A couple of days in Palma

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Firstly, this is a bit of a cheat. We did book a couple of days in Palma but it was as an extension to a week long break on Majorca. We’d been here before but travelling from elsewhere on the island was a pain with parking (I think we used the train after parking outside the city) and I wanted to see the cathedral at night this time.

That being said, Palma is a good place for a couple of night city break. The downside is the airfare cost – about double that of the mainland Spanish cities – but it’s still doable.

Our Accomodation

After a much delayed flight we finally arrived in Palma airport after midnight. We collected our hire car (Toyota Corolla Hybrid, excellent choice Europcar!) and made our very cautious way into the city. It was almost 2AM by the time we got to the hotel and I was knackered! After check in and an explanation of the Isla Mallorca Hotel & Spa facilities we dumped our stuff and went to sleep, setting the alarm for 8.

We woke with the alarm which makes a nice change and eventually got down to breakfast after 9. The selection was impressive with lots of hot options, salad stuff, fruits and pastries. After 4 courses and 1300 calories I was replete! We came to the room to collect our stuff and then headed for the old city. The hotel was a few minutes walk from the coast and maybe 10 minutes from the cathedral.

Palma Cathedral

This huge building dominates the city and its position on the shoreline means it hasn’t been lost in a modern urban sprawl. It took around 400 years to build, starting from the reconquest of the island from the Moors in 1229. There is grassland and a promenade in front of the cathedral and the entrance for individuals is at the side.

Our tardiness in leaving the hotel meant we had about 20 minutes to queue but it was in the shade so was ok. Entry was €8, cash only to avoid tax probably and you had the option of hiring an audio guide too. Inside the cathedral was bright and airy and had coloured light on the columns from the modern stained glass windows. It was also crowded, I’m used to northern European cathedrals that are really just tourist attractions rather than places of worship now.

I guess Spain is a lot more religious than the UK and the cathedral was also a lot more gaudy (or is that Gaudi?!) with baroque exuberance everywhere. Not my kind of thing and to be honest, I’d have been happier just seeing the outside in hindsight.

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Palma Arab Baths

We left the cathedral and followed the well signposted route to the Arabo Banyos, Arab Baths. This is a bit of a tourist fiddle really. It’s only €3 to get in but is basically a small garden with a very small brick hamman in it. There’s no ornamentation or decoration but it is a peaceful oasis. Worth €3 and fifteen minutes I guess.

After all the walking we needed a proper sized coffee so we walked through the narrow and shaded streets to a Starbucks. Excellent service from Ariadna and we sat outside, rested our feet and people watched for a while.

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Royal Palace of La Almudaina

Once we were suitably refreshed we backtracked, via a circuitous route, to the Royal Palace. This is actually next to the cathedral but it had an equally long queue at 11AM so we were hoping, correctly, that the queue at 2 would be a lot less.

It was €7 to get in and we spent quite a long time wandering through the rooms and enjoying the view from the terraces. It had huge windows and when it was restored they discovered a lot of the original paint and decoration, hidden under whitewash.

This really did feel like a palace rather than a castle and for me it was certainly a lot more interesting than the cathedral. It was also fun watching the huge number of hawkers bundle their stuff into blankets and run away every time they spot a police officer and then return and lay it all out again a few minutes later.

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We finally got back to the hotel just after 4 so Deb went to bed for a siesta and I started sorting the 151 photos ….
Sunset was at 20:15 and my main reason for staying in Palma was to see the cathedral at night. We left around 7 and slowly walked to the terrace in front of the cathedral.

Palma at Night

We stopped at The Guinness House for an overpriced coffee, I guess we were paying for the view, certainly not the service. The sky seemed to stay a light grey blue for a long time and then five minutes later it was dark. Luckily I had the tripod set up and managed to get a bunch of pics so hopefully they have come out well.

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It was so pleasant to just walk around in a safe environment with no litter and no drunks and just enjoy the evening. There was a bloke singing along to his guitar in Spanish (strange that!) and families just walking around or sitting and chatting.

One of the places I’d meant to go to this afternoon but forgot was the Llotja – this is a medieval Merchants Guild similar to the one in Valencia. This was just open for us to wander into so we had a quick look around and admired the architecture before heading off for food.

We found a lovely Indian restaurant (Just Curry – very helpful lady, simple menu, good sized portions and extremely good value) and then strolled back to the hotel just after 10. We have been away less than 24 hours so far, it’s amazing what travel does for the soul.

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The next morning I actually slept in and we didn’t get up until almost 8! We had another vast breakfast and were intending to get to Bellver Castle by 10 but due to having 5 courses of food plus the frustrations of the Toyota sat nav not finding towns without using the proper inflection spelling it was about 10.30 before we got there.

Bellver Castle

It is quite a spectacular castle, more of a design statement than a serious military structure but that being said I wouldn’t fancy attacking it! It has been fully restored and has superb views over Palma and its surroundings. Entry was €4 and we spent far longer here than in the cathedral.

There is an excellent museum inside with Roman artefacts, a section showing the development of modern Palma and the effect of tourism and another section on the use of the castle as a prison. There is also a very reasonably priced coffee shop with a terrace overlooking the wooded valley below.

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So that was it for our couple of days in Palma. We could have spent more time there as there was a lot in the old centre we didn’t see – restored nobles’ residences, museums etc and possibly something of the city walls but we headed from here to our resort for a week.

2019