For my first sample itinerary post, we’ll keep things short and sweet with a weekend trip!

Introduction

For context, I studied abroad the summer after my first year of college in Valencia, Spain (June-August 2018). During our first free weekend at the beginning of July, a few friends and I took a trip to Palma de Mallorca, hastily planned by yours truly. Mallorca/Majorca is one of the islands that make up the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain located off of the mainland’s eastern coast. You might be familiar with another one of the Balearic Islands: the infamous Ibiza.

As we were all college students and only had two days (specifically, 36 hours), we did not rent a car. Consequently, we spent all of our time in the center of Palma itself. Palma is the capital and largest city of the Balearic Islands, so we had plenty to do. We walked almost everywhere, but took a cab on one or two occasions. If you are also looking for a quick weekend getaway to Palma, this itinerary hits all the main attractions.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Saturday)

9:45am: arrive at the Palma de Mallorca airport.

10:30-11am: morning coffee/snack pit stop.

• Honestly, this was crucial, as morale was low from waking up so early to catch our flight.

11-11:30am: walk around the plaza where the Catedral and Palau are located, take pictures, and engage with local vendors.

11:30am-12:15pm: Catedral de Mallorca.

• One person in my group did not want to walk through yet another European church, so I rushed a little more than usual so they did not have to wait so long in the heat outside. If you look at the website, there are additional offerings beyond the base admission, such as tours and terrace access.

12:30-1:15pm: Palau de l’Almudaina.

• A little emptier than I was anticipating (i.e., the only furniture consists of rugs), but the courtyard, right next to the Catedral, was stunning.

1:15-2pm: walk down the main avenue on your way to the hotel, potentially souvenir shopping along the way.

3-5pm: Platja d’Illetes.

• Very small and quite crowded, but my group of four was still able to find a good amount of space. There are multiple places where you can get drinks and snacks. I had my first shandy ever there, and it was quite delicious.

5-8pm: head back to the hotel and freshen up for the evening.

8-8:30pm: wander along and around Puerto de Palma.

• My group did this on the way to looking for a place to eat. I grew up on the east coast, so I loved seeing all of the sailboats!

8:30-10pm: dinner.

• We ended up going to an excellent Italian restaurant that I unfortunately cannot recall the name of for the life of me. However, I distinctly remember the waiter teasing me for wanting marinara with my gnocchi instead of pesto, the way you are “supposed” to eat it. As someone who is half-Italian, it broke my heart to learn my tongue had developed to like an incorrect form of Italian food.

10pm-12am: bar hop along Old Town and Santa Catalina.

Day 2 (Sunday)

10am-2pm: catamaran tour.

• A lovely way to see the island and get away from the crowds, as this itinerary is definitely on the touristy side. On the tour I booked, we got free drinks, snacks, and snorkel gear. While it was not a small tour, we had lots of space to ourselves. When I cannot book directly with a tour company itself, my favorite place to go is Viator.

2-4pm: lunch.

4-6pm: Platja de Palma.

• Being in the sun for four hours is really draining, so the only remedy is to spend even more time in the sun! Just kidding, we found a palm tree in the back and laid underneath. This was right next to where our catamaran tour departed/returned.

6:15-6:45pm: grab an ensaimada, the famous Mallorcan puff pastry (see image below).

7pm: head to the airport.

• While waiting for our delayed flight home (we did not end up departing until 10:30pm, even though we were scheduled for 9pm), I discovered that the McDonald’s Spain croquetas are my guilty pleasure!

Closing Remarks

There you have it: an active yet relaxing trip to Palma de Mallorca. Since this did span such a short period of time, I was able to add very specific time intervals during which I did everything, so this post ended up being a little longer than expected. Oh well!