Planning a Trip to Mallorca
Mallorca covers about 3,640 square kilometres, which is roughly five times Ibiza and rather more island than a week allows. Almost everything practical about a trip here follows from that one number: where you sleep decides what you can reach, and a tour booked on the far side of the island turns into a two-hour drive before breakfast. This page sorts out the practical half. Once you know which side of the island you are sleeping on, the boat tours in Mallorca Spain that leave nearest to you are far easier to sort through.
Getting to Mallorca — plane, ferry or cruise ship
Three ways in, and they land you in three different places. Palma de Mallorca Airport sits about eight kilometres east of the city, and in summer it is one of the busiest airports in Europe. Ferries from mainland Spain arrive at Palma and, on some routes, at Alcúdia in the north. Cruise ships berth at Palma's Estáció Marítima on the Camí de l'Escullera, a short drive from the cathedral.
| Arriving by | Where you land | Distance to central Palma | What to do next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plane | Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) | About 8 km | The A1 bus to the Intermodal Station, a taxi, or a booked transfer |
| Ferry | Port of Palma, or Alcúdia in the north | Palma: a few minutes | Alcúdia is a different island end — plan around it |
| Cruise ship | Estáció Marítima, Camí de l'Escullera | About 4 km | Two marinas used by these trips are a short walk or ride away |
The A1 airport bus runs to the Intermodal Station at Plaça d'Espanya, where the island-wide TIB coaches and the Sóller railway both start. Fares move, and the published figure at the time of writing was around €5 — worth confirming on the airport's own transport page rather than budgeting to the cent.
How far apart things actually are
This is the part people misjudge, and it costs them a morning. The trips here leave from points spread right around the coast, and the distance between the two furthest is over an hour and a half by road. If you are staying in Alcúdia and you book a boat out of Cala Figuera, you have committed to a drive across the whole island before your start time.
| From central Palma to | Roughly | What leaves from there |
|---|---|---|
| Portals Nous / Magaluf / Santa Ponça | 20–30 minutes | Private charters, the jet boat, the quad tour, the licence-free rental |
| Peguera and Port d'Andratx | 35–45 minutes | The self-drive coast road tour and the private sailboat |
| Cala Figuera (south-east) | About 50 minutes | The coves boat trip |
| Manacor's east coast | About 50 minutes | The Cova de Coloms sea caving |
| Alcúdia and the north | About 1 hour 15 | The kayaking and sea-cave day |
Not sure which side of the island suits you?
The map page sets each meeting point against the trips that use it, so you can pick a base before you pick a boat.
Getting around the island
Palma's old town walks end to end in half an hour and is far easier without a car. Beyond it, the TIB coach network connects the main towns and the EMT buses cover the city. What public transport does not do well is the coves, which is exactly where the boats come in — several of the best-known ones have no road to them at all.
| Getting about | What it costs | Where it goes | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| On foot | Nothing | Palma's old town, the cathedral quarter, the marinas | Four of the marinas used here are walkable from the centre |
| A1 airport bus | Around €5 | Airport to the Intermodal Station | Runs frequently; confirm the fare before you travel |
| Sóller train | €23 one way, €30 return | Palma to Sóller | A wooden train from 1912, still on a daily timetable |
| Sóller tram | €10 per direction | Sóller to Port de Sóller | Every 30 minutes to an hour at peak times |
| Train and tram together | €40 combined | Palma to the port and back | Bought as one ticket from the railway |
| Guided tour | From $65 upwards | The coves, the range, the sea caves | The only way to several of the places listed here |
What a day on Mallorca actually costs
The island itself has very little to pay for. The beaches are public, the coves are free to swim in, and walking Palma's old town costs nothing. The money goes on transport, food, and the two or three things that sell their own ticket.
| What | Price | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Palma's old town, the seafront, the beaches | Free | — |
| The coves — Caló des Moro, Cala s'Almunia and the rest | Free | — though several have no road to them |
| Sóller train, Palma to Sóller | €23 one way, €30 return | Ferrocarril de Sóller |
| Sóller tram | €10 per direction | Ferrocarril de Sóller |
| Guided trips in this list | From $65 to From $941 | The tour operators — and the upper figure is a whole boat, not a seat |
Admission and tickets — the short list
On the island: there is no island-wide admission to pay. The Serra de Tramuntana is a lived-in working landscape rather than a park with a gate, and you can drive, walk or cycle into it freely.
On the railway: the Sóller train and tram sell their own tickets at their own stations, and no tour listed here includes the tram — the Valldemossa day tour excludes exactly the €10 the railway charges. The one-day circuit includes both the train and the tram inside its fare, which is the difference worth checking before you buy either separately.
On the boats: every fare here refunds in full up to 24 hours before departure, and operators cancel and refund themselves when the sea is unsafe.
How many days you need
A cruise stop, four to eight hours
Palma's old town and one boat, or a private car into the mountains and back. The day trips page marks which trips are built around a ship's clock and which are not.
Two or three nights
One day on the water, one in the Serra de Tramuntana, and whatever is left for Palma. That is the shape the things to do page is ordered around.
Five nights or more
Adds the north coast, the south-east coves and a spare day for the weather to move something. On an island this size, the spare day is what stops a cancelled boat becoming a lost holiday.
Accessibility, honestly
The Wonders and Wines private experience states that it is wheelchair accessible, in both its transport and its surfaces. Every other listing here states plainly that it is not, and the constraint is usually the boarding rather than the operator — several boats are boarded from a ladder or a pontoon, and one publishes a 115 kg limit on its boarding ladder. On land, the mountain villages are stepped and cobbled by construction. If mobility matters, a private vehicle is the route worth asking about before you book, and four trips here offer infant seats.
What to book before you arrive
Two things, in this order. Any boat day in July or August — several are flagged as likely to sell out and the small-group boats cap between eight and twelve people. Anything with a 48-hour confirmation window — the quad tour, the Valldemossa day tour, the private all-inclusive sailing and the Wonders and Wines experience. Everything else can wait. The 24-hour refund window means an early booking costs nothing if your plans move.
When you are ready to compare what each fare actually covers, Mallorca Spain Tours sets them out side by side.
Sources
Checked on 5 September 2026. Fares, timetables and opening arrangements belong to the bodies that publish them and they change with the season. The official pages are the place to confirm before you travel.
Ready to pick a trip?
Every trip here refunds in full up to 24 hours before it starts, so you can fix the date now and settle the rest later.
See Top Tours