Mallorca Travel: Exploring
Port de Sóller and Palmanova
We had thoroughly enjoyed our drive through the
Tramuntana mountain region yesterday and our discoveries
in the town of Sóller. After a restful night
of sleep I got up at 8 am and walked to the main
house of our rural hotel, Finca Ca’s Sant,
to use their Internet connection. Then it was time
for an outdoor breakfast on the terrace of our hotel,
surrounded by palm trees. Fresh croissants, yoghurt,
home-made orange marmalade and an egg were waiting
for me.
Some of the products for sale by Finca Ca's Sant:
orange products & recipe books
My breakfast also included a traditional Mallorcan
specialty: pamboli (literally translated: bread
and oil), which are slices of fresh Mallorcan bread
that are rubbed with olive oil and sometimes covered
by a slice of cured ham or diced tomatoes. Sitting
under the palm trees, admiring the historic mansion
against the backdrop of the peaks of Mallorca’s
highest mountains – it doesn’t get much
better than that.
Morning view from the orange grove towards the Tramuntana
Mountains
Even though we had already checked out, we asked
owner Rafael Forteza whether we would be able to
leave our car in the parking lot. Not a problem
at all. So we left our car parked and walked the
10 minutes into the centre of Sóller which
was extremely busy this Saturday morning: it was
market day.
Pink shoes, anyone?
Dozens of traveling merchants had set up their stalls
all over the downtown streets. Clothing, houseware,
shoes, leather goods, toys, electronic products
and many other things were on sale. Food vendors
were selling all sorts of candy, a wide assortment
of nuts and a great selection of olives. The “Mercat
Municipal”, the permanent local food market,
was full of local shoppers, buying groceries, fish,
vegetables and fruits. The town was hustling and
bustling.
Fish at the Mercat Municipal
We wanted to explore one of Sóller’s
main attractions: the vintage electric tram to the
Port de Sóller, also locally known as the
“Orange Express”. The ride on this historic
streetcar costs 4 Euros each way and is extremely
popular with the tourists. Many of the carriages
are open, so one can enjoy the fresh breeze during
the 20 minute ride down to the waterfront town of
Port de Sóller.
The tourists are having a ball in the tram of Sóller
The harbour town of Port de Sóller has a
beautiful location on the northern coast of Mallorca.
The town is built around a large round bay that
is almost fully enclosed and surrounded by coastal
mountains. It has an attractive waterfront promenade
with many shops and outdoor cafés and a great
Mediterranean ambience. Two lighthouses are located
on the headlands that demarcate the bay on either
side.
Views along the seafront walk in Port de Sóller
We strolled along the bay-front promenade, bought
some ham sandwiches and drinks in one of the local
grocery stores and sat down on a bench by the sailboat
harbour. After a couple of very packed days on this
island, it was nice to just sit and relax and take
in the atmosphere of this port town on this warm
and sunny afternoon.
Harbour view in Port de Sóller
In the mid-afternoon we took the tram back to Sóller.
I admired the engineer who was piloting this ancient
looking streetcar although he did not seem to be
in the mood for interacting with any of the tourists.
After getting lost in the maze of one-way streets
of Sóller we finally found our way out of
town and started heading towards Palma de Mallorca.
Rather than taking the old winding road over the
Sierra de Alfabia mountain we took the tunnel which
is over 3 km long.
Interior of the historic tram of Sóller
It took us less than 20 minutes to reach the outskirts
of Palma de Mallorca. Once on the ring highway that
surrounds the capital city, we turned right to drive
to the western bay of Mallorca into the town of
Palmanova. This suburb of Palma, together with neighbouring
Magaluf, is one of the most popular resort areas
in Mallorca.
The pool area at the Torrenova Aparthotel
Through an online booking service we had booked
a one-bedroom apartment at the Torrenova Aparthotel
complex which would be our home base for the next
5 days. Personally, I am not a big fan of big resort
complexes, but our inexpensive apartment would be
a convenient way to look after ourselves. The cost
was amazingly affordable: for 5 nights the cost
was less than $150 which made it an extremely good
deal. I had booked this apartment in a complex that
was located directly on the waterfront because I
just wanted to be right next to the Mediterranean.
Great view of the Mediterranean from our balcony
at the Aparthotel Torrenova
The coastline west of downtown Palma de Mallorca
is pleasantly hilly, as the mountains of the Serra
de Tramuntana peter out in the Bay of Palma. It
takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get from downtown
Palma to Palma Nova, and you can either take the
coastal road or the inland highway.
View of the Arab tower and the Bay of Palma from
our hotel
The resort areas of Palmanova and Magaluf are among
the most popular resort destinations in Mallorca,
along with Can Pastilla on the southeastern Bay
of Palma. They are among the first purpose-built
tourist destinations on the island, and numerous
high-rise and low-rise hotel buildings line the
coastline. Package tourism really started in Mallorca
in the 1970s and with the advent of low cost airlines,
Mallorca has become of the most popular tourist
destinations in all of Europe. Much of this mass
tourism, particularly coming from England, is concentrated
on the western bay of Palma.
British pubs abound in Palmanova and Magaluf
We arrived at the Aparthotel Torrenova and were
pleasantly surprised at its location on a rocky
promontory right next to the Mediterranean. The
receptionist said that we were the first Canadian
guests that she can remember ever since she started
to work there several years ago. The vast majority
of vacationers here come from England. The boxy
1970s architecture of the complex was not particularly
appealing, but the apartment itself was clean and
well organized.
Spartan but functional 1970s decor in our one-bedroom
apartment
Our room at the eastern edge of the resort on the
highest level had a decent-size one-bedroom layout
with a large L-shaped balcony from where we had
a great view in a southerly and westerly direction
over the sea. A functional mini-kitchen and a simple
living room with 2 single beds would make this a
comfortable apartment for up to 4 people. Although
the furniture and décor was a little dated,
I was pleasantly surprised at the location and the
amenities of our apartment. And the view from the
balcony was absolutely magnificent!
The beachfront promenade in Palmanova
To stock up for some simple meals, we went across
the street to a small supermarket which was convenient
yet overpriced. All in all though, we realized that
vacationing in Mallorca can be extremely affordable
in a self-catered location. While restaurant meals
can be very expensive, store-bought food overall
is very reasonable. Decent accommodation options
can also be found in a very low price range, and
car rentals are quite affordable when compared to
other European destinations. It is no surprise that
Mallorca is also a favourite destination for long-term
vacationers who stay here during the winter and
spring months for three, four or more weeks at a
time.
Someone is doing lots of laundry in Palmanova
The clientele in the summer changes when families
with young children and a crowd of hard-partying
18 to 30 year olds descend on this island. We were
there in late May, before the adventure-hungry and
thirsty masses descend on these areas. From the
large bargain bins full of hard liquor bottles,
the presence of pre-packaged foods in the supermarkets
and the scarcity of fresh fruit and vegetables in
the small supermarkets, we could tell that the crowd
that comes here likes to party hard.
Lots of cheap liquor for the tourists...
As the majority of vacationers in this area come
from the British islands, the entertainment area
of Palma Nova features a large number of British-styled
pubs and bars. A large selection of restaurants
lines the main streets, and the attractive waterfront
promenade in Palma Nova.
Impressive sandcastle on the beach of Palmanova
We went for a stroll in the evening and enjoyed
the busy atmosphere as the sun started to set over
the Bay of Palma Nova. Expensive sailboats were
anchored in the bay, and couples and families were
going for a walk. Live music sounded from many of
the restaurants and the lively atmosphere carried
on into the night. A young gentleman had just finished
building a huge sandcastle, and many people stopped
to admire it. As we strolled back to our hotel,
many of the bars, pubs and discos were full of revelers
who were getting ready for a long night of partying.
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