Explora Journeys in Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the capital of Mallorca and the largest city in the Balearics, built in warm honey-colored sandstone around a sandstone Gothic cathedral that rises straight off the seafront. The old town packs Roman, Moorish, and Catalan-Gothic layers into roughly a square kilometer of mostly pedestrian lanes, so the day earns itself on density rather than transfers. The cathedral alone carries interventions by two of Spain's most consequential artists, which is unusual for a port this walkable.

What to do on a day in Palma de Mallorca

• La Seu (Catedral de Mallorca): one of the tallest Gothic cathedrals in Europe, with Antoni Gaudi's iron-and-cork baldachin suspended over the main altar and Miquel Barcelo's polychrome ceramic Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament from 2001 to 2006
• Palau de l'Almudaina: the former Moorish fortress turned royal palace next door to the cathedral, with Gothic halls and Mudejar ceilings
• Banys Arabs: a small surviving 10th-to-12th-century hammam about five minutes on foot from the cathedral, with a domed caldarium pierced by star-shaped skylights, one of the few traces of Medina Mayurqa
• Passeig del Born: the tree-lined boulevard that anchors the old town's shopping and cafe spine
• Plaza Mayor and the surrounding maze of Arab and Jewish quarter lanes, navigable on foot
• Bellver Castle: a rare circular medieval fortress on a wooded hill above the city, a short taxi or bus ride rather than a walk

Getting ashore

Ships berth at Muelle de Poniente or, for larger vessels, Dique del Oeste, roughly 4 to 6.5 km from the old town; this is not a walk-off port, so take the cruise shuttle, a taxi, or EMT bus line 1. Shuttles typically drop near Parc de la Mar or Antoni Maura, a flat five-minute walk to the cathedral, and one day is comfortably enough for the old town on foot.

When to book the ship's excursion vs your own →

Weather and when to visit

• April to May (spring). Typically mild and comfortable, daytime highs rising from the high teens C to low 20s C, with spring being the driest end of the shoulder season
• June to August (summer). Typically hot and dry, daytime highs from the high 20s C into the low-to-mid 30s C, long sunshine, rain almost absent
• September to October (autumn). Typically warm and easing, high 20s C in September into the mid 20s C by October, with rainfall picking up toward late October