Mallorca - Do & See
This Island has an amazing nature and is a true paradise for relaxation without needing to spend a fortune. Visit the beautiful La Seu Cathedral, enjoy the turquois water or go wine testing in Binissalem Wine Village.
Palma
The fishing nets put out to dry on the quayside glisten brightly in Mediterranean blue. Behind the nets you can catch sight of the stock exchange building La Lonja, dating from 1388. During the Middle Ages, the place where we are now drinking coffee was where most of the Mediterranean area’s trade was handled. As early as 123 BC the Romans christened this town with the name Palmeria. Later, the name given to Palma by the Moors—Medina Mayurka—became the name for the whole island.
Casco Antiguo – Old Town
You can hear echoes of previous centuries in the lanes and alleyways of the Old Town. Take a stroll around one of the largest areas of ancient buildings in Europe, cast your eyes over the spruced-up palaces, visit the designer hotels and bars.
La Seu – The Cathedral
Do not miss La Seu Cathedral, dating from 1231, with its fantastic wrought-iron canopy by the architect Gaudí—the only cathedral in the world facing Mecca. King Jaume 1 used one of the old Moorish mosque minarets as the clock tower for his building.
Binissalem Wine Village
Try a wine tasting at José Louis Ferrer and the other bodegas. Mallorca’s wines are winning more and more prizes. During the Wine Festival in September, Binissalem is just one long table laden with wine and food.
Monastery at Valldemossa
High mountains and deep valleys frame Valldemossa, the village where the island’s two first “celebrity tourists” – the composer Frederic Chopin and the authoress George Sand – lived in 1838. At the monastery, all the cells for the monks are in a row, each with its own exit to the garden terrace with blossoming magnolias and a wonderful view over the valley.
Formentor
Dizzying twisting roads and dramatic cliffs, north-west Mallorca is wild and beautiful. People crowd the vantage points along the road, and take photographs with goosebumps on their arms.
Sineu
In Mallorca’s centre lies the oldest village of all, Sineu, where the King once lived. Being right at the centre of the island meant there was a chance of getting away if the island was over taken by pirates. For over a thousand years, farmers have been coming here with their cows, bulls, horses, sheep, dogs, asses, mules, ducks, hens and swans to market each Wednesday.
Soller
The inhabitants of Soller lived for centuries hidden in a valley behind a huge row of mountains. It was so hard to climb the mountain chain that people preferred to go to Palma by boat. And if they were on a boat anyway, why not go to France? Soller became tri-lingual—Mallorcan, Spanish and French. In 1911 a tunnel was dug through the mountains, so finally the people of Soller could get in touch with their own island. The wonderful little train is still there today.
