Soller-Mallorca Majorca Island Balearic Spain
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender. Ships anchor in the almost circular bay, guarded by two lighthouses, and launches land passengers at the marina in the middle of the village. Only smaller ships call here.
The historic tram up to Sóller town in the morning, a fish lunch on the seafront, then a swim before returning aboard. That is the most popular formula and it works without rushing.
A historic tram of wooden cars linking the port to the town about three kilometres inland. It runs roughly every thirty minutes, tickets are bought on board, and it rattles through gardens, orchards and back yards in the style of another century.
The Plaça de la Constitució, with cafés and stone facades around the church of Sant Bartomeu, whose front was redesigned in the early twentieth century by a pupil of Gaudí. The town's ice cream shops run through the valley's orange and lemon flavours.
Because the valley was long one of the Mediterranean's main citrus orchards. Orange trees still line the tram route, and fresh orange juice serves as the unofficial drink of the call.
Yes, if the call is long. A narrow-gauge railway opened in 1912 crosses the Tramuntana to Palma in about 55 minutes: wooden carriages, period benches, thirteen tunnels including one of 2,856 metres cut by hand. Factor the return into your schedule before committing, as departures thin out through the day.
Yes, easily. The beach shelves gently and the water stays calm behind the two jetties, which suits families well. Sand and shingle share the shoreline along the promenade.
Yes, out to the Cap Gros lighthouse, whose terrace overlooks the entrance to the bay. The path climbs in earnest, but the view over the ridges and the sea repays the effort, especially late in the day.
The limestone range that encircles the bay, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It gives this northwest coast of Mallorca its character: mountains dropping straight into the sea, with no concrete seafront.
No, and that is the point of the call. No huge terminal, no big resort: an almost enclosed bay, a village, a tram with a bell. You touch a Mallorca from before mass tourism.
