Mallorca
I was in Mallorca together with my husband without children!!! This was our first trip abroad together, and such a long trip. We fled from the kids for a weekend but only in Poland for a max of 3 days, so imagine our excitement about this trip.
Our decision was spontaneous after spending another vacation with the kids in the country without good weather. My children whined and we needed to search for attractions other than the beach, and it was exhausting and quite expensive. When we drove to our destination, we had one day of weather and then rain until the end, and so on for about 4 years in a row.
In August 2022, I bought return tickets (ryanair.com) for about PLN 850 (one person). The price was not attractive because a few days earlier I saw tickets for about PLN 550, but I hesitated too long…we made a decision, we buy tickets and wait no more…we were desperate…it was our first trip abroad organized on our own.
Why Mallorca?
Mallorca was already in our plans before the pandemic. We had a family vacation purchased by a travel agency for August 2020, but they closed the hotels.
Where is Mallorca?
Mallorca is the largest Spanish island in the Balearic archipelago. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea. Mountains and sea in one.😊
Weather
The weather is hot in high season (June-September). We were late September/early October and it was about 25-28℃ during the day and about 18℃ at night. The sky was generally cloudless. It rained maybe twice, and then the sun came out. For me, the weather was perfect. It was possible to explore without tiring of the heat and sit on the beach because the sun was baking nicely. We talked to a Polish girl who has lived in Spain for a long time and the summer of 2022 was exceptionally hot. It was about 40 ℃ for 3 months. Winter is pleasant about 10-15℃ during the day and importantly the sun is shining! The sun shines 300 days a year in Mallorca.
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the capital of Mallorca. We stayed there for 3 days. We booked a room close to the center on Airbnb with a Spanish family (cost below). The situation was interesting because the owner didn’t speak English, only Spanish. We used Google translator and she was very communicative;) We spent little time in the room but when we came back in the evening she wanted to talk with us for a while. In the end, she took a picture with us together.
We started our tour of the capital with the old city. We arrived at La Seu Cathedral. It is a monumental Gothic building. Its construction took as long as 400 years! It impresses with its size. You can visit it inside, but unfortunately, the long line did not encourage us to do. We are not fans of monuments, walls, etc. I delight in the beautiful views, nature, sea, and mountains….
We visited Major Square and lots of narrow atmospheric streets. We also visited the marina for yachts. We explored the city and walked 26 000 steps in one day.
Palma is interesting but crowded, and we saw it in the low season.
In fact, we spent one whole day in Palma because the second day we were in Ibiza and the next day we were moving to Cala’D or.
Ferry Mallorca - Ibiza - Mallorca
You can get from Mallorca to Ibiza by ferry and by plane. We chose the first option. Baleària is the name of the company of ferries that travel around the Spanish islands but also not only.
You can buy tickets online at www.balearia.com but I advise against it because you will overpay a lot. After checking the website for tickets on 1/10/2022 the cost for 2 people one way is €168 and return on the same day €156. The total for a day trip for two people came out to €338. Well, a lot but I wanted to see Ibiza. Before leaving, I checked the news about the ferry and found information that tickets can only buy online. Such a statement came from one of the Polish vlogs. I do not know if someone did not check at the port as we did, or if something changed. Well, when we arrived at the port we were pleasantly surprised. In front of the entrance to the building stood an inconspicuous booth and in it was a gentleman who sold ferry tickets. We checked and it turned out that the ferry PALMA – IBIZA – PALMA on 1/10/2022 costs € 70 per person! That is, for the same trip as we checked online we paid 140 € instead of 338 €. Well, the difference is considerable. At first, we did not believe that there could be such a big difference in price. We wondered if maybe we misunderstood it. Maybe €70 was for a one-way ferry but no. That was the price to Ibiza and back. For comparison the photos below.
The ferry left at 8 a.m. The trip takes about 2h and 15 minutes. The return ferry was at 8 p.m. We had to be an hour before departure because there was a check-in. Similar to the airport.
You can read about the trip to Ibiza (click here).
Travel from Palma to Cala'D or
On Sunday 2/10/2022 we had to change our accommodations from Palma to Cala’D or. We decided to move to the new town by public transportation. We were about 65 kilometers away. Tom checked the connection and it remained for us to find only the right stop, but it was not easy because, it turned out, the bus station is underground. It took us a while to get there because there were several stops along the way, but none for us. It must be said that Mallorca is very well connected. You can reach almost every town by bus. You can check the connections www.tib.org . The whole bus station is very impressive. Large, air-conditioned, and clean. Buses are also pleasant and comfortable. Once we were on the right bus, we admired the interior of the island. We were still waiting for a change in the town of Porreres and then already to Cala’D or. As it turned out, the bus we were supposed to change to does not run on Sunday. Such a small detail that Tom overlooked. Nothing from Porreres to Cala’D or that day was running anymore. The town was small, everything was closed. Tom called out some cab driver. He said he would come when he had lunch. We waited 30 minutes. He came and drove us to our destination for €60 for 30 km! Well, we had no choice.
It should be added that the price of bus tickets depends on the number of stops traveled, and you pay for the ticket with a card, leaving the bus (about €1.80 per stop). You can also pay in cash for the driver, but it is much more expensive.
Cala'D or - Wonderful Town
The hotel is a no-frills but ideally located, because 2 min walk from the beach Cala Gran. In the room, we had two beds joined, a bathroom, and a balcony. One thing we lacked was a fridge in the room. The hotel is staffed by Poles. There is a Polish woman working at the reception who has lived in Mallorca for 10 years and there are Poles in the bar, and I found my way to the hotel thanks to Magda Dybiec, who also lives in Mallorca for several years. You can find her on Facebook. She will help you figure out almost everything.
Cala’D or is a town where all the buildings are white, low and surrounded by vegetation. There are five cove beaches. They are sandy, but quite small and narrow, surrounded by beautiful cliffs that protect from the wind and give some shade. The views are wonderful.
The town also has a fabulous port with bars and restaurants. We can go everywhere on foot, as Cala’D or is quite small. Everything we need to relax, we have at our fingertips.
Not far from Calo Des Pou beach is the Es Fortì military fortress from the 18th century. It is on a hill, so you can enjoy beautiful views.
Renting a car and touring the island
We rented a car from Magda Dybiec for one day (4/10/2022). The day before, we met at a cafe and signed a contract, and the next morning we had the car at our disposal. Magda lent us a new Škoda Octavia on the Polish license plate. Even better, because the police do not stop with unfamiliar license plates for fear of not understanding a foreign language. As I mentioned earlier, Majorcans are unwilling or unable to speak English. In addition, at the meeting with Magda, we were given a map and a ready-made plan to explore the island.
The first point was Alcúdia. It is a large tourist resort with a port. The beach is long and sandy. As we visited it looked a bit strange, as the sand looked as if a tractor had driven over it. Probably there were some cleaning treatments on it or something similar, but it certainly lost its attractiveness with that. There is a boardwalk by the beach, which we strolled along. Some people find Alcúdia enthralling I unfortunately do not. Resort-like many others. Maybe I fell in love with Cala’D or and its cove beaches or maybe I didn’t get to know Alcúdia very well.
Next, we went into the mountains to the village of Fornalutx. The road to the destination is quite a challenge. A narrow, winding road and, on top of that, full of collages that you have to dodge, and still a bus on the way. Fornalutx is a tiny and extremely picturesque village with narrow cobblestone streets and steps, and pots with plants on them. There is a cafe and a grocery store on site.
We stopped for a moment in Deia and Valldemossa. The mountain villages are similar because of the brown color of the houses.
Valldemossa gained its fame from the fact that Frederic Chopin stayed here with his sweetheart from 1838 to 1839.
Nature in Mallorca
Mallorca has everything I like about nature. Palm trees, pink bougainvillea and Oleander, olive trees, lemon trees, lime trees, and also orange trees. And all this looked wonderful against the backdrop of white buildings in Cala’D or. The center of the island is quite harsh and uninteresting. It is most beautiful on the coast and in the mountain towns.
Costs for 2 people
- Ryanair tickets Modlin – Palma – Modlin PLN 1 654,58 (option only with backpacks, next I bought an option with 10 kg suitcase both ways PLN 180).
- Taxi from the airport to Palma is about € 20.
- Overnight stay in Palma room with a Spanish family in the city center PLN 1 080,05 from 29.09-02.10.2022. Booking via Airbnb.
- Overnight Cala D’ or Hotel Antares from 02.10-06.10.2022 € 180.
- Car rental Skoda Octavia for one day € 70.
- Transfer to the airport by bus from Cala’D for € 40.
- Other costs (eating, drinking) are about € 500.
- Fuel €1.765/1L, 1.5L carbonated water €0.75 (additional charge €0.20 for water from the fridge), medium pizza about €10.
I invite you to visit the gallery and on social media.
