Mallorca, and specifically Palma de Mallorca, just might be the best city break beach vacation we've ever done! It's perfect for a long weekend, super simple to plan, and doesn't require a car.
Funny enough, we booked this trip to Palma after watching a season of Below Deck where every deckhand was raving about how much they loved Palma. We thought, if everyone loves it, we have to check it out. Welp, turns out those deckies were right, and we can't wait to go back!
As we started to do our research, we were a bit apprehensive and wondered if Palma would live up to our expectations. We were hopeful the food scene would be good, but we were a bit worried the city would be too touristy and filled with partiers. Thankfully for us, this did not turn out to be true, and we still don't know where all the partiers go because they definitely were not in Palma! So if you're looking for a relaxed vacation with incredible food, stunning beaches, and a nice walkable city, Palma is the place for you.
Top 3 Must-Do’s for a Mallorca Itinerary
Day trip to the hilltop village of Deià
Take the antique wooden train to the beach town of Port de Sóller
Have dinner at Stagier Bar in Palma
Duration: 4 nights
Typical Daily Cost for two people: $367 (excludes any required airfare to/from Palma de Mallorca)
Best Time to Go: Early May to late October, although you may want to avoid July and August as they are very busy.
Table of Contents
Mallorca: Itinerary at a Glance
Day | Activities |
Day 1 | Arrive around lunchtime and spend the afternoon exploring Palma's Old Town. |
Day 2 | Head to Mallorca's northwest coast to discover a few hidden beaches and wander through the beautiful hilltop village of Deià. |
Day 3 | Take the vintage wooden train to the beach town of Port de Sóller. |
Day 4 | Relax on one of Palma's several stunning city beaches. |
Day 5 | Head to airport and fly off to your next adventure! |
Just the Facts
Stay - Nou Baleares in Palma
We had a difficult time picking a town to base ourselves in because we didn't really want to rent a car, but we wanted to explore all the beautiful beaches around Mallorca. Turns out, Palma was the perfect base for us! If it's your first time in Mallorca and you don't want to rent a car, then we 1000% recommend staying in Palma. It's a super walkable city, has tons of great restaurants, beautiful architecture, well connected to the smaller towns, and (shockingly) didn't feel like a crazy party city either.
We stayed at Nou Baleares and loved it - it's a beautiful boutique hotel in a quieter neighborhood, only about a 10 minute walk to Old Town. The hotel has a roof deck with a small pool and a nice restaurant on site for breakfast. The service and overall vibes here were 10/10!
Eat: Best Restaurants in Palma de Mallorca
Palma is known for its restaurant scene and it did not disappoint! In general, we recommend avoiding most of the restaurants in the main Old town area as we found them to be overpriced and underwhelming in terms of quality and flavor. The best food neighborhood in Palma is definitely Santa Catalina, however you'll find some great spots scattered throughout the city.
Stagier Bar: If you only go to one restaurant in Palma, make sure it's Stagier - this was one of the top 3 restaurant experiences we’ve ever had!! Stagier blew us away with their creativity, friendly service, and beautiful dishes. It’s Michelin star quality, but at a price that is equivalent to many of the average tapas bars in the more touristy areas of Palma. Order the tomato tartare (seriously, this dish is SO memorable), truffle egg, foie gras toast, and the gyozas.
Restaurant Giromatto: Nice neighborhood Italian restaurant with very well made pastas and good ambiance. They have huge windows that open out onto the sidewalk so it feels like you're outside. Order the grilled artichoke starter, rigatoni gioviale, and rigatoni all'Amatriciana.
Mallorca Delicatessen: Great casual spot in downtown Palma to sit outside with some vermouth and tapas and just people watch. We came here for a late lunch and then again for drinks and snacks before dinner. Order the tomato salad and a cheese & charcuterie board. Bonus: they also have a free tasting area inside where you can try all their cured meats!
Chilate: Great Mexican restaurant a bit outside the main tourist area. We'd call it "elevated" Mexican because of the creativity of flavors and beautiful presentation. Good cocktails here too!
Xólotl: Very casual authentic Mexican taco joint with incredibly good tacos and margaritas. Order tacos al pastor, cochinita pibil tacos, and a cucumber margarita.
Restaurant Es Racó d'es Port (Lunch - Port de Sóller): Perfect outdoor lunch spot overlooking the harbor. Order a bottle of white wine and a mixed paella. We recommend grabbing one of the tables on the hill just outside the main entrance (not the larger enclosed patio area closer to the water) as you'll have the best view and a nice breeze.
Andrin Resto Bar (Lunch - Cala Major): Casual beachy lunch spot just one block off the water. The menu many look suspicious since its has tapas & seafood, and then also pizza and pasta - just stick to the tapas & seafood and you're golden. Grab a sit on the patio and order the grilled white squids and grilled shrimp.
Drink: Best Bars in Palma de Mallorca
Venuto Bar Italiano: We loved this neighborhood bar in Santa Catalina. It's perfect for a drinks before or after dinner. They have an several different vermouths from Spain and Italy, a good wine list, and plenty of classic cocktails. The vibes are welcoming, and you get a complimentary snack with your drinks.
Gibson Bar: We loved this casual bar in Old Town. It reminded us a lot of the traditional bars in Madrid with the dark wooden counters, minimal decoration, and just all around friendly, simple service. Order a vermouth on the rocks.
Note: We tried several well-rated cocktail bars but never found one we felt worthy of recommending. Most of the cocktail bars we tried were quite pricey and the drinks were not well balanced (usually too sweet).
Mallorca Itinerary Map
Detailed Mallorca Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival & Palma Old Town
Arrive at the Palma de Mallorca Airport in the early afternoon and take the A1 bus into Palma. The A1 bus leaves every 15 minutes just outside the main airport terminal, it takes about 20 minutes to get into town, and it only costs €5 per person (you can pay in cash on the bus, or by card at the machine next to the bus stop).
We recommend staying at Nou Baleares, a beautiful boutique hotel in a quieter neighborhood in Palma just a 10 minute walk from Old Town.
Once you've settled in, it's time to explore Old Town! If you're starving at this point, your first stop should be Mallorca Delicatessen. This is an amazing casual spot with outdoor seating, great for people watching and getting a feel for the Palma atmosphere. Order a tomato salad, a cheese & charcuterie board, and a few glasses of vermouth.
After lunch, just wander through the streets of Old Town. Be sure to walk by the Cathedral of Mallorca (it's massive!), the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, Basílica de Sant Francesc, and Plaça Major (the main square in Palma). Plaça de Cort is a cute smaller square with lots of outdoor seating and a great place to stop for a drink or some gelato.
For dinner tonight, we highly recommend booking a table at Stagier Bar in the Santa Catalina neighborhood. This was by far our favorite restaurant in Palma, and one of our all-time favorite restaurants in the world! Instead of walking through Old Town to get to Santa Catalina, take the pedestrian walkway along the water starting at the base of the Cathedral—it's really beautiful around sunset.
Because we loved Stagier Bar so much, we thought it only fitting to share some photos of our incredible meal!
Day 2: Deià & northwest beaches
Our recommendation for today was the highlight of our trip (besides the dinner at Stagier Bar, of course!).
This full day Airbnb Experience was so much fun and gave us the chance to experience some seriously cool places we never would have found on our own (even if we did have our own car!). The host, Alex, who grew up in Mallorca, will pick you up in the morning outside the Vintage Train Station and bring you to some of his favorite spots on the island, away from the crowds. We went to a few different hidden swimming coves, did some cliff jumping, swam through caves, walked around and had lunch in the beautiful hilltop town of Deià, and then went to the most beautiful lookout point.
***Note: This Airbnb Experience does have a bit of hiking involved on steep uneven paths to get down to the hidden coves. It was totally fine for us, but just be aware in case you have any restrictions.
Alex will bring you back to Palma around 6pm so you'll have a bit of time to get ready before dinner. For dinner tonight, we recommend getting Mexican food at either Chilate or Xólotl. If you opt for Chilate, be sure to make a reservation ahead of time since the restaurant is small.
Here are a few of the places you'll go on the Airbnb Experience to Deià & the northwest beaches:
Day 3: Vintage Wooden Train to Port de Sóller
Lots of exploring to do today, and this time, you'll be getting there in style on the famous vintage wooden train that goes from Palma to Sóller. Yes, this is touristy and much more expensive that taking the normal bus, but it's one of those tourist attractions that we think is totally worth the money!
How to buy tickets for the Vintage Wooden Train to Sóller: We recommend booking the Combo Train + Tram ticket that gets you the round trip train ride from Palma to Sóller and the roundtrip tram ride from Sóller to Port de Sóller. You do have to select the train times when you purchase so we recommend taking either the 10:10am or 10:50am train and then returning on the 6pm train. You can either buy the ticket online or in person when you arrive at the station.
The train takes just over 1 hour from Palma to Sóller and passes through some incredibly stunning scenery (you won't get this on the bus). The train also makes a 5 minute stop at a lookout point so you can jump off and snap some photos.
Once you arrive in Sóller, we recommend walking around the town for about an hour—it's a tiny town so you'll have plenty of time to wander the streets, stop in a few shops, and grab a coffee in the main square.
When you're ready, grab the tram from Sóller to Port de Sóller (it leaves about every 15 minutes). Port de Sóller is a beautiful beach area with tons of shops, restaurants, beach bars, and super calm waters so relaxing.
Stop for lunch at Restaurant Es Racó d'es Port—it's the perfect outdoor lunch spot overlooking the harbor. Order a bottle of white wine and a mixed paella. We recommend grabbing one of the tables on the hill just outside the main entrance (not the larger enclosed patio area closer to the water) as you'll have the best view and a nice breeze.
After lunch, walk along the boardwalk and then find yourself an available umbrella and chairs at one of the many beach kiosks. The chairs and umbrellas are super reasonably priced and you can just enjoy the afternoon in the water with a few drinks.
Take the tram back to Sóller about 30 minutes before your scheduled train departure to ensure you get there in time. Since it's the same company, they will of course hold the train until the tram arrives.
For dinner tonight, we recommend heading back to the Santa Catalina neighborhood. Stop by Venuto Bar Italiano for a glass of vermouth and a snack before dinner, and then head just down the street to Restaurant Giromatto for some incredibly good Italian food - the vibes here are really nice with the massive open windows looking onto the street and the pastas are SO GOOD!
Day 4: City beaches
For your last day on Mallorca, we recommend keeping things a bit more local and heading to one of the many stunning beaches that are just a short bus ride from the city center.
Cala Major is the closest beach to Palma and it's absolutely beautiful! Just jump on the 4 bus towards Illetes and you'll be there within 30 minutes (the bus only takes cash and the bills must be under €10). Cala Major definitely has more of a "city beach" vibe as it's pretty small and very crowded, but honestly, we loved it.
Note 1: We walked from our hotel to Cala Major - do NOT do this. It was not an enjoyable walk and so unnecessary. Just jump on the 4 bus!
Note 2: You can stop at Castell de Bellver on your way to Cala Major if that's something you're interested in. We went and honestly, it wasn't that great (the views were meh too), so we say skip it!
There's a little turquoise hut (not listed on Google) at Cala Major right on the water that serves cocktails and has such good island vibes. Grab a stool, order a cocktail, and just enjoy the day!
For lunch, we recommend going to Andrin Resto Bar, a casual beachy spot just one block off the water. The menu many look suspicious since its has tapas & seafood, and then also pizza and pasta - just stick to the tapas & seafood and you're golden. Grab a sit on the patio and order the grilled white squids and grilled shrimp.
If you have some extra time in the afternoon and want to explore beyond Cala Major, you can grab the bus just up the road to Platja de Ses Illetes—this is another beautiful beach. We'll be honest, we never made it here because we were having such a relaxing time at Cala Major! When you're ready to head back to Palma, just grab the 4 bus towards Uetam.
Dinner tonight is your choice! We unfortunately went to a well-rated tapas bar that turned out to be very underwhelming, so we won't recommend that, but here are a few other options:
Tapas Crawl - why not?! You're in Spain after all. There's tons of simple tapas bars spread throughout Old Town. We love doing our own tapas crawls because it's super low commitment—just order one tapa to start, if you don't like the quality or the vibes, leave and go to the next spot!
El Rinconcito del Norte: We didn't get a chance to go here, but heard great things about it. It's traditional Mallorcan food.
La Rosa Vermuteria & Colmado: Probably the most well known tapas bar in Palma, and unfortunately you can't just walk in for one tapa, this is a meal. Try to make a reservation, otherwise you can line up outside the restaurant.
Day 5
That's it for Mallorca! Take the A1 bus to the airport and catch your flight to your next adventure.
Cost Breakdown (2 people for 4 nights)
Note: Flights to/from Palma de Mallorca are not included in this cost breakdown.
Hotel - Nou Baleares x 4 nights | $675 |
Bus Tickets from/to Airport | $22 |
Airbnb Experience to Deià | $170 |
Vintage Train to Sóller | $70 |
Bus tickets to/from Cala Major | $12 |
Breakfast x 4 | $60 |
Lunch x 4 | $140 |
Dinners x 4 (2 entrees, 1 app, bottle of wine) | $240 |
Drinks (2 per person per day) | $80 |
Total | $1,469 |
Daily Cost for 2 People | $367 |
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