Palma de Mallorca is the capital of the Balearic Islands and one of the great Mediterranean cities — a place that combines the Gothic grandeur of one of the largest cathedrals in Europe (La Seu, begun 1229), the narrow lanes of the Jewish quarter (Call), the 13th-century Arab baths, the Moorish Almudaina Palace and the extraordinary collection of contemporary art (the Fundació Miró, designed by Rafael Moneo, holding 5,000 works Joan Miró bequeathed to his native island) in a compact, walkable old city of 400,000 people. Mallorca (the Balearic Islands) has a complex history: it was part of the Islamic al-Andalus (902–1229), then conquered by the Aragonese James I and settled with mainland Spanish colonists, then absorbed by the Spanish Crown; the language is Catalan (specifically Mallorquín, a Catalan variant), the cuisine is distinct from mainland Spain (ensaimada pastry, sobrassada sausage, tumbet vegetable casserole, pa amb oli bread with oil and tomato) and the island identity asserts itself through culture, language and a tourist industry that is simultaneously the island's economic engine and its greatest environmental challenge. Palma itself is regularly rated one of the world's best cities to live in — the Passeig des Born (the city's promenade), the marina with its megayachts and traditional llaut fishing boats, the terracotta-roofed old city behind the Cathedral and the 12 km of city beach at Playa de Palma make the quality-of-life argument self-evident. The Cathedral La Seu — illuminated by Antoni Gaudí's rose window above the Portal del Mirador — is visible from far out to sea and from every beach as the defining silhouette of Palma.
One of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world (121 m long, 55 m high nave) was begun by James I of Aragon in 1229 on the site of the main mosque of Islamic Mallorca — Antoni Gaudí redesigned the interior 1904–1914 (the rose window illumination, the Gothic canopy over the altar); the morning light through the 1,236-piece rose window is one of the great optical effects in European architecture.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 10th-century Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs) in a former Islamic private mansion are the best-preserved Islamic-era structure in Mallorca — the horseshoe-arched columns (reused from earlier Roman buildings) and the brick dome; nearby, the Call (the medieval Jewish quarter, one of the oldest in Spain) has the narrow lanes of the pre-1435 expulsion Jewish community.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePa amb oli (bread rubbed with tomato and drizzled with olive oil, topped with sobrassada cured pork sausage or cheese) is the most authentically Mallorcan meal — the equivalent of pan con tomate in a distinct Catalan tradition; the old town has many restaurants serving the traditional version with local produce.
The central promenade (lined with plane trees, 19th-century mansions and cafés) leads to the marina where Mediterranean megayachts and traditional Mallorcan llaut fishing boats sit side by side — the Parc de la Mar with its lake reflecting the Cathedral is the best single view in Palma.
The Palma aperitivo tradition: vermut (vermouth, served with a slice of orange and green olive) and tapas at the bars of Plaça de la Drassana and the wine bars of Carrer de Sant Joan — the ensaimada (spiral pastry dusted in icing sugar, the definitive Mallorcan sweet) for breakfast or late afternoon.
Joan Miró's studio and home in Palma (where he spent the last decades of his life) has been expanded by Rafael Moneo's 1992 building into the most important single-artist museum in Spain outside Barcelona — 5,000 works donated by Miró including paintings, sculptures, lithographs and the original studio preserved exactly as he left it on his last day of work.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe only circular Gothic castle in Spain (1300–1311) stands on a wooded hill above the city — the round keep with its circular courtyard and the moat give views over Palma Bay, the Cathedral, the Tramuntana mountains and the sea in all directions simultaneously; the city history museum inside.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 1912 wooden-carriaged historic train (Tren de Sóller) crosses the Serra de Tramuntana mountains (UNESCO, the most dramatic landscape in the Balearics) through 13 tunnels and 12 viaducts to the orange-growing valley of Sóller — the old town and the vintage tram down to the port make this the best half-day excursion from Palma.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTumbet (layered potato, aubergine and red pepper with tomato sauce, the most distinctive Mallorcan vegetable dish) and mallorcan lamb (xot) at a celler restaurant — Mallorcan wines (Binissalem DO, using the Manto Negro and Callet varieties) are of exceptional quality and rarely seen outside the island.
The dramatic peninsula at the northern tip of Mallorca (100 km from Palma) has sheer cliffs dropping 200 m to the Mediterranean, the lighthouse (1863) at the very tip and the transparent turquoise water of Platja de Formentor — the mountain road along the Formentor ridge with its pine trees and sea vistas is one of the most spectacular drives in the Mediterranean.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Drac Caves (60 km from Palma near Porto Cristo) contain one of the largest underground lakes in the world (Lake Martel, 177 m × 30 m) — the classical music concert performed in rowing boats on the underground lake surrounded by illuminated stalactites and stalagmites is one of the most theatrical tourist experiences in Spain.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideEs Trenc (on the south coast, undeveloped, protected) is the finest natural beach in Mallorca — white sand, clear turquoise water, dunes and no large hotels visible; the 6 km beach has a naturist section; this is the Mediterranean as it was before mass tourism.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFarewell evening on the Passeig des Born with the ensaimada pastry (the 16th-century Sephardic-origin spiral pastry in its distinctive hexagonal box) and Hierbas de Mallorca (the local herb liqueur, anise-based with 14 Mallorcan herbs), the most distinctly Mallorcan goodbye.