Mallorca 2026 - Day 7

The summation of the day is the train may have taken the strain, but it was still another tiring day! 

For our final full day in Mallorca we took the historic Tren de Sóller to Palma for an explore of the capital city. Opened in 1912 with the primary aim to transport the citrus fruit grown in and around Sóller to the main port in Palma, today the railway is a tourist attraction bringing thousands of people each day from the hustle and bustle of Palma to the towns of Sóller and Port de Sóller. As we are staying 15 minutes from Sóller, we travelled against the main daily flow so that did mean our train this morning was very quiet, it also meant that we had limited options of either a 9am or 10.50am departure. Laying in bed at 7.30am this morning we seriously considered the later train, but with the aim to walk up to the castle we decided the earlier start would be better to avoid the hottest part of the day. 

Our train this morning was hauled by motor carriage number 4, dating from when the line was electrified in 1929. The journey is very much in two parts; the first 20 minutes from Sóller is very picturesque winding up into the mountains with views back down towards the town, then after the almost 3km long Mirador tunnel, the next 30 minutes is a lot less scenic as the train heads through the suburbs of Palma (so much so, Forrest decided to have a nap).

Arriving in to Palma just after 10am, our first destination was Castell de Bellver. The castle sits high above the city and whilst it is possible to get the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus up the hill, to save over 100€ we got the service bus to the bottom of the hill and walked up the 468 steps. It's all relative, but it didn't feel too hot and the climb wasn't as bad as we were expecting, but we did stop for a quick rest and snack stop at the top before buying our 4€ entry tickets (kids were free) to enter the castle.

Castell de Bellver (literal Catalan translation means Castle of Beautiful View) was built on top of the hill overlooking Palma and it's harbour in the early 1300's as a royal residence and defensive fortress for King James II of Mallorca. Its unusual design makes it one of only a few circular castles built in Europe. In the 18th to mid-20th century it was converted into a prison which was often used for political purposes when important or influential people needed to be silenced, before eventually becoming the public attraction it is today.  It also houses a few rooms detailing the history of Mallorca but with the heat these were getting quite stuffy, so we gave most of these a miss and concentrated on those beautiful views. 

It was now approaching lunch time and with Forrest wanting to try rabbit, something that is often on the Mallorcan menus, we'd researched a recommended restaurant that had a traditional Rabbit and Onions on the menu. Cafe Ca'n Toni is located in the centre of the city so we jumped back on the bus and then had a short walk. The outside tables were already busy, but there was space for us and we had a mix of meals with myself and Forrest having mains, and Amber and Paloma sharing some tapas dishes. The rabbit was on the bone so tricky to get the meat, but Forrest enjoyed it and said it tasted like pork, but with the texture of chicken. 

Once we'd finished lunch we had about an hour until our pre-booked return train at 3.10pm, so we went for a walk through the old town to see the cathedral up close then through the central shopping area back to the station. 

For the return journey we had motor carriage number 2 and we had the opportunity to travel in the passenger accommodation of the electric locomotive, so it was a lot louder than the earlier journey to Palma. Despite the gradients, a full train and the heat, these locomotives that are now just a couple of years short of their centenary are still going strong. 

Once back at the cottage we made the most of the aircon for a quick siesta, then it was time to start packing before having a very late BBQ using the food that was originally planned for yesterday.

Blogged by Matt and Amber