5 Great Ways to Find the Old, Beautiful Mallorca

The sunny island of Mallorca is one of our favorites and the island has something that makes us return. For us, walking along the rocky seaside having a dip in calm turquoise waters and strolling the old quarters of Palma are the ways to enjoy the beautiful Mallorca, Spain.

Or should we go hiking in the mountains, or just drive around across the pretty countryside? All this you can easily do in a week.

As Mallorca is a small island everything is within a short drive. So let’s go now, to the pretty island of Mallorca! We will invite you to join our trip.

View of Estellencs, Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca

Once in Mallorca, you can choose to stay all your vacation in a tourist resort where charter flights bring travelers from all European countries. It’s up to you. Alternatively you can choose to stay somewhere else, rent a car and see the beautiful nature of the island.

So this post will show you the lovely Balearic island Mallorca that exists outside tourist resorts.

Now, where should you go then in Mallorca? First, you will have to see Palma, the island’s capital.

1. Stroll through Palma de Mallorca Old Town

A modernist building in central Palma

Palma de Mallorca sounds like a tourist city and it is that, yet, even more, it’s a living city of 400 000 local inhabitants. Palma is a hundreds of years old city where Arabs, Jews and Christians used to live and they all together created the city to what it is today.

Wander the quiet medieval lanes of the old town of Palma, have a coffee or glass of wine under shady trees, simply enjoy the Balearic atmosphere.

And don’t miss the 20th century modernist buildings, you can find many of them if you look upwards.

Palma de Mallorca in Photos:

Views of Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Click on the small photos to show them in a slide show.

To see more about the medieval alleys and architecture of Palma de Mallorca check out the post What to See in Palma de Mallorca Old Town.

2. Walk along Mallorca’s Rocky Coasts

A beach in sight

Mallorca is well-known for its large amount of golden sandy beaches. Around Palma beaches are either super long like the one east of Palma and Palma Nova, or sandy coves west of the capital.

We chose to stay in Portals Nous, a quiet residential area close to Palma. It’s a rocky area with high sea cliffs and sandy coves. Very scenic and ideal for walks.

Yet Portals Nous is not the only area of this kind. Similar landscapes can be found all over the beautiful island and we just love these places so much more than any wide beaches.

You can walk from beach to beach along stony paths and paved roads and then dry your sweat behind the next corner on a beach that probably is – like from a postcard!

Photos of the Area of Portals Nous, Mallorca:

Walking on the beautiful Mallorcan coastline: Portals Nous and Illetas

3. Drive to Mallorcan Mountain Villages

Valldemossa one of the mountain villages of Mallorca

After spending a couple of days on beaches you might want something else? Then take a rental car and steer to the winding roads of Serra de Tramuntana.

From Andratx in the west take the road to Valldemossa and on to Soller on the north coast. Not a long drive but spectacular.

In fact, for great scenery you don’t even have to travel that far. Before even getting as far as to the mountains you will find the wine growing regions of Puigpunent and Es Capdella, recommend! Go and see what these regions look like.

Serra de Tramuntana Villages in Photos:

Typical Mallorcan villages in Serra de Tramuntana: Estellencs, Banyalbufar, Valldemossa and Deia.

In another post we are showing you more about the Mallorcan mountains, dotted with pretty villages. Check out the post Driving in Mallorca: Serra de Tramuntana.

4. Hike in the Serra de Tramuntana Mountains

Hiking in Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca

Did you know that Mallorca has a long mountain chain in the north and west with many peaks over 1000 m?

What’s special about the mountain range are the many medieval walking trails, used by the locals already for hundreds of years.

To develop rural travel Mallorca is now connecting these old mule trails and building new ones. The aim is to establish a long hiking itinerary that covers the whole mountain chain, something like 150 km of trails in all.

To hike all that would need a week which you probably don’t want. Instead you can enjoy the spectacular mountains just taking short hikes through this UNESCO World Heritage listed region. There are many short trails available, one of which we hiked, from Port de Valldemossa to S’Estaca. How did we do it? Simply, we parked the car in Port de Valldemossa and hiked to S’Estaca and the same road back.

Our Short Serra de Tramuntana Hike in Photos:

Hike in Serra de Tramuntana: from Port de Valldemossa to S’Estaca

My post Driving in Mallorca: Serra de Tramuntana shows you the long mountain chain of Serra de Tramuntana telling more about hiking in the area.

5. Dine in Local Mallorcan Villages

A Restaurante Bar in Valldemossa

Beach resorts have a rich choice of restaurants that mainly have the same style. Why not just take your car and drive to a local village for dinner?

As Mallorca is an island of short distances there’s always a village within half an hour, with local restaurants in great surroundings, an alternative to the tourist places on the coast.

Or, even better, why not just drop in villages earlier on the day, for lunch or coffee? Driving in daylight is nicer than at dark.

Enjoying Lunch in a Mallorcan Village:

Dining in old villages

So, now you know what our five top tips are to discover new things on your Mallorca dream vacation. Buenas vacaciones! Have a nice holiday!

Map of the Beautiful Island of Mallorca

The Balearic Island of Mallorca on the map

Mallorca is the biggest of the Spanish Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. The island has one million inhabitants half of which live in Palma. The other Balearic Islands are Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera.

Air connections to Mallorca are good from most European countries and driving on the island safe and easy. The two languages spoken on the island are Catalan and Spanish, as English, too, is widely spoken.