in the rest of Spain. Only bars, restaurants, discos and the like may serve it after 10 pm.

You are seldom more than 5 metres from a beer, but it's all imported except for a few micro-brews. San Miguel's brewery on the island has folded.

Magaluf and Palma's Paseo Maritime are the main late-night strips, but even the small resorts are buzzing well after midnight. Drinking in the streets is tolerated except where prohibited by local order, and resorts want to avoid the reputation that descended on Magaluf through idiotic drinking. Police will act against unruly revellers and dish out fines for property damage, litter or violence.

Mallorca's climate and soil are similar to mainland Spain so it produces wine, but little is exported. Indeed both quality and quantity were low, and Mallorca had to import wine, until the industry was revitalised in the 1990s. There are nowadays some 70 vineyards. Two areas have Denominació d'Origen (DO) status, Binissalem and Pla i Llevant, but none qualify for the exalted DOP / DOC / DOQ rankings.

Binissalem DO is the best known, a strip in Raiguer approximately bounded to the east by Inca, to the west by Santa Maria del Camí on the edge of Palma city, to the south by Highway Ma-13 and to the north by the uplands of Serra de Tramuntana. Pla i Llevant DO covers almost half the island, almost everything south of Ma-13 except the arid south tip near Santanyí. IGP – indicación geográfica protegida - is the next quality tier, also known as Vino de la Tierra. The two IGP areas are Serra de Tramuntana, and "Mallorca" for all other vineyards.

Imported brands are widely available, and travellers from outside the EU (such as Britain) can buy duty-free on arrival at Palma airport.

Four Mallorca distilleries produce gin, and one produces liqueurs and mixers. On the mainland some wine is converted to brandy, but island production is too small for this.

Safeguard valuables, beware traffic including water traffic when swimming, and steer clear of antisocial drunks. Magaluf has the worst reputation for binge drinking and street rowdiness, and the discos thump-thump-thump into the small hours.

Palma and the nearby coastal strip groan under the weight of tourist accommodation. This is overwhelmingly in mid-price modern chain hotels, with little in the way of small independent pensions and next-to-no camping. Most visitors are on packages, which are extremely good value: in effect you pay the standard room rate, and get your return flight from Britain or Germany free. Standards are high, as the package company reps are zealous about quality, it's their job on the line if the guests succumb to food poisoning. All the larger coastal towns have a good selection of hotels and room-only aparthotels, but there are few inland.

Fincas or "Agroturismo" are the way to stay inland, in converted farmhouses on working farms and vineyards. They're upmarket with fine dining, and family-friendly; you'll need your own car.

You need to be an EU citizen, and to speak reasonably fluent Spanish, same as on the Spanish mainland. Palma has the most work opportunities in its hospitality sector.

• Ferries and inter-island flights link Mallorca with Ibiza and Menorca.
• Ferries ply to Barcelona and other ports on mainland Spain.