Mediterranean sunshine in Mallorca at last

After spending the last year and a half in the UK during the covid pandemic, I vowed that I would absolutely be travelling to the Mediterranean this summer. As restrictions began to ease and the new traffic light system for travel from the UK was announced, I eagerly waited for a European summer holiday destination to be added to the green list in time for a July holiday. I had already booked the time off at work and two weeks beforehand, Mallorca (and all the Balearic islands) were added to the list, so we booked immediately.

This was the fastest holiday booking we’ve ever made - the flights were booked within an hour on the night Mallorca was listed as a green destination, and the next night we booked both hotels. It was so efficient that it got me thinking about why I usually spend so much time deliberating. As with all things during covid times, the situation changed while we were in Mallorca and by the time we returned, it was on the amber list. Since we had only received one vaccination so far, this meant quarantining for five days at home - but the trip was still so worth it. I’ve never been so happy to feel the heat, hear the cicadas in the mountains and float in the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean.

We were in Mallorca for 11 nights and decided to split our time between two opposing sides of the island. I’m so glad we did this - there really are many different things to do in Mallorca and the experiences on either side of the island were so different. We spent our first six nights in Orient, up in the Tramontana Mountain Range in a small hotel, converted from an old monastery. Coming from the hustle and bustle of inner London, arriving to only hear cicadas and the jangling of bells around the necks of local goats was so relaxing. We really enjoyed Hotel L’Hermitage - we had a huge room with a balcony and I had the best sleep in a long time.

Mallorca has a mix of calas (coves) and playas (beaches) - I personally preferred the calas since they felt like swimming in a giant, crystal clear swimming pool, with the added bonus of rocks and fish to explore with a snorkel. Some beaches are also a combination of the two - a cove with a sandy beach. We spent our first full day at Cala Sant Vincenc, a beach in North East Mallorca. We needed a day of doing nothing, but swimming and reading to get us in the holiday mood. Cala Sant Vincenc was moderately busy, but we still managed to hire loungers. This cala is surrounded by restaurants with a great view, but doesn’t have food and drink service direct to the loungers. Before driving back to our hotel, we drove up to the scenic lookout in Pollenca, with breathtaking views from an incredible height.

I was keen to find a pair of espadrilles, so we spent our next day in Palma. It was a Monday, which isn’t a good day if you want to see tourist attractions (most attractions in Palma are closed on Mondays), but it was a nice day to explore the old town and go shopping. I ended up buying a pair of avarcas instead and bought my espadrilles a few days later in Soller. The avarcas I bought aren’t quite the same quality as the pair I bought online from Solilas two years ago, but they were half the price and there are so many different colours to choose from. I bought my espadrilles from Ben Calcats, down a street lined with cute shops in Soller.

The next day, we went on a mountain road trip, starting with Jardines de Alfabia. This beautiful house and garden is hundreds of years old and incredibly picturesque. Set in the Tramontana mountains, it’s a great spot to wander for a couple of hours and enjoy the scenery. A small cafe also serves drinks and snacks for a rest among the pretty garden.

We then drove into Soller and had tapas in the town square. This pretty town is a great spot for lunch, with a nice view and a cute vintage tram that cuts across the town square. There are also quite a few shops. Aside from the espadrilles that I mentioned, I also bought a really nice linen beach dress, which turned into my staple beach outfit for the second half of the trip. After lunch, we drove to the even more beautiful town of Deia, known to be a magnet for a wealthy crowd of artists. This town is surrounded by steep mountains with incredible views and picture-perfect streets. There is also a cala down the bottom, but we didn’t venture in that direction.

After a couple of days visiting towns and cities, we went on a sailing trip booked via Air BnB Experiences. After seeing what looked like 100 people pile onto a big tourist ferry at the dock, I was certain we made the right choice. There were just seven of us on the yacht, in addition to Alejandro, the tour guide. Alejandro was a great guide - he was incredibly laid back and great to chat to. The trip lasted about 4.5 hours, including two swim stops and a surprise light lunch. On the second stop, we swam to a small cave in a quiet spot not connected to a beach or cala. I even got to try steering the yacht - all in all, a great experience.

The next day was our last day staying in the mountains. We drove back to Soller and did a short circular walk to Fornalutx and back again. It was a nice way to see another pretty town and also see some of the little farms off the main roads. We then drove to Valdemossa, another beautiful town in the mountains to wander the picturesque streets.

While we stayed in Orient, we had some dinners in our hotel and some in local towns. The nearby towns we visited were Alaro and Binissalem. Both are small, pretty towns with several restaurant options. While I’m sure there are plenty of tourists in these towns, they feel a lot more like the sorts of places that people live in, compared to some of the other towns we visited and had reasonable priced restaurants. Getting in and out of our hotel required driving on a narrow winding road in and out of the mountain, which was also part of the experience.

On our way to our next hotel, we drove down a famous road through the mountains to visit Sa Calobra and Playa de Piedras, two beautiful coves. I head heard this drive was beautiful but didn’t know just how spectacular it would be. I hadn’t expected this to take up so much of the day, but the drive through the mountains is long and slow, but breathtaking and absolutely worth it, so I would recommend reserving a whole day for this trip. The narrow road is filled with hairpin bends as it zigzags up and down the mountain. On the side facing the sea, there is an amazing uninterrupted view as you make your way down to the coves. Both coves are very pretty, but one is far busier than the other. The most popular cove requires walking through tunnels bored into the rocks on the edge of the mountain, revealing a long beach that breaks through a relatively narrow gap between he rocks into the cool sea. It was a very pretty spot to visit, but we found it uncomfortably busy, so we only stayed for one swim and then went back to the first cove.

We spent our last five nights in Calonge, a small town just north of Cala D’Or. This area is much less mountainous (although there are some mountains nearby), but instead it’s known for a plethora of amazing calas and playas. We stayed in Hotel Petit Sant Miquel, a small no-frills hotel. It wasn’t a luxurious as Hotel L’Hermitage and while the hotel was new and clean, and the staff were all very friendly, I would recommend looking for a self contained apartment if you stay in this area for more than a few days. We spent most of our time on this portion of the holiday at the beach, so it would have been nice to have our own kitchen to prepare snacks for the beach and keep drinks cool (our room didn’t have a fridge).

Playa de Piedras (connected to Sa Colabra)

We spent our Saturday at Playa des Estanys. This long, sandy beach was great for relaxing and had plenty of space. I found the calas were the most fun for swimming, but because playas have more space and facilities, they’re better for a day of relaxation. Sunday is known to be the day locals visit the beach, so it’s not the best day to head to the water, but in our excitement, we ignored this advice and went to one of the most famous calas, Calo des Moro.

Getting to this absolutely beautiful cala requires walking about 20 minutes, initially along a road and then down the rocks to cove. Clambering down the rocks is a little bit difficult, so it’s not the easiest location to take small children, and I would recommend wearing shoes with a bit of grip. That said, I was wearing my avarcas and I made it up and down without an issue. Despite the crowd and lack of space to sit on the beach (not just due to the crowds, but also because there really isn’t much beach to begin with), this was definitely my favourite swimming spot. The water was crystal clear and there are also a couple of caves on either side that you can swim into. It’s a great spot to take a snorkel and explore. After we had a good swim, we decided to head to somewhere with more beach space to relax.

We started our Monday with a drive up to an old monastery (now a viewing spot, hotel and cafe) in the mountains. I thought the view was beautiful, but Asher was slightly less enthused when he could have been at the beach! We spent the afternoon at Playa de S’Amarador, one of the beaches that I would describe as half cala, half playa. This beach offered the best of both worlds with a pretty cove to swim in and a sandy beach to relax on. It’s also connected to another cove via a footpath connecting the two and would be a nice spot to paddle board or kayak between the coves.

Since all good things must come to an end, our last day came around in a flash. We drove into Palma for the first half of the day and visited some of the sites that were closed when we previously visited Palma. We went to the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, which is situated right net door to the cathedral, by the sea. The palace has a lot of beautiful features and was very pretty, but it was the least pleasant of all the places we visited. The staff behave a bit like military, so don’t expect friendly smiles here. We also visited the Banys Arabs (Arab Baths), the only remaining building from the Arab occupation of Mallorca, and then did some shopping. We spent the evening at Cala Marcal for our final beach trip and had a delicious tapas dinner at the beach cafe as the sun went down.

We were impressed by the beaches when we went to Zakynthos two years ago, but this trip to Mallorca took things to the next level. The calas and playas were absolutely stunning and I was impressed by how many other things there are to do and see. If we go back, I would love to do some proper hikes in the mountains, visit wineries and hire kayaks to paddle between calas.