After seeing the sights in Mallorca’s capital Palma, a few days of rest and relaxation were next on the list and Alcúdia was the perfect place for it. The pretty old town is ringed by medieval walls while the port and marina are home to dozens of yachts, great restaurants and a lovely beach.
Alcúdia is in the north of the island and less than an hour from Palma. We went by public bus on route 302 from Palma’s main bus station in Placa d’Espanya and got off at the Port d’Alcúdia stop. Out hotel the Bahia de Alcúdia was just five minutes walk away in Avinguda de la Platja.
After a poor experience at our hotel in Palma, we were very pleased to get a lovely welcome as soon as we arrived and the service continued to be excellent throughout our stay. Our room had a balcony with a great view of the mountains and the seafront. We could even see the old town’s Sant Jaume church in the distance.
The beach at Port d’Alcúdia stretches quite a long way along the coast with lots of hotels, bars and restaurants, but we preferred to be within walking distance of the old town as well as the port. Our hotel was only 15 minutes to the walls of Alcúdia and once inside it’s a maze of narrow streets, historic mansions and plazas lined with restaurants and cafes.
We had dinner one evening at Basico which is part of the Can Simo Petit Hotel. It has a really pretty courtyard as well as indoor seating and although it’s a steakhouse the fish and veggie options were great. After dinner, we walked round to the main square Placa de la Constitucio for a drink at Sa Placa.
The square is a lovely spot to hang out day or night and was festooned with bunting. One of the main shopping streets, Carrer del Moll runs off it. But we also found some really nice shops tucked away in other streets. Alcúdia old town is a great place to wander and explore.
The Sant Jaume church that we could see in the distance from the hotel is worth popping into and has a small museum with some ancient artefacts and pieces of art.
Then just outside Alcúdia’s walls are the ruins of the Roman town of Pollentia. Not something I’d expected to find in Mallorca, but Pollentia was Rome’s principal city on the island and is its most important archaeological site.
It’s no Pompeii but was probably quite a sizable city in its day. And while most of it isn’t excavated, there’s more than enough to walk around and get a feel for a city that was founded as long ago as 70 BC. The Teatre Roma was only identified as a theatre in the late 19th century but it’s pretty clear to see now and well worth walking over to the far side of the site to see it.
Down at the port, there is an array of restaurants and bars to choose from. Miramar is one to book in advance, especially to get a spot at the front of the large terrace opposite the waterfront. They do excellent fish dishes.
Bistro Mar is another good place for fish and is on a spit that runs off the waterfront and down to the fancy Botel Alcudiamar Club. All along here are bars and restaurants with views of the marina’s many yachts. If you fancy eating Italian we found Varedero a good option and also had lunch at Aqua which has great views out to sea.
There are also lots of places alongside the beach and Sa Gavina beach Beach Club is a pretty cool place to stop for a late-night cocktail or lunch. We also liked Muddy’s Wood Fired Grill next door which did a really good lunch deal and being upstairs it has great views of Alcúdia’s lovely beach.
We didn’t find the beach to be particularly busy and there were plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas for hire. The hotel pool was busier so on our last day we decided to treat ourselves to a Bali Bed. For 20 Euros we had it for the whole day with two cocktails included – who can argue with that!
As I mentioned in my post about Palma, Mallorca wasn’t on my travel list until it became one of only a few places on the UK’s green list in July 2021. But the combination of a couple of days sightseeing in the island’s capital and then a few relaxing days in Alcúdia made it an excellent addition.
Click on an image below to scroll through more photos in the gallery. And visit the Europe section of my blog for lots more holiday ideas.
