10 Amazing things to do in Palma de Mallorca

We have just spent a month living in Palma de Mallorca and have explored every inch of the city and surrounding areas – fuelled by more iced coffees than we could have imagined.

The city itself is very similar in style to Barcelona, with its own La Rambla and buildings inspired by Gaudi so if you are a fan of Barcelona, you will feel right at home in Palma.

That being said it has lots of its own charm, a great food scene and seeing the Seu Cathedral at sunset would make a trip here worth it on its own.

If you are visiting Mallorca without renting a car, Palma is also your best option as all public transport runs through Palma. The buses get very busy here though so if you can rent a car, we would suggest doing that where possible – particularly if travelling with young children.

Quite often, the best things to do in Palma can be unexpected, like seeing someone play guitar or the large bubbles being blown on Passeig del Born but we will take you through some of our favourites to hopefully give you some inspiration for your next trip.

Where to stay in Palma

We have a more detailed guide on our top hotel recommendations in Palma but ultimately the city is quite compact so it will come down more to choice of hotel rather than location.

That being said you may want to choose between staying in the city centre or staying in one of the more beach centric areas surrounding Palma with access to the city.

If you are only spending a few days in Palma, we would recommend staying as centrally as possible to get the most out of your stay.

1 – Parc del Mar at sunset

If you can only do one thing in Palma, make it this one. The Parc del Mar sits beneath the Seu Cathedral and as the light fades in the evening, provides the perfect place to sit outside and people watch as the sun sets on the cities most iconic site.

We went to this area several times on our trip to Palma and each time was equally as captivating as the previous one. Along the promenade here there are a few bars where you can sit outside and enjoy a drink, benches lining the area where you can just enjoy a chat and you will often find musicians singing here as well.

You could easily spend an entire evening here but even if you only have a few minutes to spare, make sure that you spend them catching the sunset beneath the cathedral.

2 – Palma Old Town

Whenever we visit a new city in Europe we always make a bee line for its Old Town, and Palma is no exception. Just a short walk from the cathedral, the Old Town isn’t a huge area but it is a memorable one.

IPalma’s old town is lined with narrow streets, colourful buildings and a great variety of bars and restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating.

One of our favourite things to do on holiday is to have dinner outside and enjoy the evening heat as it is something that is so rare for us to have the opportunity to do at home.

3 – Passeig del Born

Passeig del Born is the heartbeat of the city – a long connecting you to all of the main arteries of the city including the Old Town and Cathedral areas.

Passeig is where to go when you want to do a little bit of shopping, enjoy a nice lunch or dinner and just sit out and people watch as the day passes you by.

Every building along this street is a picture, with shuttered windows, pastel paint and tons of character.

We would definitely recommend having dinner along Passeig del Born at least once on your visit, with recently opened restaurant Terra probably the best option from our experience.

4 – Drinks at Bar Abaco

Speaking of people watching, Bar Abaco is the place to go if you want the perfect place to sip a cocktail, admire the style of other guests and start an evening on a classy note. Set in a restored 17th Century mansion, Abaco is vibrant and unique.

The bar opens at 8pm every evening an does not take any reservations so make sure to arrive around 15 minutes before opening to make sure you get a seat along the outdoor terrace.

This bar is opulent, unique and a perfect place to start your evening before going for a late dinner in the Old Town. The drinks here are a bit priceybut for a one off experience, you have to try this place out at least once.

5 – Take a Boat Trip

Probably the best activity we did on our trip to Palma was to take this boat tour. Firstly, being on a boat rather than being on the road feels much freer and certainly less stressful than driving through some of the mountainous roads in Mallorca.

Secondly, the tour let us experience the island in a completely different way, particularly when we got to snorkel around one of Mallorca’s most famous coves, Sa Calobra.

Being from an island ourselves, we always feel like you need to experience an island from both land and sea and this boat tour definitely completed the island experience for us.

6 – Have a beach day

While Mallorca is renowned for its incredible beaches, Palma itself is not blessed with great options.

That being said, it is still very easy to have a beach day nearby with buses running to beach hubs outside of the city centre.

Beyond the Port, you will find the beaches of Cala Major, Cala Comtesa, Portals Nous and the popular tourist hub of Palmanova.

If you are visiting with young children like we were, we would recommend Palmanova as the best option, the sun loungers are much cheaper than Cala Major and the area is flat and easily accessible.

Going in the other direction, you could also spend a day in the S’Arenal area and visit Playa Palma. We didn’t do this as the beaches in the other direction were much closer to where we were staying but they are also great options if you are based on that side of the city.

7 – Spend a morning in Santa Catalina

If you were to ask us what our favourite area to spend time in Palma was, it would be a toss up between the Old Town and Santa Catalina, but Santa Catalina might just clinch it.

Again one of our favourite things to do when we are away from home in a sunny location, is to grab an iced coffee and just wander the streets to get a feel for the area.

Santa Catalina is probably the best place to do that in Palma. There are lots of great coffee spots in this area like Magi, Sama and A Matcha a Day and it is the best area in the city for dinner as well.

Our favourite restaurants here were Mr Xiao for Asian food, Rikito for Italian and Primo for Mexican but there are loads of others to choose from as well.

If you are a food lover, we would also highly recommend this cooking class while you are in Palma. This was high on our list as we love to cook ourselves, but we didn’t manage to do it as we were visiting with young kids so it wouldn’t have been suitable.

We also loved this area because we visited with our young kids and there is a great play area just a few minutes from Santa Catalina at Placa de sa Feixina.

8 – Visit Bellver Castle

Coming from Ireland, we are a sucker for a good castle and Palma is blessed with a beautiful one at Bellver.

The castle sits high up above Palma, give you a beautiful panoramic view of the city but it can be a little bit tricky to get to if you aren’t keen on doing some walking along the way.

That being said, tickets are only 5 Euro to enter, the castle itself has a unique round structure to it and again if you are visiting with children there is a great play area at the gates to the caste grounds that is well worth spending some time at as well.

9 – Take a day trip to the mountains

This is an absolute must do activity when you visit Palma, or Mallorca in general for that matter. While Mallorca is renowned for its beach life, its in the mountains where you will find the true character of the island.

There are a few great options you can take but the most renowned and possibly most memorable, is to take the wooden train from Palma to Soller through the mountains. The ferrocarril goes from beside Palma’s main bus/train terminal at intermodal and runs through the mountains to bring you to Soller.

From Soller, you can also take the tram to one of our favourite places in Mallorca, Port de Soller. The port is quite compact and you won’t need a full day here but it has a very similar feel to the French Riviera and it’s a great place to sit out with a drink or enjoy a dip in the water.

We would also recommend going for a meal at Neni, a beautiful Mediterranean restaurant while you are in the area.

Another great day trip option nearby is Valdemossa, a beautiful cobbled street village just a short drive from Soller/Port de Soller.

Again, while there aren’t a huge range of sights/activities as such, it is a beautiful place to simply wander the streets and enjoy some lunch. There are some great café’s here like Barbaflorida and lots of great little boutique shops to pick up a souvenir or two as well.

On our first visit to Palma, we took this guided tour and in hindsight, it was the best decision we made. Both driving here and using public transport are not the most relaxing experiences, while the wooden train also gets very crowded, not ideal when travelling with young children.

This guided tour gave us time in Soller; Port de Soller and Valdemossa, as well as allowing us to take the wooden train from Soller to Port de Soller, a perfect day out.

10 – Take a sunset cruise around the city

Last but by no means least, what better way to finish your trip to Palma than to take a sunset boat trip underneath the cathedral.

The boat tour runs daily and tickets are only around 20 Euro so it is a pretty inexpensive way to get a perfect view of the cathedral and to take in the last of the sun for the day in a relaxed setting.

Alternatively, you can also do this Catamaran tour that includes dinner, drinks and snorkelling if you are looking for a more complete experience.

We chose to only do the cheaper options as we had already done a boat tour during the day but that hadn’t been the case we definitely would have chosen this option.

We hope you have a great time in the Palma and if you need some help planning a route, check out our 3 day itinerary.