Have a day in Palma Mallorca and don’t know what to do? Love gorgeous vistas, waterside sangria, and secluded beaches? Do we have the perfect day trip for you!

First, you may not realize the paradise of Mallorca is just a hop, skip, jump (and short flight) from Barcelona. And trust me, it’s worth it! When booking, check out discount airlines like Vueling and Norweigian for some cheap flights. Also, make sure you plan some time to check out the city of Palma, as it has some great restaurants, cool sites to explore, lots of water sports and yummy gelato!

But let’s talk train travel. Not just any train, but a train that transports you back in time (not literally, geez). The Soller railway has been running daily through the Sierra de Alfàbia mountain range since 1912! That’s the year that….the Titanic sunk….hmm that’s not the fun fact I was looking for…. Well anyway you get the picture – it’s old!

Buying tickets – So there are different sections to this journey. We chose to do all three and it was fantastic! You can buy a combo ticket on the Soller train website for less than $60. Apparently you can buy tickets the day of at the ticket offices too, we just chose the uptight planner route. When purchasing your tickets, you have to choose time slots for each segment so you’ll have to decide how much time to spend in each locale. Lucky for you we will outline each place, just keep reading!

The train station in Palma is really cute. There are a couple of ticket windows where you can make purchases or, if you suffer from being “Type-A” like us, pick up any pre-ordered tickets. They give you all the tickets upfront, so be sure to give them to your responsible friend for safekeeping. Don’t look at me like that, you know how you are!

Once you board the old wooden train car choose your seat and hang on for a beautiful ride through the mountains and countryside. You’ll travel through multiple tunnels, with a stop at a lookout point. The ride takes about an hour from Palma to the town of Soller.

Here you must make a choice – do you stay in the small town of Soller and explore, or hop on the tram that is chugging its way up the hill and venture down to Port de Soller? We chose to hop on the tram, but the town is really cute, so you can’t go wrong!

The tram takes you down the steep hills of Soller to Port de Soller (Port of Soller if you don’t speak Spanish – you’re welcome). The ride takes about 25 minutes and is somewhat scenic. No joke, the tram goes through a café area and people have to get out of the way.  But once you get to the Port…..oh the views! Swoon! We just loved it. Our goal was to have lunch along the water and there are plenty of restaurants available if you would like to do the same.

Then on to the last type of transport for the day – a ferry to Sa Collabra. You’ll find the ferry at the docks, it’s not hard to spot, grab your ticket from your responsible friend and climb onboard. The best views are from the top but it does get windy up there (beware of a Marilyn moment if you are wearing a skirt)! Make sure you have your camera ready for some gorgeous views along the way. FYI they do sell beer (2 Euro), soda (no idea how much because beer was 2 Euro) and snacks onboard.

Once you get to Sa Collabra there is a winding path – through a cool pedestrian tunnel (!) – out to the cliff-lined beach. The vistas along the way are SO worth the walk! We had actually pinned pictures of this beach on Pinterest years before going, without even realizing it was the same place. That’s how pretty it is…it’s Pinterest pretty. Disclaimer: The thing we were surprised about at this beach was the lack of sand – it’s all rocks! We found it to be pretty painful, maybe we are just wussies, who knows, maybe you are stronger than us – fine, be that way, rub it in. But it’s still worth going out there.

As a side note, there are limited dining options at Sa Collabra. When we were there in September some of the dining areas were not open and mostly what we saw were quick-dining cafeteria type restaurants. If you want a good meal, not a bowl of truck-stop chili and a snickers bar, we suggest you eat in Soller or Port de Soller.

So how much time should you spend at each stop? We chose the train leaving Palma at 10am which arrived in Soller around 11:10am and we got right on the tram to Port de Soller. We spent a little over an hour in Port de Soller (which allowed us time for lunch). We were in Sa Collabra about 3.5 hours and didn’t spend any time in between boat, tram and train on the way back. We would suggest less time at Sa Collabra, unless you really want to lay out at the beach and go swimming, and allowing time to explore the cute town of Soller. Just try not to get hit by the tram!

So you have now completed your tour of Mallorca with three modes of transportation. Just call an Uber Helicopter to fly you back to Palma and a limo to take you back to your hotel and you will have completed the set. We opted to do the whole thing in reverse to get back – ferry, tram and train. Most importantly enjoy your day exploring Mallorca. I know we did!!

About the author

Courtney is originally from New York and currently lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two pups. She’s a self-diagnosed travel-a-holic and always planning her next trip.