Palma de Mallorca Itinerary: How to Spend 3 Perfect Days

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With three days, you can see the best of Palma and still have time to relax, as long as you plan your Palma de Mallorca itinerary around the right activities. We had an amazing time in this beautiful city, and will show you the very best sights, activities, hotel options, and restaurants to help you plan a memorable visit.

👉 Short on time? Check out our 1 day in Palma de Mallorca walking itinerary.

This is not sponsored. We just love to share our experiences to help you plan.

Night view of a historic castle illuminated with warm lights from a rooftop pool. — Nakar Hotel rooftop pool

How to Plan Your Palma de Mallorca Itinerary

Three nights in Palma was the right amount of time for us. We spent one day exploring the city on foot, one on a fantastic tour of the island, and kept the third day flexible. Palma is a walking city, so we never needed a taxi once we arrived at our hotel from the airport. For anything outside the city, though, you’ll want a tour or a driver if you’re not renting a car.

Big Mistake to Avoid: If you can help it, avoid spending a Sunday exploring Mallorca or make it a relaxing day by the hotel pool. We almost booked our big island tour for Sunday, and our guide let us know that most things around the island and in Palma close on Sundays, so we moved our tour to Saturday. The markets and the cathedral, as well as many restaurants, are closed on Sundays, too.

Planning Tip: Book your tours ahead of time, especially in summer. Our food tour capped at 12 guests and our sunset catamaran was limited to 10 to 12.

Couple exploring historic city with canal and lush greenery. — Exploring Old Town Palma de Mallorca

Day 1: Explore Palma’s Markets, Old Town, and Harbor

Spend your first day exploring Palma on foot. Start with the morning markets at Mercat de l’Olivar and Mercat de Santa Catalina, then walk through the Old Town to the cathedral. Have lunch on the harbor at Marina Bay, which was our favorite restaurant near the Old Town. In the evening, grab a drink at a rooftop bar with a view of the cathedral, and finish with pinchos and vermut. Our favorite spot for those was Molta Barra. 👉 We mapped out our full route, including the parks, the Arab Baths, and where to eat, in our 1 day in Palma de Mallorca walking itinerary.

Day 2: Take a Mallorca Island Tour and a Sunset Catamaran

This was our biggest day of the trip, and the island tour and sunset sail fit together really well in a single day. Our guide and driver, Ernesto, from YOLO Tours Mallorca picked us up at our hotel at 9 a.m. He drove us through the mountain villages of Valldemossa and Deià, out to Port de Sóller, and up to a wine tasting at Bodegas Àngel in the hills. We loved it so much that we bought two bottles to take back to Palma for $28 total. We were back at our hotel by 3:30, which gave us time to relax by the pool before the evening boat ride.

At around 7:00 p.m., we walked down to the marina for a two-hour sunset catamaran, with a welcome drink and a few rounds of tapas on board. It was a beautiful evening with a nice sunset and a gorgeous full moon. We loved seeing the cathedral from the water on the way out and the city lights on the way back. We were back at the marina around 9:15, which was perfect timing for a late dinner in the Old Town. 👉 Read our full reviews of the Mallorca island tour and the Palma sunset catamaran, including what we paid and how to book.

LiAnn and Theo enjoying a sunset cruise on the water with scenic mountains in the background. — Sunset catamaran cruise

Day 3: Enjoy the Water and a Food Tour

Depending on your style, we recommend one of two options for your last full day before exploring Mallorca’s classic dishes on a food tour.

Option 1: Day Boat Trip from Palma’s Harbor

If you want to get in the water, book the 4-hour day trip on the same catamarans as the sunset sail. This is worth doing even if you also did the sunset cruise because they are totally different experiences. The day trips stop at coves along the coast and include snorkeling gear, paddleboards, and floats. Just plan your departure time to ensure you have a break to freshen up before the food tour.

Option 2: Slow Day at the Pool, Spa, and Cafés

If your second day was a big one, you may want to take it easy on your third day and enjoy swimming in the hotel pool rather than the sea, and perhaps schedule a spa treatment. We highly recommend booking a hotel in Palma de Mallorca with a rooftop pool and bar. You can also take the slow day to wander back to Santa Catalina for coffee and explore the market and the cafés around it.

End Your Day With a Palma de Mallorca Food Tour

We started our fantastic food tour by the marina and sampled traditional Mallorcan dishes at four stops over about three hours. Our guide, Luciana, was so much fun, and by the end we’d had more than a full dinner.

Pro Tip: Get to the marina a little early and enjoy a cocktail at Mar de Nudos before the tour starts. The drinks are pricey, but you can’t beat the view of the boats and the harbor. 👉 Check out every stop, what dishes we tried, and how much we paid in our Palma de Mallorca food tour review.

Enjoying a meal with wine and salad during travel with LiAnn and Theo. — Spanish tortilla on the Palma food tour

Sunday Option: Add Bellver Castle to Your Palma Itinerary

If you have more time, Bellver Castle is a 14th-century Gothic castle on a hill about 3 kilometers from the center of Palma. It’s round, which is rare for a castle, and it houses the city’s history museum. From the castle walls, you get lovely views of Palma and the bay.

The castle is too far to walk from the Old Town, so plan on taking a taxi or Uber. Another option that sounds super touristy but is a great way to see a city without renting a car is to take the hop-on hop-off bus, which stops at the castle. This is something you can actually do on Sundays, but it’s closed on Mondays.

Where to Stay in Palma de Mallorca

Nakar Hotel is where we stayed, and we’d definitely book it again for the location, the posh boutique vibe, the included breakfast, and the rooftop with a view of the cathedral.
Hotel Saratoga is the best pick for groups and families. It’s a larger hotel with three pools and a central location.
Hotel Hostal Cuba (which is a boutique hotel, not a hostel) is located in the heart of Santa Catalina’s restaurants and bars, and its rooftop is open to everyone all day. We checked it out on our trip and will probably book it next time, at least for a few nights.

👉 We compare all three of these hotels in our guide on where to stay in Palma de Mallorca, and you can read our full Nakar Hotel review here.

Add a Few Beach Nights Beyond Palma

Palma is great for restaurants, rooftops, and walking, but you have to experience Mallorca’s beaches, too. We spent three nights at Grupotel Aguait in Cala Ratjada a little over an hour from Palma de Mallorca. We thoroughly enjoyed the vacation vibes, as well as walking the seaside promenade into town every day. We also fell in love with Port de Sóller on our Mallorca island tour, and plan to add a few nights there next time.

👉 Read more in our Cala Ratjada guides: Cala Ratjada, Mallorca: Is It the Right Vibe for Your Trip? and Cala Ratjada Hotels: Our Picks for Every Budget.

Scenic view of a swimming pool with palm trees and beach umbrellas. — Grupotel Aguait in Cala Ratjada

3 Days in Palma de Mallorca: At-a-Glance

Day 1: Explore the markets, Old Town, and cathedral, and have lunch at Marina Bay, rooftop drinks at a Palma hotel, and pinchos at Molta Barra
Day 2: Take a private island tour to Valldemossa, Deià, Port de Sóller, and Bodegas Àngel, then a sunset catamaran back at the Palma harbor
Day 3: Either take a day boat trip for swimming, snorkeling, and paddleboarding, or enjoy a slow day at the spa and pool, then plan a Palma food tour for dinner to sample traditional Mallorcan food
If you have time, take the hop-on hop-off bus and stop at Bellver Castle, which is open on Sundays
Where we stayed: Nakar Hotel
Day to avoid for tours: Sunday

Palma de Mallorca Itinerary FAQs

Is 3 Days in Palma de Mallorca Enough?

Yes. Three days gave us time to explore the city on foot, take a tour of the island, and get out on the water. If you want beach time, too, add a few nights in a beach town like Cala Ratjada or Port de Sóller.

Is Palma Worth Visiting?

Absolutely. We loved the markets, the rooftop bars, the tapas, and how easy it is to walk everywhere. It’s also the best base for day trips to the mountain villages and the coast.

Do You Need a Car in Palma de Mallorca?

No. Palma is a walking city, and we never needed a taxi once we arrived from the airport. To see the rest of the island, we think a private tour or a driver is easier than renting a car and driving the mountain roads yourself. You can also take the hop-on hop-off bus around Palma if you’d rather not walk everywhere.

What Is the Best Day Trip From Palma?

Our favorite day trip from Palma was a private Mallorca island tour to the Tramuntana mountains, with stops in Valldemossa, Deià, Port de Sóller, and a winery. It took about six and a half hours with hotel pickup and drop-off in Palma.

What Is Open in Palma on Sundays?

Bellver Castle is open Sunday mornings and free to visit. The markets and the cathedral are closed, and many shops and restaurants close too, so we’d save tours and market visits for other days and be sure to make dinner reservations in advance.