Pollença

Pollença is a town in Mallorca, one of Spain's Balearic Islands. Nestled at the feet of the Serra de Tramuntana, the mountain chain along Mallorca's northern coast, it is a very attractive traditional Mallorcan town which is a world away from the package holiday resorts found elsewhere on the island.

Get in
Pollença is in the north-east of the island. You reach it from the Palma - Alcudia highway, the turn to Pollença is some 40 km from Palma and after that you have 7 km by fair road. From the airport, Pollença is reached by taking the Palma direction, taking the first turn off (el Coll d'en Rebassa) and heading for Inca until you hit the Palma-Inca (and on to Port d'Alcudia) highway. After that, see above.

Driving and parking in Pollença is awful. Try to find a parking spot on the lower part of the city where you enter it, and walk from there. Walking is no problem with strollers and wheelchairs in this small town, although the town rises towards El Calvario.

See

 * The Good Friday procession from the church at the top of the hill to the church in town. And on any other day of the year, you should climb the 365 steps from the church in town to the church on the hill. Beautiful view from there. The fourteen stations of the Cross can be followed (reverse) on the narrow road going from the hill down to the main city square.

Do





 * Or walk or run one of the areas several trails, leading to Alcudia, Lluc, Cala Sant Vicenc or nowhere up a hilltop.
 * Mallorca is great for biking, hiking and adventure sports. The latter can be booked through mondaventura.com, which has offices on Plaça Vella. Look for 1st floor banner.
 * Mallorca is great for biking, hiking and adventure sports. The latter can be booked through mondaventura.com, which has offices on Plaça Vella. Look for 1st floor banner.

Buy

 * There is a very good market in the main town square on Sundays.

Food shops

 * Ice cream
 * Bakeries
 * Pasteleria Il Giardino sells good cakes and other pastries. Closed on Mondays.
 * There is also a more typical panaderia on the Plaça Vella. They sell excellent local pastries. Taste their turnovers, their cookies with chocolate filling or their spinach flans.
 * Groceries
 * Groceries


 * Supermarkets
 * There's another supermarket - Suma - on calle de Sant Domingo. It has a basic selection but is easier to get to than Eroski.
 * There's another supermarket - Suma - on calle de Sant Domingo. It has a basic selection but is easier to get to than Eroski.

Restaurants






There are several restaurants worth visiting in Pollença, especially in the streets around the main square. Few are more than good, though, and the ones on the main square are mostly cafés.



Hotels
Pollença has some well regarded hotels for a break, they tend to be smaller than the big resort hotels, and friendlier too. Some of the favourites include La Moraleja, Son Brull Hotel and Spa and Hotel Daina.

Internet access
There's a very helpful internet shop on Calle del Mercat which also has color print available.

Pollenca has its share of Wi-Fi access points, and there's even a wlan network over the town - although information on how to access this is hard to come by.

For public, immdiate use, either look around or use the Emilton café on calle Sant Domingo - it's a typical Spanish cafe with locals and nothing to see. Other places are the youth club Club Formentor and the restaurant next to it on calle Joan Mas/Costa i LLobera. Wi-Fi access is free in these places as long as you eat or drink.

For children

 * Playgrounds are located in calle Sant Domingo and in the NE part of town. The former is covered in trees providing much-needed shade and has a rather big and modern selection of stuff to do for kids.

Go next

 * Port de Pollenca - the nearest beach (it's also a very good beach!)
 * Cala Sant Vicenc - just as close, it consists of 4 small beaches with some okay restaurants attached to them. Great mountain views in the bay, popular with children.
 * Formentor - the beach on the Formentor Peninsula is after the first viewpoint, at a large parking lot (the only one to pass on your way to Cap de Formentor) is also very nice, with all amenities. It seems there's a pier here so boat trips from Alcudia might be available in high season.
 * Alcudia - give the package holiday resort a miss, and head to the Roman ruins around the old town. Or hike the remarkably undeveloped peninsula which has several good trails.
 * Palma de Mallorca - Mallorca's capital, full of things to do, and places to see (the Banys Arabes are fantastic)
 * Soller and Port de Soller - don't drive there directly. Go to Palma and catch the Soller train - the best way to see Mallorca!
 * S'Albufera Natural Park - a fantastic place to come and see the fantastic birdlife that exists on Mallorca.