Mallorca & Menorca

Top Sights in Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Our first stop in Mallorca was Palma de Mallorca, the main city, port, cruise ship and tourist hub on the island. Palma has a lovely old quarter with a classic Gothic cathedral, old city walls, a wonderful bike path running along the harbor for about 9 miles and sandy beaches within a short distance. Visiting the Palma area alone could be great one-stop vacation since it has so much to offer.

View of cruise ships in Palma de Mallorca’s harbor.
Location of Palma on Mallorca.

We used Palma as our base for exploring not only the town, but also the western part of the island, which worked out great. We didn’t spend time on the beaches right near Palma simply because much of the rest of our visit around the island was going to be focused on exploring and relaxing on a variety of Mallorca’s many beaches.

Listed below are a few key sights in Palma.

Palma’s Old Quarter and Cathedral

While Palma is a big city, like most European cities the old town is compact and very easy to access. The “Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca” is the postcard image of Palma, with a stunning setting on Palma’s beautiful harbor.

Palma’s 13th century Gothic Cathedral is an iconic landmark, visible from many locations around the city and bay.
Views from the rooftop of Palma’s Cathedral – definitely worth a visit.
Interior views of Palma’s Cathedral. the chandelier over the altar in the center image is the work of Gaudi from the late 1800’s.
The Royal Palace of La Almudaina, which dates back to the 14th century, is the official residence of the King and Queen during their stays in Mallorca. The palace is next to the Cathedral and may be visited.
There are massive walls on the seafront of Palma’s old town. The Cathedral is in the distance.
Views of Palma’s old town, which boasts some beautiful architecture.

Bellver Castle

This is an interesting 14th century castle located on the western edge of central Palma, with its unique circular construction it is the only existing castle in Spain with this shape. The castle has served as a royal palace and a prison. There are few castles in Mallorca and Bellver Castle is by far the grandest.

This view of Bellver Castle demonstrates its circular shape.
You get a fantastic view of central Palma from the rooftop of Bellver Castle.
Other exterior views of Bellver Castle.
The castle’s interior has some historical displays and the large courtyard is used for various performances.

Arab Baths (Banys Arab)

Not far from the Cathedral are the 10th century Arab Baths, believed to be part of wealthy person’s home in the original Moorish city that was the foundation of Palma. Although small, they are definitely worth a visit. It’s interesting (and fortunate) that these baths have survived so long in central Palma, as they are above ground and right in the heart of the old town. To get here, we just walked there by following the signs on the sides of the buildings on the narrow streets east of the Cathedral. We made a couple wrong turns, but found the Baths without much difficulty.

The exterior of the Arab Baths, believed to be part of a noble person’s residence 1,000 years ago.
Interior of the Baths. The columns are believed to have been “recycled” from Roman-era buildings. These baths used the same engineering principles as Roman-era baths.
Other views of the Baths.
One of my favorite images of the Baths.
The small Bishop’s Museum (Museu Diocesà) is in the 13th century Bishop’s Palace behind the Cathedral and also near the Arab Baths. It is worth a visit. The Cathedral ticket covers the entrance fee for this museum as well. The image shown is an amazing wooden mural containing scenes from Christ’s life.
One can never pass up the amazing gelato available in Palma and many other places on Mallorca!

Melia Palma Bay Hotel

We stayed at the Meliá Palma Bay hotel, just a few minutes from the old town and across the street from the beach and biking path.

Here are a couple photos taken from the rooftop pool and lounge area. The hotel also has a bicycle rental shop, which I highly recommend. It was fun biking along the path right next to the beach.

The Melia Palma Hotel has a great setting, right next to the beach, with views of the city, bay and cruise ship port. The pool was an enjoyable, relaxing experience at the end of a good day of touring this beautiful island.

In our next post, we’ll explore the north/west coast of Mallorca.

Mallorca (Majorca) and Menorca (Minorca) – Spain’s Well-Kept Secret Islands (at least from Americans)

My wife and I love exploring the Mediterranean’s host of magical islands for so many reasons, but as of 2022, we had not yet visited Spain’s share of these islands and so we decided to take a September trip to Mallorca and Menorca (with few days in Barcelona on our way home). September was a perfect time to go – the water was still warm and the days long enough to allow plenty of exploring, with fewer tourists than might be found in July or August. United Airlines started offering seasonal direct service to Palma, Mallorca from Newark, NJ in the summer of 2022. I think that was a fabulous decision, even though locals may not agree! 

A view of Palma, Mallorca.

In this post, I’ll provide a short overview of these two islands and in future posts go into more detail on each.

Why Mallorca and Menorca?

As mentioned above, we love the Mediterranean – the beautiful coastlines, ancient and medieval-era historical sites, incredible beaches and the variety of cultures and languages to be found throughout the region. We also love that these (Mallorca and Menorca) islands don’t really seem to be on US tourists’ European vacation maps yet, at least not to the same degree as a London, Paris or Rome.

One of the many beautiful coves on the island of Mallorca. Like many of these coves, it takes a little hiking to get here.

However, please don’t think that the islands are void of tourists – that’s hardly the case. Car parks for the most accessible beautiful beaches and coves fill up fast – you have to get there early (or arrive late in the day) if you want a convenient parking spot. It seems that most of the tourists to these islands come from Germany and the UK, although cruise ships also visit Palma. Cycling on the narrow winding roads through the mountains of Mallorca is a favorite pastime in addition to hiking, 4 wheeling, and of course all kinds of water sports.

When driving in Mallorca, one needs to be careful of the cyclists sharing the road.

Even with all the tourists, it’s still possible to visit little towns on both islands and pretty much be the only tourists in sight.

The scenic town of Arta in the northeast corner of Mallorca – few tourists here.

Mallorca and Menorca are quite different from one another. Mallorca is larger, more mountainous, with a significantly larger population (about half of which live in the Palma area) and caters to more tourists, who tend to stay put in specific regions of the island. Menorca is smaller in size and population with fewer tourists, and feels more rural. Both islands offer stunningly clear turquoise water, incredible coves and beaches – some of the prettiest anywhere on the planet – and interesting historical sites and towns.

Torre d’ en Galmes, one of Menorca’s many prehistoric ruins.

Where are Mallorca and Menorca?

Mallorca and Menorca are two of the three primary Balearic islands, belonging to Spain, the other being Ibiza. Ibiza has a reputation as a real “party” island and we preferred a bit different experience. Plus, as stated above, we could fly directly to Palma from the US. Mallorca and Menorca are close together geographically and it’s easy to get from one island to the other (just a 30 minute flight), or by taking a longer ferry ride.

Mallorca and Menorca are in the western Mediterranean Sea. It is a short flight from Barcelona to Mallorca or Menorca – about an hour (approximately 158 miles or 255 km). We flew to Barcelona from Menorca for a few days at the end of our stay and then directly from Barcelona to Washington, D.C.

Be on the lookout for many more posts to come about these beautiful islands!