What a way to start the week, holidays and sunshine make everything better, don’t they? Waking up in Palma was just what I needed. What a beautiful city. And the sun, did I mention the sun? Oh, it was perfect.
Our flight to Palma was smooth and easy. Travelling hand luggage only makes it so much easier, straight off the plane, passports checked and boom, out into the new country. We got the airport bus into the centre which was easy to navigate, although quite busy and hot. Thankfully it stopped less than a 5-minute walk to the hotel. And our good luck continued when we checked in early at around 11 am and our room was already available. We forgot that we had upgraded our room to have a little balcony, only it turned out to be the largest balcony in the hotel. It was a lovely little suntrap. The hotel itself was beautiful, although there was little to no soundproofing as it was a small hotel; this wasn’t too much of an issue as there weren’t many people coming and going. Location wise it was spot on. We had a short walk of 10 minutes to the cathedral, but this was through the old town so pretty scenic and an even shorter walk to the train station which was helpful for later in the holiday.
On our first day we walked, and walked and walked. We were just taking in the city and the sights. We set off through Old Town down to the Cathedral and walked around here and the S’Hort del Rei gardens which used to belong to the Royal Palace but are now open fully to the public. We stopped for some lunch and a cheeky cocktail at Cappuccino Cafe, which my physio suggested, and she was right. It was beautiful. I had the omelette and my husband had a sandwich, and they were both delicious. We then continued our walk around the harbour before returning to the hotel in the late afternoon as we started the flag. That 5 am wake-up was beginning to hit hard. We had a mini snooze before heading out for some local grub. We found this great little pizza place down a street close by called Pizzería Piccolo. It was a small, independent-run place with a cosy atmosphere and fantastic pizzas.
Our second day started with a tour of the Cathedral. We hadn’t pre-booked any tickets and there was a queue but hack time! Buy the ticket online there and then. Loading up the page on our phones and buying the tickets was still quicker than standing in line. We have used this hack a few times at different places. Always worth checking out. The Cathedral was pretty; it has a beautiful stained glass window that was impossible to photograph but trust me, it was stunning. Gaudi helped decorate some of the areas in the Cathedral and you certainly spot his art as you head around. All in all, this experience felt a bit expensive if I’m honest. There isn’t much to see in the Cathedral and we were in and out fairly quickly. We next planned to visit the Royal Palace, conveniently located beside the Cathedral, except which numpty did not check opening times? This numpty. It was closed all day. So we quickly switched plans and decided to try the Hop-on-Hop-off tourist bus to get our bearings and take us to Castell de Bellver, a bit further out of the city. The tour started well; we saw some things I wasn’t aware of beforehand and hopped off at the Castell…it wasn’t open. Ha! I’m normally so good at checking and planning holidays, but it’s been so long since we have been away like this it’s like I forgot what to do. We had a little walk around and took in the views which were absolutely worth the visit. Thankfully the next bus turned up quickly and we continued our tour around the city. We had lunch and more cocktails when we got off before going for another long walk around. We had seen some places from the Hop-on-Hop-off bus that we wanted to go back to and see in more detail, so off we set. The city is all very walkable, which is excellent and we never felt unsafe anywhere during our stay. We walked along the harbour to look at the rows and rows (and rows) of boats. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many boats before. It seemed to go on forever. It was such a lovely walk and we had a good natter about which boat we would buy if we had the money. Always a fun game.
On our last full day we had pre-booked the Train Sóller, a narrow-gauge wooden train dating back to 1912. It runs between Palma to Sóller, and it was so much fun. I debated doing this as it’s an all-day trip and we were only in Palma for a few days, but I’m so glad we did. It was brilliant. The boarding experience was stressful but worth it. The train even stops at a little viewpoint to allow for spectacular photos. It overlooks Sóller before you descend from the mountains down into the town. We also got the add-on tram ticket and hopped on the first tram down to the port for some lunch. Port Sóller was lovely, we walked and looked at some more boats and the fish and I even paddled in the sea. It was lovely and perfect and such fun. The port was full of flying fish which were fun to watch. We got the tram back to Sóller and walked around some of the small streets before heading back on the train home. We ended our day at a lovely little restaurant in the Marina called Varadero. Despite being a bit further out, there was a constant stream of people coming in. I imagine that come summertime this place was a lot busier, they had a lot of outdoor seating that wasn’t in use during our visit. It has a spectacular view of the Cathedral. A perfect place to enjoy our last night.
We managed to get up and out of the hotel pretty early on our last day. We were determined to see the Royal Palace, and I’m glad we made an effort. It was lovely and had a great bit of Majorca history. Before we knew it, we were back at the airport and flying home. Such a great weekend. Highly recommend Palma for a quick city break. It’s not too long a flight and warm almost year-round. Our hotel was reasonably priced, and the flights were cheap and purchased through the EasyJet Christmas sale.
The rest of the week was pretty quiet, with a few trips to the post office and a few walks between the rain and getting the house ready for a friend to stay over Saturday night.
