Palma Da Mallorca

Hello,

As my signature says, I'll be on HofS late Sept. Our first stop is Palma Da Mallorca. My friends are going to the Drach Caves. I want to explore the town. How compact is it? Is everything mostly in walking distance?

I want to see Bellver Castle, La Seu Cathedral, and maybe Almudaina Palace.

The cathederal and Bellver castle are around 5 km apart so not that compact a city, though you can walk from the marina/bay to the cathedral and shopping areas the castle is quite a way round the bay. There are cafes and bars to stop at though. Sorry do not know where Almudaina palace is.

Palacio Real de La Almudaina is behind Cathedral https://goo.gl/NMweFy Bellver is about 45 min walk from Cathedral https://goo.gl/T8nKnx On second map streets behind Cathedral and north towards bus station on Plaza Espanya are old city with some main shopping areas.

As noted above, the Cathedral and the Palacio are pretty much adjacent. We enjoyed them both. One tip re the Cathedral: do not miss Saint Peter's Chapel, which has an incredibly beautiful art installation by Miquel Barcelo depicting the biblical story of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Cracked ceramic lines the walls, with fish, bread, fruit, etc. protruding. It's dark, haunting, and mesmerizing; I could barely tear myself away. Here is a small detail:

(photo by turtles06)

I looked on the towns tourist site. It was stating that there are several buses that run to the Castle.

Okay, I guess I'll do this on my own instead of with a tour. I actually prefer on my own...

You're welcome.

You learn something new every day, we are regular visitors to Mallorca we visit around four or five times a year although we stay in the North of the island we do venture out and have visited most of the island as we always hire a car.

This year however we are on a cruise with two days in Palma so have decided that we will just wander around Palma we have not visited Bellver castle so planned on visiting there and now we have Almudaina palace to look at as well.

Looking at the pictures we have obviously walked right past it as we usually park in the car park opposite the cathedral and then walk up.

One year ago we visited Palma de Mallorca onboard Norwegian EPIC. We enjoyed a nice Segway-ride which I booked on my own. Within two hours they show you a huge part of the city and give a quick introduction how to use the segway. Cost was about 65 € p.P. and we had a private tour. If you spend a little bit more time, visiting Bellver should be possible.

We were there last fall on the Maasdam. I arranged a tour with CC people thru Majorca Tours which included Valldemossa and Soller. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. The villages looked picture perfect. After our bus adventure we still had some time to explore Palma with the your guide. (Posted a review on Trip Advisor.)

The arrangements were a little frustrating as they wanted firm numbers. If you have time, it is worth doing. If not, take the ship's excursion. You won't be sorry.