8 Days in Mallorca

I can feel the touch of Mallorcan air as I begin typing this. A place that I dreamt of going for so long that turned out to be better than my wildest dreams. If I’m being honest, there was a lot of energy leading up to our trip to Mallorca and there were times when I thought, it isn’t the right time to go, maybe I should cancel, maybe I will be able to enjoy it more if I go when life isn’t happening at 120 miles per hour around me. In a lot of ways, so much of this year - of the past 3 years - was leading up to this turning point in my life that has happened in the last month. I had known that eventually I would leave my full time job to pursue bigger dreams of entrepreneurship and when I gave my notice at the end of August, the beginning of October felt so soon all of a sudden. Christian’s (my) sister was getting married - a wedding we had long awaited and were so excited for. And, of course, the mental and literal preparation to start my new job working for myself, fending for myself, and getting acclimated.

It was a lot all at once to say the least - and if you’ve been around for awhile, you know that as a libra through and through I crave balance to keep me afloat and thriving. I wrapped up my job on Thursday evening, went to an early birthday dinner with my closest friends that night, and woke up on Friday to pack and depart on a redeye from JFK to Madrid, and then Madrid to Palma. Of course getting to the airport and finding out that a physical vaccination card was needed to get into Spain, of which I did not bring with me after 6 months of vax presentation being accepted on my phone. And after pleading with the Delta desk agent for nearly 45 minutes we were at risk of missing our flight, which didn’t help with the sense of overwhelm that the week had on me. But after a few calls and a loophole to be able to submit my vax proof electronically, we were settled into our seats and ready for a heavy pour of mediocre airplane wine.

When we landed in Palma about 12 hours later, we knew we were off to a good start when the rental car gentleman was so eager to upgrade us that when we told him we weren’t interested in paying 60 additional euros per day for the bigger car, he said, it’s ok I’ll give it to you guys for free. It’s like he knew that Christian was going to change the course of our relationship 24 hours later! I quite frankly had no idea what was in store the rest of the week other than getting to explore somewhere that had been on my bucket list for years.

If you’ve made it this far I applaud you for reading through my rants that have taken me late into the night and helped me to beat my jet lag one paragraph at a time. I’ll waste no more time with painting the picture and cut to the chase because we have a lot to dissect when it comes to Mallorca! Below I’ve laid out how we spent our 7 days on the island around the three main spots -- Hotel Can Ferrereta (yes this is a hotel not a town but it is a hotel of which you hardly need to leave therefore making it deserving of its own highlight), Soller, Deia and Palma. If Mallorca isn’t already on your list, add it to the very top as soon as possible.

ITINERARY

Day 1 (Saturday): Santanyi

Flew into Palma, picked up rental car, drove to Santanyi
Checked into Hotel Can Ferrereta, lunch at the pool, hung at the pool all afternoon
Went to dinner at Es Moli in Santani
Drinks in the square with live music

Day 2 (Sunday): Santanyi, Cala D’Or, Soller -- My birthday / the day we got engaged!

Woke up hungover from too much vino y cava to a huge bouquet of flowers delivered to the room
Took a bath
Got breakfast at Hotel Can Ferrereta (SO GOOD)
10am spa reservation
11am: packed up, got ready
12pm: Christian and the hotel surprised me with a picnic for my birthday, packed all of the food and drinks for us and recommended some spots to take it
1pm: took the picnic to Cala D’Or, a famous beach in Mallorca on the west (?) side, about 15 minutes from the hotel
Christian proposed! Hung at the beach in awe all afternoon
Drove to Soller where we were checking into our next hotel, Finca Ca N’ai
Called all of our family and best friends to tell them the news
We were exhausted but had so much to celebrate so found Can Limona on Google and went for one of the best dinners we had all week

Day 3 (Monday): Port de Soller + Deia

Went to breakfast at our hotel
Drove to Port de Soller
Walked around, got lunch, shopped, took a nap on the beach
Massage at the Belmond La Residencia in Deia followed by dinner at their restaurant, El Olivo

Day 4 (Tuesday): Palma + Deia

Checked out of our hotel
Drove to Palma to pick up our friends who flew in from Portugal
Walked around the old town of Palma, got lunch
Drove to Deia to meet our other friends who flew in from NY and checked into our Airbnb in Deia
Went to dinner in Deia

Day 5 (Wednesday): Deia

Rainy day
Made breakfast at Airbnb
Went for a rainy day drive towards Soller with no destination in mind
The best white wine sangria at ______
Italian lunch in Deia at Trattoria Italiana
Dinner at home

Day 6 (Thursday): Palma

Rented a boat in Palma for the day
Ordered pizzas for take out for dinner (exhausted from a day in the sun)

Day 7 (Friday): Deia

Coffee in Deia
Hiked to Ca’s Patro March (famous restaurant on the water in Deia) for lunch
Drank beers at the beach
Went to dinner in Soller

Day 8 (Saturday): Deia, Palma, Madrid

Checked out of Airbnb
Drove to Palma to get COVID tests
Hung out at beach in Palma until flight
Palma > Madrid
Checked into hotel in Madrid
Went to dinner at Bar Tomate
Went to dinner part ii at Lateral

HOTEL CAN FERRERETA

I wish I could say that we planned our trip around this magical hotel, but the truth is that Christian booked this hotel so last minute to fill the gap at the beginning of our trip, and it turned out to be one of the biggest highlights. The hotel is situated in a small town on the east side of the island called Santanyi where the Mallorcan culture is rich with live music, amazing music, history, and gorgeous beaches nearby.

The hotel is perfectly done architecturally with a mix of old buildings and new, preserving the history while adding modern touches throughout. And being a sucker for great hospitality, they definitely didn’t fall short in this department. Christian worked with them prior to our arrival to plan the proposal and they truly pulled out all the stops -- having the biggest bouquet of lilies delivered to our room upon waking up on my birthday (the day that he would later propose), setting us up with last minute dinner reservations, waiting on us hand and foot, and working with Christian on the surprise of all surprises - the picnic where he proposed.

Truthfully the town of Santanyi wasn’t originally on our “must see” list, but Can Ferrereta made it one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip. While we were only there for 24 hours, we felt like we saw all that we wanted to in the town, although I would have been so happy staying an additional few days to just bask in the beauty of the hotel. We will definitely return to Can Ferrereta for a longer stay.

Must Do:

Stay at Can Ferrereta...no but seriously. While Santanyi is gorgeous and has so much life to it, you can’t go to Santanyi without staying here.
Visit the vintage shops in town
Walk the streets with no destination in mind
Have dinner at Es Moli. This was one of the best dinners our entire trip with true Spanish tapas, set in a historic building, and with the best vibes. It was recommended to us by Can Ferrereta and we probably wouldn’t have found it otherwise as it is a bit off the beaten path, but so worth it.
Visit Cala D’Or, the beach where we got engaged! This beach is set in an inlet and has the bluest, most beautiful water, filled with stunning boats. The actual beach was a bit crowded when we got there so we walked along the cliffside and found a spot to set up next to a classic European diving platform.

SOLLER

To me, Soller felt like Deia’s bigger town sister. It’s set about 15 minutes north of Deia and is a must-visit between the food, the town, and the port, it’s so beautiful and has so much to offer. We stayed at Finca Ca N’ai which is an adults-only (a must IMO), semi luxury hotel set 5 minutes outside of the town of Soller that has the most beautiful property and giant rooms that make you feel like royalty. Waking up here with the huge windows and european balcony with the fog rolling between the mountains was a view I’ll never forget, and the rooms are extremely reasonable. On Mondays and Wednesdays they host a Mallorcan-style barbeque, and while we already had reservations, we heard amazing things about it while we were there.

The Port de Soller is about a 10 minute drive from town and is filled with cafés, restaurants, and little shops with artisan goods. We loved spending the day here walking the boardwalk, getting spritzes, perusing the shops, buying a few pieces of art, and taking a nap on the beach. While I’m not familiar with the hotel scene here, I would recommend dedicating a day or afternoon here.

One of the most memorable parts about Soller to us was Can Limona, a family-owned Italian restaurant in the town of Soller. On the day that we arrived, we had just gotten engaged and we were eager to check into our hotel to call our family and best friends to tell them the news since they were just getting their Sunday started. It was so emotional calling each one of them and seeing their reactions and basking in the moments with them from afar, but it was also extremely exhausting. It took hours to get through all of them and by the time we were done it was nearly 9pm. We were tired but we also felt like it was necessary to go to dinner to celebrate the day. I quickly Googled best restaurants in Soller and Can Limona was the first that came up. We drove into town and when we arrived it was an old townhome that had been converted into a restaurant, with a woman who greeted us with a pan full of fresh pasta to share her selection of what she had left for the night. We waited awhile to get seated as it was fully packed and when we sat down and ordered, the woman welcomed us so warmly. I ordered the lasagne and swear it was the best lasagne I have ever had. Beyond the food and the ambiance, it was just a place we will always remember -- her cats who roamed the restaurant, her tears of joy when we told her that we had just gotten engaged, and her specifically pulling out her vintage family crystal champagne glasses to pour us a bottle of cava. As we were leaving, she took our hands and said, “Marriage is very hard. But never forget where it all started -- with love -- and you will never be led astray”.

DEIA

When I think of the Mallorcan magic, my mind immediately wanders to Deia. While we were planning our trip, Deia came highly recommended by a few of our friends and after spending the majority of our trip there, I can attest to this recommendation. Deia is a mountain town on the coast that has winding roads, views of the ocean and rolling hills, stunning European village architecture, and amazing food.

Deia is quite small but offers a great launching point for exploring the island. We got an Airbnb that was beautiful and 2 minutes away from town in a car, but there are also some incredible hotels if you’re traveling with your significant other including the amazing Belmond La Residencia, which I recommend visiting even if you aren’t staying there. We made a reservation when we first booked our flights for El Olivo at La Residencia and decided to make an entire afternoon out of it. I got a massage at the spa while Christian wandered the property and hung by the pool -- something I don’t actually think is allowed unless you’re a hotel guest, but if you look the part....When I finished at the spa, we had drinks on the terrace at Cafe Milo, which has some of the most stunning views in all of Deia, and then were brought to El Olivo for dinner. As expected, La Residencia is definitely a splurge, but it was well worth it in our opinion as it was such an experience and just the right amount of luxury to celebrate all that we were celebrating!

I loved that we had four full days in Deia as we really got to bask it all in without feeling like we were rushed to see or do anything. Our first full day there it was quite rainy so we went on a drive and ended up at a hotel on the coast that had some of the best white wine sangria I’ve ever had! We wandered the streets and popped into the stores in town. On our last day, we wanted to go to the famous restaurant on the beach in Deia, C’as Patro March and given how much we had been eating and drinking, we decided to hike down from our house which was a short 30 minute hike downhill. On our last day after we checked out of our house, Christian and I wandered the town one last time and ended up at the Robert Graves House, which was incredible. The property is on the way out of Deia on your way to Soller and is a must go if you have the time! The story, the property, and the interiors were so inspiring and we were so glad that we ended up going.

PALMA

We didn’t spend much time in Palma as we aren’t keen on spending time in cities when there is so much natural beauty to be seen, especially when we were escaping our own city, but we did get to spend a little bit of time here when we drove down to pick our friends up to bring them up to Deia. While I don’t feel like I spent enough time there to give you recommendations, my only advice would be to spend an afternoon wandering around the old city and seeing the cathedral. The tiny streets and spanish architecture is so beautiful and the perfect eye candy while sipping an afternoon cocktail and picking at some tapas.

We did rent a private boat with a captain through Click and Boat for a full day which was was out of a marina in Palma and I can’t recommend this enough! I always think that a boat day rounds out a beach vacation and gives you a day where everything is taken care of, and this was true to our experience in Mallorca. We had the boat from 11am-6pm and we got to the marina a little early to stock up on wine and snacks. Our captain took us out to these beautiful swimming holes a bit west of Palma and then to a boat-in restaurant which was an amazing experience albeit overpriced, as expected.

Our time in Mallorca exceeded our expectations and we cannot wait to return -- I always find that the best experience in a place is the second time around when you aren’t as rushed to see everything and you can fully soak in the experience at a couple of places.

Curated Travel Guide: Mallorca