A few relaxing days in Mallorca with a visit to a vineyard

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Writer: Jonathan Gharbi de Maré

Here are some ideas for a short holiday on the Spanish island of Mallorca. A popular destination that has attracted Swedes since the 50s.

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Used to struggling along in unreliable minibuses in Armenia or Kazakhstan, I was finally able to experience a proper holiday in Mallorca. 

Here everything works and you get the nature and the environments you miss from Morocco and Tunisia but do not have to tinker and fix. You rent a car without hardly having to sign any paper and everything just works. The local buses run on time and you can follow them in google maps.

The temperature is also a big advantage as it rarely goes above 35 degrees on the hottest summer days while it can be 10 degrees hotter on the Spanish mainland. 

Accommodation in Santa Ponca

A last minute trip to Palma with accommodation in the small beach town of Santa Ponca was the only thing booked before departure. From the airport we took a regular local bus and had to change once, payment is by swiping the debit card. The journey took an hour to Santa Ponca.

In February it is very quiet and many restaurants and places are closed. Santa Ponca is a popular summer destination with many tourist hotels and restaurants, about one in three of which are closed during the low season. 

Visit to the Macia Batle vineyard

The first day we took a local bus to Palma and strolled around a bit. Then we took the train for 20 minutes to the Macia Batle winery where we were welcomed by a Swedish guide. The winery is Spanish but due to many Swedish visitors there is a Swedish guide on site.

You can book or drop in for wine tasting but it is of course a little more fun to get a proper tour with some history about the vineyard. The designs on their bottles alternate between different artists and right now it is a Swedish artist who is based on the 50s travel posters. 

Local grapes and a little about wine production 

In Mallorca, the local grapes Manto Negro and Prensal Blanc are used in many of the wines. Macia Batle makes almost exclusively Cuvee, i.e. wines made from blends of grape varieties. Macia Batle produces around a million bottles a year and accounts for 25 % of wine production in Mallorca. 

A road trip on winding roads

The next day we felt that the mountains looked cosy so we rented a car for the day, it costs around 450 kroner for a day, so there was nothing to philosophise about. However, the winding roads in the mountains past Estellencs and then down to Esporles required focus. They were really winding so more than two hours on those roads you can not bear.

Esporles is a cosy little town with a main street with a few cafes surrounded by mountains and greenery. Worth a visit but you can go there directly from the motorway and skip the serpentine roads along the northern coast. 

Tourist resort of Alcudia

It's a 40-minute drive along the motorway that runs right across the island to popular Alcudia. The town is famous for its medieval walls and towers and there are older remains to visit nearby.

If you can, plan your visit for Tuesdays or Sundays when the market in the old town is open. The port of Alcudia has a cosy promenade and the long sandy beaches are perfect for both children and adults. 

Sunset and places in Palma

Palma is relatively large with 300,000 inhabitants but can easily be reached on foot and by local bus. Palma has a cosy waterfront location with old walls and buildings from the Middle Ages.

Plan to be there at sunset and enjoy the last warm rays on the church walls of La Seu Cathedral, located right next to the L'Almudiana Palace. Two monuments that both date back to the Middle Ages.  

Visiting Palma in the low season is perhaps a little too relaxed, but if you just want better weather than at home, it's a safe bet! 

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Jonathan Gharbi De Maré

Jonathan has lived abroad for about 10 years but now lives in Stockholm and runs jbwtravels.com with a focus on craft beer and wine and there you will find a collection of all his publications. Jonathan opened the first craft brewery in Burkina Faso and wrote the book Beer guide to Vietnam. He is a reporter for the beer promotion magazine Maltesen. Besides beer, he has a keen interest in nature and unusual travel destinations.

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