Flight time
2h 20m
Best season
April–June & September–October
Budget
Mid-range
Best for
Architecture, food, beaches, walking
Overview
Why Palma for a city break?
Palma is one of the great secrets of Mediterranean travel — a proper city of 400,000 people that happens to be on a Mediterranean island, with a Gothic cathedral of extraordinary ambition rising above the harbour, an Arab bath hidden in a medieval palace courtyard, one of the finest food scenes in Spain, and beaches within 20 minutes of the city centre. Most people fly into Palma and drive straight to a resort; the ones who stay discover that the city itself is worth the trip.
From most UK airports it's around two and a quarter hours — one of the most heavily served routes in Europe, with dozens of daily departures from London, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and virtually every regional airport. April to June and September to October are the ideal months: the Mediterranean is warm enough to swim, the city is busy but not overwhelming, and the Mallorcan interior (the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, the village of Deià, the olive groves of the Raixa estate) can be explored without summer heat. The Christmas market on the Passeig del Born is excellent.
Where to stay & explore
Palma's best neighbourhoods
Old Town (La Seu & Sant Jaume)
The medieval heart around the Cathedral — Gothic palaces, the Arab Baths, the Almudaina Palace and the best independent restaurants. Stay here for the finest version of Palma.
Santa Catalina
The former fishermen's neighbourhood transformed into Palma's most creative food and nightlife district — the covered market (Mercat de l'Olivar nearby), independent restaurants, craft beer bars and a thoroughly local character.
El Terreno & Portixol
The waterfront districts east and west of the city — Portixol has been transformed into Palma's most design-conscious restaurant strip; El Terreno is the traditional nightlife area.
Things to do
What to see in Palma
1
La Seu Cathedral
One of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe — begun in 1229 on the site of a Moorish mosque, not completed until 1601, with the widest Gothic nave in the world (a single space 44 metres wide). Antoni Gaudí was commissioned to restore the interior between 1904 and 1914 — his extraordinary baldachin (canopy) above the altar, hung with lanterns, is one of his lesser-known masterpieces. The rose window on the western facade is the largest Gothic rose window in the world. Book online.
2
Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs)
The only surviving structure from Moorish Medina Mayurqa — a small but extraordinary 10th-century hammam hidden in a courtyard garden in the old town. The domed ceiling of the main bath chamber, supported on 12 columns of different heights and origins (taken from Roman and early Christian buildings), is one of the finest examples of Andalusian architecture outside Andalusia. Five minutes from the Cathedral; entry is €2.
3
Fundació Joan Miró Mallorca
Joan Miró spent the last 27 years of his life in Mallorca, and the foundation in his Palma studio and house holds the most important collection of his work in the world — 2,500 works including paintings, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and the complete Son Boter studio intact as he left it in 1983. The garden with its sculptures overlooking the bay is extraordinary. Book online.
4
Palma's beaches & the Tramuntana
City Beach (Platja Can Pere Antoni) is 10 minutes' walk from the Cathedral — an urban beach directly beside the old town wall. Platja de Palma east of the city is wider and longer. For the finest beaches on the island, rent a car and head north: Cala Mesquida, Cala Agulla and the extraordinary turquoise coves of the far north are 45-60 minutes from the city. The Serra de Tramuntana UNESCO mountains in the northwest offer dramatic driving, cycling and walking.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Palma
Marc Fosh
One Michelin star / Modern Mallorcan
The finest restaurant in Palma — British chef Marc Fosh's Mediterranean cooking uses the island's extraordinary produce (Mallorcan black pig, local olive oil, sobrassada sausage, seafood from the surrounding waters) with a lightness and precision that has earned a Michelin star. In the cloistered courtyard of a 17th-century convent hotel. Book ahead.
Bar España
Traditional Mallorcan / institution
The most authentic Mallorcan bar in the city — a noisy, crowded neighbourhood bar near the Mercat de l'Olivar where the pa amb oli (bread with oil, tomato and salt — the Mallorcan bruschetta) is exceptional and the sobrassada and cheese are local and serious. Open from 8am; the workers' breakfast crowd arrives at 9am.
Mercat de l'Olivar
Food market / Santa Catalina
Palma's covered food market — the finest produce market on the island, with an excellent upstairs food court serving tapas and local specialities. The fish section (llampuga, sea bass, red mullet) shows the extraordinary quality of Mallorcan seafood; the charcuterie stalls have the full range of sobrassada styles. Go Tuesday to Saturday morning.
Itinerary
3 days in Palma — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Cathedral, Arab Baths, Santa Catalina evening
Palma Airport is 8km from the city centre — bus 1 runs every 15 minutes (€5, 30 minutes) or taxi (€20). Drop your bags and walk directly to La Seu Cathedral: the Gaudí baldachin and the rose window are the things to see. The Almudaina Palace (the royal residence opposite — book a combined ticket with the Cathedral) has Flemish tapestries and a beautiful Gothic chapel. The Arab Baths are 5 minutes' walk east — a small, extraordinary space. Pa amb oli and coffee at Bar España near the Mercat de l'Olivar. The Mercat de l'Olivar for an hour of the finest market produce in Mallorca. Santa Catalina neighbourhood in the evening: the bars and restaurants around Plaça de la Navegació are the best aperitivo scene in Palma.
Day 2
Joan Miró, beach, Tramuntana afternoon
Fundació Joan Miró opens at 10am — the studio intact as Miró left it is the most moving part; the garden sculptures above the bay are extraordinary. City beach (Can Pere Antoni) is 10 minutes' walk from the foundation for a morning swim if the weather allows. Lunch at the Mercat de l'Olivar upstairs food court — the grilled fish and the sobrassada toast. Rent a car for the afternoon: the Tramuntana mountain road north to Valldemossa (the Chopin monastery, where he and George Sand spent the winter of 1838-39), and the village of Deià (where Robert Graves lived and is buried, where the artists' colony still exists, where the cove beach is one of the finest on the island). Back to Palma for dinner at Marc Fosh.
Day 3
Old town walking, Es Baluard, one last pa amb oli
Es Baluard — the contemporary art museum in a renovated 16th-century city bastion on the waterfront — has the finest collection of modern Balearic art, including Miró, Picasso and the local painters. The rooftop terrace gives a panoramic view of the harbour and the Cathedral. Walk the city walls along the seafront east to the Portixol marina — one of the most stylish parts of Palma, with a strip of design-forward restaurants along the waterfront. Lunch at one of the Portixol restaurants. Final hours in the old town: the Passeig del Born (Palma's elegant 19th-century promenade), the historic Can Solleric gallery (free), and one last pa amb oli at Bar España before the bus to the airport.
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