Majorca - a favourite for families
The Marina at Cala D’or was a 20 minute walk from our hotel and it had some very nice bars and restaurants overlooking the Marina as well as some rather large boats! And it was a bit quieter than the main town and had we been staying on bed and breakfast at the hotel I am sure we would have enjoyed some lovely evening meals…at surprisingly reasonable prices too!
The pool area at our hotel was very very busy (well it was high season of course) but we managed to scoop some sunbeds in the quieter area overlooking the cove most days and jumped off rocks into the sea, swam and snorkelled and did a bit of paddle boarding. Just across the road was Esmeralda Beach (this was handy for smaller children needing shallow waters and soft sand). We had a real treat when, on one day, a couple of dolphins swam into the Cove and stayed for an hour or so….it was very unusual according to the life guard and Geoff and the children enjoyed swimming and snorkelling, fairly close at times, with them!
We had hired a car from the airport so spent a day exploring the North – we drove to Cala San Vicente - a pretty little resort and then onto Pollenca Old Town where we had a coffee and watched a rather scary but exciting downhill bike competition (racing through the cobbled streets and flying off walls and steps!). It is a very pretty town and well worth a visit with some very nice boutique shops and restaurants. From there we drove out onto the Formentor peninsula and out to the light house. To be honest it was so busy and car parking was so difficult that we turned around and came straight off again, parking up in Puerto Pollenca for a calamari lunch and ice cream overlooking the bay!
After our relaxing week in Cala D’or we headed to Palma to spend our last 2 nights at the Saratoga hotel – a smart boutique style property in a fabulous location within walking distance of the park, Avenida Jaime III, the promenade and the old town. It had 2 pools – one on the ground floor and a smaller one on the roof with fantastic views of the Port, the Old town roof tops and the magnificent Cathedral. The hotel has a very nice jazz bar and restaurants where you can enjoy live jazz music on selected nights.
We explored Palma on foot wandering around the pretty boulevards and small cobbled streets – many pedestrianised. Plenty of shopping opportunities in both the main shopping streets and the markets….and a wide choice of taps bars and some very smart restaurants and cafes. We found a quirky little place called Cortezar on the way back to our hotel and had a late lunch – we liked it so much we went back for cocktails that evening – it was off the beaten track and very reasonably priced – recommend the Mojitos and cucumber G&T’s! We ate tapas in the Old Town in the evening and had a delicious paella at C’an Eduardo down at the harbour on our last night.
All in all Majorca lived up to our expectations….but there is so much more to see and do. We would like to return out of season and spend some time in the Mountains….one day! ?