Things to do in Palma

Palma sits on a wide bay, with the cathedral on the seafront and the old town behind it. Things to do in Palma start on foot and end on the water. Bellver Castle watches from a hill 3 kilometres west.

Around La Seu

Before 1229 this was Madina Mayurqa, a Muslim city. James I took it that year, and the cathedral rose on part of its great mosque's site.

• La Seu. Gaudí remodelled the interior in the early 1900s, and Miquel Barceló reworked the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Festival of Light. On 2 February and 11 November, around half past eight, light through the main rose window, 11.85 metres across, lands just below the west one. It is chance: the first plan had no main rose window.
• Almudaina Palace. Rebuilt for James II between 1305 and 1314, and still used by the king for ceremonies in summer.
• Arab Baths. A bath-house from the Muslim town, dated to the tenth or eleventh century.
• La Llotja. The merchants' exchange, built from 1426 to 1447, with twisted stone columns.

West of the centre

• Santa Catalina. The old fishermen's quarter, centred on a market from 1920 and now full of small restaurants.
• Es Baluard. A museum of modern art inside a sixteenth-century bastion, opened in 2004.
• Bellver Castle. Built between 1300 and 1311 on a circular plan, with a separate round keep 33 metres high.
• Cala Major. Joan Miró lived here from 1956 to 1983. His studios and a museum of 1992 form the Miró foundation.

What people book

Sailing is the backbone, from a two-hour cruise to a full day. The old town is walked or cycled.

• On the water. Private sailing days, sunset sails and catamaran cruises leave from the bay.
• On the plate. The ensaïmada, a breakfast pastry made with pig's lard, has a protected geographical indication.
• Out of town. The mountain villages, Sa Calobra, the south coast and the wine estates fill a half day or a full one.

Practical

• Weather. August afternoons reach about 30C, and July gets only 5 millimetres of rain. January afternoons sit near 16C, and October is the wettest month.
• Closing days. Bellver and the Miró foundation are shut on Mondays, and Bellver also in high wind. The cathedral admits visitors Monday to Saturday.
• Tickets. Online tickets for La Seu use a fast entrance at the Mirador portal. The roof terraces open in summer only.
• Dress. La Seu asks for covered shoulders, and trousers and skirts to mid-thigh.
• From the airport. Two city bus lines link it, 8 kilometres east, to the centre.