Mallorca (Majorca)

Hi all,

We just had the May half-term break and we headed to Majorca (Mallorca - Spanish). We wanted sun and beach and we got plenty of it! Most days were 25 C plus - even 30 C the day we arrived) Majorca is the largest of the Belearic Islands, about 100 km SE of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Majorca is a cross between the Gold Coast and Bali. We stayed in Magalluf, which about 10 km SW of the capital Palma, beautiful beaches but too many Poms! Everything is British - the food, bars, etc.. It seems like the Brits are too afraid to go and experience something new, so they transplanted their culture (lock, stock & two smoking barrels!) to a holiday resort in the sun! Our hotel was on the southern end of the Magalluf beach, a dated hotel but great location. We went for a half board package deal which included buffet breakfast and dinner, the food typical of British cuisine - average! the boys loved it though - how many bowls of ice-cream can you eat?

We left Cardiff at 6:30 am on Sat (23/5) and were in our rooms about midday. The first day we orientated ourselves and spent a few hours on the beach. Sunday was a quiet day on beach and walking around Magalluf and Palma Nova.

Monday we caught the bus into Palma (the Capital). The city is situated on the Badia de Palma (bay), with the massive Gothic Cathedral, La Seu, it dominates this part of the landscape. We wandered around the old city and had a drink in one of the squares -very nice - then the afternoon on the beach, dinner and an evening walk.

For the next 3 days we hired a car. It was my first experience of driving a left hand drive car. The car was very nice, about 6 months old, but it was off-putting having a pillar in your left eye and changing gears with your right hand. This made the driving very interesting considering we spent the best part of 2 days driving around the rugged mountain range, Serra de Tramuntana, which had more blind hairpin truns than you could imagine and the width of the road in lots of parts was lucky to be two small car widths!

On Tuesday we visited the Northern part of the island, we headed to Inca, after going through the city of Palma, because we missed the turnoff to the ring road! From Inca we headed to the Lluc monastery, 50,000 pilgrims visit a year, which contains a 13th century statue of the Virgin, La Moreneta (the little dark one). Interestingly there were plenty of River Red Gums here!
From Lluc we went North to the Port de Pollenca, just North of here was a wonderful lookout to Cape Boquer (see pics). Then we had a winding trip along the Formentor Peninsula to the Lighthouse at the Cap de Fromentor. Once again the coastline is magnificent and the water was a beautiful tourquoise colour. Before heading back to Palma/Magalluf we visited Alcudia. Tuesday (late) afternoon was spent at the beach, then dinner and a walk.

Wednesday's trip was to the West coast, via Palma, as I missed the turnoff again! Soller was the first destination. As we reached the mountain range before Soller we had a choice of a 7 km tunnel or the snake-like mountain road - of course we went the hazardous mountain road. A fantastic tourist road -like Arthur's Seat road only about 12 km longer - but being the driver it was difficult to see any of the views! After going over the top of Cap de Soller, we had to avoid mountain goats and headed into Soller - if you ever go to Majorca - Soller is a must visit. The town is centered around the church and like most of the island's towns everything is stone - streets and buildings. It also has a Tram that travels through the square and down to the Port de Soller, a pretty little cove and resort. From Soller we travelled South to Deia, along the narrow winding coastal road (most of the rest of the trip was like this until we reached Andratx) and then onto Valldemossa. At Valldemossa there is an old Carthusian monastery, Sa Cartuja, and a pretty town (once again stone was the main feature). From here we visited Andratx and then back to the hotel, for swim, dine and walk!

Thursday's tour was to the East and South, but not via Palma, because third time lucky, I took the correct turn for the ring road - I don't know why I didn't do this the other 2 days because it saved about 20 minutes!!! On this side of the island the landscape is a lot flatter and consists mainly of the agricultural plains. We went to Sineu, Petra, Manacor (home of Rafal Nadal), Porto Cristo, Porto Colom, Santanyi and Colonia de Sant Jordi. Then back to Magalluf for the beach, dinner and a walk!

As Friday was our last full day in Magalluf, we spent it at the beach and on the resort's sunbeds.
Then we ate and went for a walk!
Saturday morning was an early start and we were back in Cardiff about Midday. Another enjoyable trip - it was great to feel the sun on our backs and sand in our toes again! Cheers for now and checkout all the photos on the Web albums.
PS Go Pies!

View Mallorca in a larger map