Soaking up the sun in Mallorca

 I have been a big fan of Rafael Nadal, one the greatest tennis players and athletes that this world has ever since, for 2 decades and counting. I fell in love with this guy since 2005 Roland Garros and I have never wavered in my love or support for him. So, as you can imagine, going to see where he was born and grew up has been on my bucket list for a very long time. It has been 20 years in the making and I have finally made it happen! 

We spent 4 days on the island and we saw everything I wanted, except Nadal unfortunately (I had missed him by a day and found out that on a particular day, we were just a few metres away from each other!)

Before I go in depth about our trip, here's a few things to know before you go to Mallorca!

- I have never used cash except the bus to the airport.

- There's authentic food everywhere so was very pleased with it

- I travelled by bus which was easy to use. You will need to pay contactless when you enter the bus (you can also pay in cash but the fare will be higher). When you exit the bus, you will also need to tap the same card you tapped in so they can charge the right fare. Uber is also used around the island.

- There are jelly fish skin in some beaches which can be quite stinky. Most beaches are sandy

- Although the weather was great in April, we couldn't do as much as swimming as the water was cold but that didn't stop some people.

Below is our itinary:

1) Port Soller - 

We stayed overnight in Port Soller and that was a great decision so we can the north of the island and it wasn't as busy either. The centre was small with plenty of places to eat along the port and beach. We stayed at Hotel Eden Nord which was great with a swimming pool and we went half-board too. It was very close to the centre so very convenient. We did a speedboat tour around the north North of the island coming across Sa Calobra, Cala Tuent and other coves and caves along the way. It was short and sweet with time for some swimming and walking around! The tour is 2hours and we had a great time with some stunning views! Perfect if you are short on time! We saw lightouses and fortresses on the way too. This is the activity provider we used: https://www.getyourguide.com/mallorca-l47/from-soller-speedboat-tour-a-sa-calobra-with-swimming-stop-t451657/?ranking_uuid=86ca23c2-1b04-439b-af3a-9a86edc3b6e0. 

After lunch we headed for a little walk to the National Sea Museum and look at views of Port Soller. The museum is free to visit. Do check times before going. There are pplenty of hiking trails as well. I wanted to hike to the lighthouse of Cap Gros and also Torre picada but since I've seen them from the speedboat tour so I didn't go on to these hikes. But if you have the time, do go on the hikes as the different views of the Tramuntana mountains is majestic!

2) Soller:

 We took the iconic vintage tram for Port Soller to Soller. It is 10 euros per person and under 5s go free. Do check the timetable as it varies for the seasons. I really enjoyed this short trip and loved the views especially when it started to pull into Soller. Once we arrived in Soller, we went straight to the main square, Placa de Constitucion and saw the very beautiful gothic cathedral Esglesia de Sant Bartomeu. It was also the Citrus Festival so there were lots of interesting decorations around the Sqaure. Soller was too busy for my liking. We did take a 20-30mins walk to the next village Biniaraix to see the orange and lemon groves on the way there. It was a very leisurely walk. We didn't go all the way to the village as we came across the groves before them. You can't enter the groves unfortunately but if you do, you can go through Ecovinayasa which offers tours around the groves with snacks. There is also a botanic garden about 15minutes walk away from the centre. Jardin Botanic de Soller also has a Natural Science Museum which is included in the ticket price. Overall, I didn't enjoy Soller as much as I thought I would as it was too busy and commercialised for my liking.

3) Valldemossa:

We took the bus from Soller to Valldemossa through Deia and loved the journey as the views were stunning. Valldemossa has my heart. I would highly recommend this gorgeous little town where you could spend a day easily there! I headed to the Carthusian Monastery (you get a discount if you book online in advance). This was the Royal residence of King Sancho. There are various ticket and I picked the general entry with tower visit which included the climb to the tower which offered stunning views of Valldemossa, entry to the monastery which had different little museum such as one dedicated to Chopin, the Polish composer who lived in this town and Sancho Palace. You can also listen to a nice Chopin piano recital included in the ticket. I would highly recommend these places to visit as it tells the story of the town but also the royals. Valldemossa is also famous for its pastry 'Coca de Patata) which was nice. I would also enjoyed walking around the cobbled streets, don't worry about the directions, just enjoy the views! Valldemossa is a must on your itinary!

4) Porto Cristo:

Rafael Nadal's town. We stayed there for 2 days and wasn't crowded at all despite having many things to do. Porto Cristo is on the other side of the island so we took the bus across the island which only took 1hour. We stayed about 5minutes from the centre and we enjoyed our stay at Marina Drach Aparthotel! We did a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Lucky where we went sea caving with AV Caving Mallorca (https://www.airbnb.co.uk/experiences/3603719?location=porto%20cristo&currentTab=experience_tab&federatedSearchId=9284769e-fb62-43a0-b6d1-86549d6d26e0&searchId=d30b9f85-66ab-44be-81b7-4b38d12c2f58&sectionId=9301c7fa-6399-4015-baac-411acb1ab5c0) . I took about 5 hours but if you want to do something unusual and discover hidden gems, I would highly recommend this experience especially with AV Caving Mallorca as it was relaxing and well organised with plenty of stories. We came across other groups but I felt they looked rushed! The experience involved walking, swimming in the open sea (you will be given a float but you must be good at swimming), climbing and down formations as well as crawling through tunnels. It sounds intense but Vanessa and Antonia took it at a very relaxed pace. It is suitable for kids over 8. You will swim through beautiful caves and see because formation! The sights are just unbelievable but highly recommend it! Other things we done were Drach Caves which has the largest underground lake. You can treated to a little classical concert and even a short boat ride on the underground lake. Porto Cristo has many beaches including one in the centre. There are also a lot of hiking trails which leads you to very beautiful views of the island. Close to Drach Caves was the Majorica Pearl Factory and Shop which is home to their famous synthetic pearls. It is free to visit and you can learn the story of the pearl and even get to see a small side of the factory where pearls are made with live demonstrations. We also took a nice walk around the marina, The marina is crowded with places to eat so you will never go hungry. I also took a morning walk to a little fortress on the edge of a cliff which offers picturesque views of the bays and the sea! A short bus ride away is Dinosaurland and Hams Cave. We didn't do this as the kids didn't want to do it but if you got young kids, it could be worth a visit! You can walk anywhere and always come across stunning little places and hidden coves so take the time to walk around!

5) Manacor:

The whole purpose of this Manacor trip was the Rafael Nadal Museum and Academy and it didn't disappoint. My kids were quite apprehensive but they surprisingly had a good time due to its interactive nature. The first half of the museum is a place for you to take part in a number of sports using virtual reality such as tennis, football, mountain cycling, football and racing! The kids had a blast in there and tried every single activity. Dotted around are obviously Rafa's achievements and objects. The real dedication came on the lower ground where you see all his accomplishments. There are also gifted sporting display from other athletes. Once you finish the museum, I will highly recommend going around the academy to look at the grounds! We easily spent 2 hours and this was thoroughly enjoyed by my kids who are not big museum fans.

6) Palma:

Palma is the capital of Mallorca and very beautiful as it set by the sea. I loved the architecture. We went to Palma Cathedral and the Royal Palace which are next to each other so very convenient. It is also very beautiful. We also walked around the grounds which was so beautiful! There were museums too but as I said, kids don't like museums much so we just concentrated on the unusual things to do!

It may look like we have done a lot but it was quite relaxed. If I had more days, I would have definitely done the more natural parks and hiking and spend time in the North East and  South East of the island but this itinerary included everything that I wanted to do as his trip was mostly dedicated to Rafael Nadal. Mallorca is a nature's paradise and another great trip!