A city & walking break on Mallorca

We enjoyed our short break to Soller and Palma; the October weather was very kind to us and we enjoyed sunshine every day. The hotel choice was great, especially the Ca'l Bisbe in Soller where we enjoyed an extra night, the hotel facilities were better than expected, central location was very useful. Really lovely large room bedroom and bathroom with balcony. The hotel staff really friendly and helpful, the hotel resturant was excellent the night we ate there. Palma was a walking city with plenty to do and see as one would expect.

We loved Soller - lots of individual shops and opportunities for people watching. Palma was also more interesting than we had anticipated but 1 day was enough for us. Make use of the map and walking book supplied - the walk from Valdemossa to Deia taking in part of the Archduke's path was the highlight of our break and was stunning. We then walked from Deia to Soller, stopping for lemon meringue pie at the farmhouse en route, which is charming.

Lots of individual highlights from our first holiday with Inntravel but the two things that stood out for us were  

- the stunning view of Palma from the rooftop terrace at Hotel Almudaina, especially as the sun went down

- the views down over Port Soller and the surrounding mountains from one of the walks starting from the port

Really enjoyable holiday, we will be back for more.  

In both Palma and Soller using local bus services was easy and very reasonably priced. Well worth making the effort to work out the timetables.

We were travelling with cabin baggage only. Larger cases would be awkward on the train from Palma to  Soller if busy, which on our journey it was.

The roof terrace of the Hotel Almudaina, while very appealing, was always crowded and we were lucky to find 2 deck chairs on one occasion.

All staff in Ca’l Bisbe were pleasant and helpful, as was Sr. Horrach.

We had a very pleasant few days in both locations. All arrangements worked well. Thank you.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: Sr. Horrach is our taxi driver on Mallorca

Fine walking with a dash of culture and the charming vintage train and trams made this a particularly delightful holiday

Hotel Cal Bisbe was an oasis of calm, generous hospitality. To breakfast whilst looking across the swimming pool to orange and lemon blossom and then up to a mountain was a beautiful start to every day of our holiday.

An excellent short break. The two locations worked really well. We arrived early on day 1 and explored Palma so on day 2 we went on the bus to Bunyola and followed the walk to Penyals D'Honor from the Tramuntana Central book of walks provided. This was a good walk and fairly easy to navigate. We enjoyed watching all the cyclists in the village square and then looking down on them winding up the road as we had our picnic on the mountain. 

The buses everywhere worked well though perhaps might have been much busier later in the season or at the weekends.  From Soller we took a bus to Valldemossa and did another walk from the book - The Archduke's Path. This was a real highlight of the trip enhanced by the friendly advice from a man in a kiosk at 'La Muntanya de Voltor' who added us to his list so we could come back through the environmental project if we wished. it was a superb and varied ridge walk. it was good coming back through the licensed area but not essential. 

We also enjoyed the Mirador de ses Barques route back from Fornalutx but wouldn't have bothered with the Foothills and Olive Groves walk whilst in Fornalutx if we had realised it was mostly a trudge up hot roads. 

The path from Deia to Port de Soller was lovely and we recommend the Son Mico which is a beautiful house serving drinks and cakes right on the path. Possibly the best lemon meringue pie I have ever eaten (sorry Mum).  

We did a lot of varied walking and really felt we had explored widely and got a lot out of a short break. it would definitely be worth returning to do more. 

We mainly took pot luck with restaurants using our normal method of trying places in quieter side streets. We didnt have one bad meal.  Tabernacle del Caracol, recommended in the notes, was particularly good in Palma.  

Interesting and enjoyable short break. Plenty to see and do in Palma. Recommend all the main sights and also a meal in the 8th floor restaurant at the Hotel Almudaina - we were given a window table which meant a stunning view of the fort, marina and cathedral at night. Laid back feel to the city. The patisseries are great and gave us something to walk off - especially the ensaimadas! Soller with it's quirky train and tram systems and people-watching in the square was a delight. Recommend Restaurant/Cafe Soller on the square for great 'choose your own' tapas dishes, lovely chilled rose wine and friendly staff - we went 3 times and loved it! Beware the other more upmarket reataurants require booking in advance as they get full very early in the evening. C'al Bisbe is a haven of peace and very comfortable - we loved it. San Lorenzo a bit jaded, dark and noisy (echoey narrow street), but lovely pool terrace and great bathroom. Port Soller and Deia worth a visit and both very beautiful. We enjoyed the walk down to the beach at Deia through orange and lemon blossom and olive terraces - if coming back up to the village use the right turn across the bridge (marked Deia) as you come up the tarmac road from the beach - it is a shadier and less steep climb, and there is a pretty and friendly organic cafe towards the top. If not walking back to Soller then use taxi to/from, as the bus is infrequent and often too full to take you.

We thought it was all excellent, the situation of both hotels was very convenient. The area was beautiful. We had an excellent meal at Ca’n BoQueta in Sóller. We had the tasting menu with the wine flight.

HIGHLIGHTS: Personal highlight in Palma was a guided bike tour with Nan bikes. In Soller, the life in the square. I would advise clients that the bus to the beach can be very crowded. 

Both Palma and Soller are delightful places to spend a couple of nights and joining them together with the fun train ride makes this an excellent short break. The hotels were both ideally located for restaurants, local transport and the sites. The roof top bar at Hotel Almudaina was particularly lovely. We booked a three hour bike ride with Nano Bikes in Palma which was a very enjoyable way to see the main sites and the sea front. In Soller we took the tram down to Port Soller and the local bus over a stunning mountain road to Deia so felt we had seen a lot in a short time. This trip has made us want to see more of Majorca. 

A very good holiday. We found that lots of places ie restaurants, did not accept card payments as did the tram and train in Soller. Have enough cash.

We thoroughly enjoyed this break and we loved the variation between Palma and Soller. I'm glad that we added another night in Soller as it enabled us to see the surrounding areas, do a couple of the walks and visit the Port at Soller. The hotels were really good and both are in good locations. The closeness of the Almudaina to the city centre and similarly Ca'l Bisbe was so close to the restaurants and public transport that they suited us down to the ground; the suite at Ca'l Bisbe was a delight. The breakfasts in both hotels were very good and we did have dinner at Ca'l Bisbe on one of our nights which was excellent. Staff at both hotels couldn't have been more helpful. A lovely holiday.

A great holiday in two great locations. Soller makes an excellent base whatever your level of walking. 

We thought Ca'l Bisbe was outstanding.  There can't be many hotels where, when you ask for a lemon at breakfast (in addition to the vast array of food already offered!), a nice member of staff walks over to the lemon tree by the pool and picks one for you.  And then remembers the next day, and picks one and puts it on the table without being asked!

Tips and recommendations on places to visit or eat:

i) We took the bus to Deia as an alternative to walking and can recommend the bus as an experience in itself! (Lovely views and some exciting navigation around the bends in the road!) We also enjoyed being able to spend more time in Deia than might have been possible if we had arrived on foot hot and tired.  We recommend both La Casa de Robert Graves and the walk up to the little church where he is buried.  We also took the bus to Valdemossa and recommend a visit there even if one doesn't want to take the longer walk.

ii) For eating, we took dinner in the hotel (Ca'l Bisbe) one night and it was excellent.  Other nights we ate in Soller - all good.  The food in Can Pinxto was lovely but you might like to advise others of the need to book in advance if they want to eat there.  We tried one evening but could only get a table outside for two nights later - and with a later time than we wanted.  By the time our table was ready, there was a very limited selection of the cold tapas (they normally serve a selection of both hot and cold tapas).  For casual eating in Soller, we liked the garden at Resturant Can Gata, Calle Sa Lluna.  

The 'Refugi de Muleta' by the lighthouse at Port de Soller does great homemade cake, fresh orange and other refreshments. (Need to look out for it - it was flagged in the walking notes as the meteorological station and doesn't really advertise itself.)

We also ate at Hotel Almudaina one night - food good and view from the roof terrace spectacular!

iii) For places to visit in Soller, we thoroughly recommend Can Prunera, Museu Modernista, Calle la Lluna.  A fabulous building with a great collection - just 3 euros on the day we visited (normally around 5 euros I think).  We were very underwhelmed by the botanical gardens in Soller.  Might be attractive earlier in the year, but for our visit at the end of May the gardens looked desiccated and uncared for.  

An excellent holiday with lovely, very well placed hotels.  In Palma, our highlights were the roof top terrace bar in the hotel, the interior of the beautiful Llotja building, renaissance paintings in a side chapel of the cathedral and generally walking about this lovely city.  Food at Bon Lloc was excellent, very good value set lunch and they were open for dinner on the day that we were there (Wednesday) so we went again.  In Soller, we walked to Deia, Fornalutx and the Muleta circuit - all wonderful and easy walking.   We missed a day's walking because of torrential rain all day, but really enjoyed a visit to the Can Prunera museum.  Excellent food at C'an Pintxo.  Train from Palma to Soller and tram to Port de Soller were fun.