Mallorca, Spain 2025

Spain- I keep coming back for more!

This time we decided to try an island that had been all over my Instagram feed. One of the Baleric islands, I felt it might be perfect for what I was looking for in a vacation. Ibiza felt too much- too much of a party, a scene, has a lot of hype around it. Formentera felt too quiet, possibly not enough to do. Turns out Mallorca is perfect, and a great blend of things to do, but a ton of natural beauty and opportunities to just relax. You have everything on this island- beach clubs in Palma and the Santa Catalina district if you are looking for a party scene, beautiful beach coves in Cala D Or for swimming, sailing, soaking up the sun, or cliff jumping if you need some adrenaline, and the mountains in the West for hiking and gorgeous views- plus a ton of vineyards and charming cobble stoned small towns. Oh the the food? Incredible. Didn’t have a bad meal the entire time there.

A couple of tips though as a tourist:

• AC in the hotels – not the best, and it was a hot hot week. Be prepared for sleeping with the covers off, better yet, bring a fan (no hotels had one, believe me I asked).

• Another note on the hotels, at least the ones I stayed at, they were not the best at booking things (like taxis, excursions, etc). Do this on your own- book any boat trips or day trips online through Viator ahead of time.

• Double check with taxi reservations. A lot got lost in translation so just confirm, and then confirm again.

  
  

We started out our trip flying into Palma and staying 3 nights at the Nakar hotel – right downtown, walking distance to everything. The restaurant at the hotel was really good- we had lunch right when we checked in, and their breakfast buffet was very good every morning. They had a small rooftop pool, but it was really hot so we didn’t lay around outside much. We did grab drinks there at the end of the night one night. The gym was super tiny, not the best. Best AC of the trip though.

Dinner/Drink spots in Palma:

• Bar Coto- drinks at this Frida themed bar

• La Malvasia- dinner

• Giovanni- gelato

• Pizzeria L Artista – lunch (great pizza in the port area)

• Al Faro Beach club – took a taxi here for dinner one night, funny spot in another beach area of Palma

• Restaurant Mojito- drinks after Al Faro

• La Bodeguilla – dinner

  
  

What we did:

• Walked the port to Punta des grells- local rocky beach by the navy area, King of Spain’s house right there

• Swam and hung out at Plata de Can Pere Antoni Beach- 30 min walk from Palma downtown

• Boat day- private 4 hour speedboat tour – consisted of stopping at 3 coves for swimming, snorkeling and paddleboarding

Cala D Or:

We took a taxi about 1hr 10min to Cala D Or for the next 3 days of our trip.

Stayed at the Hotel Esmeralda. They put us in a Sea View room in the main building, and it was like a sauna, so for the next 2 nights we got a terrace suite which was much better. This location was perfect- right across the street from multiple coves, had it’s own beach club with pool and restaurant, 15 min walk to the main shops/bar/restaurant area and 20 min walk to the port. The hotel itself had 2 pools, and an amazing breakfast buffet. Could not recommend it more. No need for any excursions- just swimming and relaxing on the coves was perfect.

Dinner/Drink Spots in Cala D Or:

• Esmeralda’s beach club - went for lunch 2x

• Port Petit- dinner in port, 2nd floor, great view of the port

• Bo Cana- dinner in port

• Con Trompe- dinner 

• Lola Club- dancing

• Mabu hay- drinks

• Little Tavern- drinks

Port de Soller

Took a taxi 1hr 30 min to Port de Soller – on the west side of the island. Here we stayed at Hotel Esplendido which was right in the center of the port across the street from the beach. Another amazing hotel- 2 pools with awesome views of the entire port, yoga studio, we got a room with a private patio, pretty good breakfast buffet, location was perfect.

Dinner/Drink Spots in Port de Soller:

• Neni – dinner (this place was perfection- tasting menu was ridiculous and the views were fantastic)

• Paitiki beach – dinner (2^nd favorite dinner option, great beach views)

• Xelini- dinner

• Blai- drinks

• Beach House- gelato

What we did:

• Took the very slow but adorable tram to Soller- about a 30 min ride. Very cute town with shopping and dining and some sights- had lunch at Con Gata and explored the town. The tram left every half hour and you could buy tickets on board which made it very easy.

• Boat trip with Sollermar- only 2 hours but honestly it was great. 12 people on a raft boat, bumpy ride kind of like a jet ski boat- took us to a cave, along the mountains on the coast, up close to some private beaches, and stopped to snorkel a couple of times.

If I could do it all over- what would I change? Nothing- however if I had more time I would have just stayed longer in Cala D Or, and Port de Soller. And if it wasn't so hot, I would have hiked in Soller. Other than that, this trip was perfect and I highly recommend you add Mallorca to your travel list.