Looking for a warm winter getaway? Mallorca is much more affordable and less crowded in the winter. Here’s an itinerary for 5 perfect days in Mallorca!
When I moved to Berlin last summer, I wasn’t sure what to expect come wintertime. It’s further north than Maine, so I assumed we’d get a decent amount of snow. My Berlin friends assured me otherwise, though. Oh no, instead of snow, winter in Berlin is comprised of endless weeks of bleak, gray weather with a healthy amount of rain thrown in. Joy. As soon as the weather started cooling off and the days started shortening, I knew I needed to plan a winter getaway. As luck would have it, a good friend of mine (hi, Grace!) who moved to Azerbaijan almost two years ago had some time off near the end of January. And thus, our plan to escape the winter blues in favor of someplace warmer and sunnier was hatched.
After asking countless friends for recommendations on where to travel in the winter, Grace and I decided Mallorca was the winner. In the summer, Mallorca is an extremely popular vacation spot for Germans, but in the winter the island is practically empty. Although not warm enough to take a dip in the ocean, it was much cozier than drizzly Berlin and we were blessed with a week of sunshine (I’ve heard that winter in Mallorca can be a bit unpredictable, so we were lucky!).
All in all, our week in Mallorca wound up being the most relaxing vacation I’ve ever taken. Although our 5-day itinerary may look lengthy, that’s just because I added in lots of useful tips. In reality, we slept in until 8 or 9 most mornings, ate a leisurely breakfast at our AirBNB, and then got into our rental car to go exploring. It’s worth noting that you need a rental car to do all the things on this Mallorca itinerary (rentals are dirt cheap in the winter!), and I should also mention that most places in Mallorca don’t properly “wake up” until 10am at the earliest. So trust me when I say you’ll want to take things slowly!
Read more: 5 Reasons to Visit Mallorca in the Winter
Where to Stay in Mallorca, Spain
Although Mallorca is home to many quaint villages and seaside resorts, it’s best to stay in Palma when visiting in the winter. Most of the resort towns shut down in the winter — restaurants are closed down for the season, apartments are boarded up, and the few people still in town are constructions workers who are renovating buildings for the influx of summer visitors. Yes, staying in Palma will mean you’ll have to drive a little further to get to some of the spots mentioned in this Mallorca itinerary, but it really is the best place to have as your home base when visiting during the cooler months. Palma is the only place we visited that still felt “alive” in the winter, but it wasn’t crowded whatsoever. So if that’s a concern for you, don’t fret! Palma is still a relaxed place to stay in Mallorca in the wintertime.
Day 1: Explore Palma
The first day in any new place can feel a tad disorienting. Since we stayed near Palma, we wanted to get our bearings and explore our new home away from home on our first day in sunny Mallorca. Palma’s city center is small enough to explore on foot, so park your car and start exploring! There’s really no reason to rush around Palma or create a strict itinerary for the day. Most of the main attractions are nestled in Palma’s Old Town, so take your time exploring and enjoy the leisurely pace.
I highly recommend starting your day at the Catedral de Mallorca (Mallorca’s Cathedral). Palma’s cathedral is absolutely stunning. Before entering the worship space, there are a few rooms filled with holy relics and other priceless artifacts from the church. The main part of the cathedral is lined with ornate chapels decorated in the baroque style. These chapels are dedicated to specific saints and you can light candles in front of them if you have specific prayers for the saints. Instead of your typical alter, the cathedral’s nave is decorated with hanging lamps and gorgeous stained glass windows. Definitely take your time when visiting the cathedral — there are so many tiny details to take in!
Across from the cathedral is the Royal Palace of La Almudaina. Although the palace is the official residence of the king and queen of Spain, it’s open to the public for tours. Some of the rooms aren’t furnished, while others are decked out in tapestries and fine furniture. There’s also a small chapel in the palace, and you’re also able to walk out onto one of the terraces overlooking the bay.
Other things to do in Palma include exploring the Old Town (which is slightly run down in places, but still cute), walking along the waterfront, enjoying a coffee in the sunshine, and generally meandering around soaking up the sights. All in all, this should be a fairly chill first day in Mallorca!
read more: The Top Things to Do in Palma de Mallorca
Day 2: Hike the Barranc de Biniaraix
After sleeping in late and exploring Palma at a leisurely pace on our first day in Mallorca, we were ready to stretch our legs and get out into nature. We’d done some research on the best hikes in Mallorca, and we settled on one that sounded challenging but not too difficult for two out-of-practice hikers: the Barranc de Biniaraix. The Barranc de Biniaraix is a deep gorge that runs into the Soller valley. Much of the hike is on a dry stone road that was originally built to link the farms high up in the mountains with the larger city of Soller.
This hike wound up being one of my favorite parts of our trip to Mallorca. It wasn’t technically challenging (i.e. we didn’t have to scramble over boulders, use ropes, or anything scary like that), but since we were winding our way up a mountain our legs definitely got a good workout. There are two stages to this hike: you first hike up to the L’Ofre farm (a quaint sheep farm nestled in between the mountains), then you can opt to continue hiking up to the Grand Cornador, which is one of the many peaks in the mountain range. If possible, you should definitely hike the extra hour up to the mountain peak! It’s not particularly strenuous, and the views from the top are stunning. Think: sprawling Spanish villages surrounded by blue water stretching for miles.
Here are a few tips for hiking the Barranc de Biniaraix:
- Get an early(ish) start — We started our hike around 10am. It took us about 5 hours to complete (we stopped to take lots of pictures along the way), so we were glad to finish mid-afternoon when there was still enough time to grab lunch in the village before everything shut down for siesta.
- Pack snacks and water — Winter in Mallorca is fairly mild, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay hydrated on your hike. Definitely pack a large water bottle and plenty of snacks to keep you fueled throughout the uphill hike.
- Wear layers — Because you’re hiking between mountains, you’ll spend long stretches of time in the shade, followed by stretches in the sun. As such, we were constantly shedding layers and putting them back on later when we cooled down.
- Wear sturdy shoes — Much of the hike is on cobbled pathways. I felt comfortable hiking in a pair of sturdy tennis shoes with a solid tread, but if you have weak ankles you should definitely wear supportive hiking boots.
Tip: If you need explicit instructions on hiking the Barranc de Biniaraix, I recommend checking out this hiking page.
After our hike, we drove through the sleepy mountain village of Fornalutx. In the winter, Fornalutx is almost completely deserted but it’s still worth parking and wandering around. Every alleyway looks like it should be on a postcard and there’s something so magical about exploring the empty town on foot. You won’t need to stay for very long (maybe 30 minutes), but do get out and explore on foot. I bet this place is packed in the summer, so soak up the rare peace and calm!
Although we were bone tired after our hike, we drove out to the Port de Soller to see the sun set over the water. We took off our sweaty socks and shoes and burrowed our toes in the cold sand, all the while watching the sun slowly sink down behind the sailboats docked in the harbor. Like most of the towns in Mallorca, the Port de Soller is mostly shut up during the winter, but we loved having the beach to ourselves after a long day on our feet.
Day 3: Explore the local villages
After a good night’s sleep, we were ready to hop back in the car and visit more of Mallorca’s villages. There are so many lists online that claim to know the “best” villages in Mallorca, but truth be told they’re all pretty dang cute. Not all of them have lots to do, per se, but all are worth getting out of the car for and mosying around for a bit. Although Mallorca is an island and therefore easy to bop around in a rental car, we found it best to visit clusters of villages in the same area so we spent most of our day outside rather than cooped up in the car.
Feel free to switch up your third day in Mallorca and visit other villages that seem interesting to you. But on this particular day here are the villages we chose to explore:
First we drove to Soller, which admittedly is more of a town than a village. Known for its citrus groves, Soller is home to some of Mallorca’s old money (there are a few particularly grand and beautiful homes here!). The church in the main square is particularly well known and worth popping into, and if locomotives tickle your fancy you should walk over to the train depot to see the historic train that runs from the town to the port in the warmer months.
From there, we drove to the seaside village of Deia. Deia is another sleepy village perched atop a hill near the water. We grabbed a spot of lunch near the square, then shuffled to the top of the village to soak up the view. There’s also a little church at the top, so peek your head in while you’re there. After snapping photos all around Deia, we drove out to Cala Deia, a well-known beach nearby with turquoise water and small rock pools. In the summer, there are two seafood restaurants open near the beach, but in the winter you have the place to yourself.
We ended our day in Valldemosa, which is best known for its monastery where Chopin once wintered. Things close early in this small town, so it’s best to get there before 4pm so you can squeeze in some window shopping and visit the monastery, if desired.
Day 4: Go Hiking Near Sant Elm
Sant Elm was the sleepiest resort town we visited all week. The apartments were boarded up, no restaurants were open, and we only saw a handful of other people the entire time we were there. Why were we in this quiet resort town, you ask? To hike, of course! As much as we loved our 5-hour trek earlier in the week, we weren’t looking to tackle another long hike. We found this lovely 3-hour hike near Sant Elm online and packed up our things to see where the day led. To my knowledge, this hike near Sant Elm has no specific name, but if you google “Sant Elm monastery hike” it should pop up (alternately, check out this hiking page for detailed instrucitons).
The first part of the hike takes you to a 400-year-old abandoned watchtower. This first leg of the hike is a breeze, and the views from the tower are incredible. We were treated to a full view of the nearby Dragon Island, which looks like a sleeping dragon if you use your imagination! You can climb to the top of the watchtower using some old ladder rungs and rope, but I opted to keep my feet planted on solid ground. After you’ve snapped some pics at the watchtower, double back on your path and hike up to the ruins of the La Trapa Monastery. Once the short but sweet hike was over, we returned to Sant Elm and walked around a bit. Like I said, nothing was open, but the view of the water is lovely.
We then sped over to Port de Andratx for a late lunch. There were a few restaurants open near the water, so we picked a pizza place and wolfed down our meal. After lunch, we — you guessed it — walked along the docks and took photos by the water.
We were both pretty tuckered out on this day, so we headed back to our AirBNB to squeeze in a little work (I’m a freelancer, so it’s hard to shut off completely on vacation). If you wind up with extra adventure time, you may want to circle back to Palma and visit Castell de Bellver on the outskirts of the city. It has a small history exhibit inside and you can see all of Palma from its ramparts up top. You can either drive up to the castle, or you can park your car at the base of the hill it’s perched on and hike to the top (as I understand, it’s an easy hike!). We drove up, but we wish we would have hiked!
Day 5: Explore the Northern Tip of the Island
Our last day in Mallorca was arguably the best. We started with a morning coffee in Pollenca, which wound up being the only town we visited that felt “awake.” There were slightly more people milling around (locals, I assumed), more of the cute boutiques were open, and in general there just seemed to be more hustle and bustle the morning we visited. After a week of sleepy villages, we appreciated the change in energy!
Some of Pollenca’s best known landmarks are closed to visitors in the winter, such as the church on the main square. However, we enjoyed the walk up the Calvary Steps and oohed and aahed appreciatively at the view from the top. We then made our way back down the steps (snapping photos all the while), did a little window shopping, then hopped back in the car to drive up to the Santuari del Puig de Maria, an old monastery atop a tall hill. The drive up is slightly terrifying since the road is quite narrow and the turns are sharp. We parked the car about three-fourths up the massive hill and hiked the rest of the way up on foot. The hike is short but steep, so definitely wear good shoes! The small chapel at the top of the hill was being set up for a wedding, so we didn’t stay long, but the view of Pollenca and the nearby port were stunning.
We lunched in Port de Pollenca, then ended our day with one last fear-inducing drive: Cap de Formentor. Cap de Formentor is a lighthouse at the very tip of the island — sounds simple enough to visit, right? Much to our surprise, the road out to the lighthouse was full of tight twists and turns that had me questioning all of my life choices. Before driving out to the lighthouse, we stopped at Mirador es Colomer for an initial dose of gorgeous views. The drive to Mirador es Colomer from Port de Pollenca is easy and not scary at all, and the viewing platforms perched along the cliffs have the most incredible view of the coast.
From there, we buckled up for the journey to Cap de Formentor. You definitely need to drive slowly on the way out to the lighthouse, but it’s so worth it! The drive itself is arguably better than the view at the end, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. My friend Grace sat at the wheel, and I clutched the armrests for dear life. We passed countless goats along the way, and I can’t tell you how many times we gasped at the ever-changing ocean views. When we finally arrived at the lighthouse, fog had rolled in and obscured the view. But it didn’t matter though, because we’d survived the drive to Cap de Formentor and laughed the entire time! I honestly can’t think of a better way to have ended our time in Mallorca.
If you’re still reading this blog post, congrats! You’ve made it to the end. I hope you’ve found this Mallorca itinerary helpful. Before signing off, I want to reiterate that Mallorca in the winter is super chill, so there’s no reason to stick to a strict itinerary or worry about checking off your to-do list. I suggest using this 5-day Mallorca itinerary as a starting point for your own adventures. Begin each day with a loose list of things you’d like to see and do, and fill in the blanks as you go. Trust me, you’ll have the most relaxing vacation of your life if you “plan” things this way!
Tell me: What types of places do you like to visit in the winter?
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