Palma De Mallorca & Cartagena

We will be taking a cruise in November that stops at both of these ports. I have a couple of questions for anyone that might be able to give me some info.

Does the ship dock close to town at these ports? Are they walkable and easy to do on your own or should we look into to tours? We are okay exploring on our own and using public transportation, if there is things to do in each of the ports.

Also what would you recommend as for as must sees?

Thank you for your help.

On Palma de Mallorca we took a private island tour that included the village of Valldemossa (gorgeous and really cute), the Port of Seller, the train ride from Seller, and a few other viewpoints, sites, etc. I would highly recommend an island tour over walking around in town. It is a beautiful, charming island and the towns we visited were great. Unfortunately, someone else arranged the tour so I don't know the name of the tour company.

In Mallorca you can get on a shuttle at the dock for about 5 Euros pp and it will take you on a short drive to town where you can walk about and shop, visit the absolutely beautiful Cathedral, courtyard and gardens. I think you could probably walk into town but the shuttles are quick, cheap and save your feet! There is also a HOHO Bus and I am told there is a castle and an interesting Moorish Palace that can be seen if you venture out a bit. We stuck to the Cathedral and the surrounding area and really enjoyed it.

In Mallorca you can get on a shuttle at the dock for about 5 Euros pp and it will take you on a short drive to town where you can walk about and shop, visit the absolutely beautiful Cathedral, courtyard and gardens. I think you could probably walk into town but the shuttles are quick, cheap and save your feet! There is also a HOHO Bus and I am told there is a castle and an interesting Moorish Palace that can be seen if you venture out a bit. We stuck to the Cathedral and the surrounding area and really enjoyed it.

I think this is what we are going to do here. Seems like a great way to the Mallorca.

Do you know anything about Cartagena?

Thanks so much for your help.

The cathedral in Palma is really nice and definitely worth visiting. The excursion to Drach Caves is really good, the inside of the caves is amazing, if you have any interest in caves it is definitely worth doing.

In Cartagena you dock right in town. We bought a ticket that covered the most popular sites in the city (castle, amphitheater, a couple others) and saw everything on our own by walking. The sites themselves aren't super exciting but the presentation was extremely well done and the history behind them was very interesting.

There is a HOHO bus in Cartagena that was OK. As stated earlier, the city is compact and near the ship so walking works well.

We took a boat tour of the harbor that was very enjoyable. The ticket booth and dock is very near the ship.

Cartagena; boat docks right downtown, no transport necessary. It's a very compact (and interesting) town.

Palma; ignore the cruise shuttles and walk just outside the port area, and the city bus (the one marked #1 AEROPORT) goes through downtown for something like €2.50. http://www.emtpalma.es/EMTPalma/Front/lineas.en.svr?accion=entrada&cod_linea=1

In Palma the HoHo bus stops at the pier. If you want to see Bellver Castle this is the only bus that goes there. Otherwise there is a city bus that also stops at the pier and will take you near downtown. Ask the driver for the closest stop to the Cathedral. Near the Cathedral are the Bayns Arabs (Arab Baths) the only remaining Moorish site in Palma.

If you are staying overnight in Palma then we would recommend the train trip to Puerto Soller taking the bus back but I'm not sure I'd do that if you are only going to be in Palma for the day.

I am really appreciate all the info everyone is giving me. This is my first time to these ports.

In Palma the HoHo bus stops at the pier. If you want to see Bellver Castle this is the only bus that goes there. Otherwise there is a city bus that also stops at the pier and will take you near downtown. Ask the driver for the closest stop to the Cathedral. Near the Cathedral are the Bayns Arabs (Arab Baths) the only remaining Moorish site in Palma.

If you are staying overnight in Palma then we would recommend the train trip to Puerto Soller taking the bus back but I'm not sure I'd do that if you are only going to be in Palma for the day.

The train trip to Soller can be done in a day. We got off the ship as early as possible, went to the Soller train station, then had to wait for it to open. We took the train to Soller ( one hour) and walked around the village. It was charming and beautiful! We didn't go on to the port. We stayed in Soller several hours then took the bus (30 minutes) back to Palma. It was a wonderful day.:)

In Palma we also took the city bus to town--visited the beautiful cathedral & walked around---then took another city bus in the opposite direction to a lovely beach where we had lunch & just enjoyed being there. Decided to take a taxi back to the ship . It was an enjoyable day!

Marge

Thanks for all the info. I think we will do both of these ports on our own. I like taking tours but I also like seeing the ports that the cruise ship docks at if I have never been there before.

Next time I will take the tours inland. We also have other ports that tours are a must and just do not want to have 7 or 8 days with no leisure time. Some of my best memories are of those just roaming around. Never know what you are going to find.

Here are a couple of things to visit in Palma itself. First there's the cathedral, which is unusual in being a gothic cathedral in the Mediterranean. It's one of the very biggest, too - I think it has the third-highest nave in the world, or something like that - St Peter's is the biggest, then there's a French one, then there's this one. Plus it has a bit of Gaudi-esque furniture - the canopy over the alter was designed by him even if not actually constructed or installed by him.

On a completely different scale, we also visited the gallery and home of the artist J. Torrents Llado, which is in Palma old town. He was a very traditional artist, significantly out of fashion for most of his life. He made Mallorca his home and lived in a traditional house in the old town, which he also used as his studio. He did two styles of painting - portraits, and landscapes/garden-scapes. Quite different in style - the portrais are quite representative whereas the landscapes are more dynamic and vivid. But it's all excellent stuff. He had built himself quite a reputation when he died very suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 47 or something. If you have any interest in art, give this a look.

Cartagena is a Spanish Navy Port and when other Naval ships visit it get lively at night.

http://www.simplynetworking.es/news_further.php?id=10744&top_id=1

Here are a couple of things to visit in Palma itself. First there's the cathedral, which is unusual in being a gothic cathedral in the Mediterranean. It's one of the very biggest, too - I think it has the third-highest nave in the world, or something like that - St Peter's is the biggest, then there's a French one, then there's this one. Plus it has a bit of Gaudi-esque furniture - the canopy over the alter was designed by him even if not actually constructed or installed by him.

 

On a completely different scale, we also visited the gallery and home of the artist J. Torrents Llado, which is in Palma old town. He was a very traditional artist, significantly out of fashion for most of his life. He made Mallorca his home and lived in a traditional house in the old town, which he also used as his studio. He did two styles of painting - portraits, and landscapes/garden-scapes. Quite different in style - the portrais are quite representative whereas the landscapes are more dynamic and vivid. But it's all excellent stuff. He had built himself quite a reputation when he died very suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 47 or something. If you have any interest in art, give this a look.

Thanks, I already had the cathedral on my list. I had not heard of the gallery and have added it to my list also.

Cartagena is a Spanish Navy Port and when other Naval ships visit it get lively at night.

http://www.simplynetworking.es/news_further.php?id=10744&top_id=1

Thanks for the article. This is great news for cruisers and for Caragena also.