Palma de Mallorca with kids
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Palma isn’t necessarily the first city you think of for a city break. If you want a city break in Spain you are probably more likely to think of Barcelona or Madrid. But if you want to combine great food, a charming city and a bit of beach time it can make the perfect destination for a short break. Alternatively, you could take in the main sights on a day trip while enjoying a longer holiday elsewhere on the beautiful island of Mallorca.
When we visited Palma de Mallorca with kids it was actually the latter. It was the first day of our family holiday and the weather forecast was rain and cloud all day. Instead of letting the weather dampen our spirits we decided to explore Palma. Having heard good reports I had fancied visiting this city so this was the perfect opportunity. We discovered there is plenty to explore in Palma de Mallorca with kids.
Where to stay in Palma de Mallorca with kids
The area of the city that you stay may depend on the age of your children, the time of year you are there and your interests as a family. If you have young children that love the sand and sea you may prefer to stay near the beach. There are strings of hotels behind Playa de Palma. This would mean you can get in plenty of beach time and then get a taxi, bus or drive to visit the other sights of Palma.
Alternatively you could choose to stay in the beautiful old town. This would mean more of a trek to get to the beach but has the advantage of numerous fantastic bars and restaurants on your doorstep. You can then make the most of the delicious tapas and other delicacies locally. From here you would also be able to get around more on foot to enjoy the sights of the city.
What to do in Palma de Mallorca with kids
The Aquarium
We don’t often go to Aquariums but we all thought that the Palma Aquarium was really impressive. It isn’t cheap but we had picked up a map at the airport with a token on for €5 off each for up to 5 people. On arrival there was a big queue to get in (everybody obviously had the same idea on a cloudy day!). Adam jumped out of the car to get in the queue while I found somewhere to park. This worked well as by the time we got to him we only had another 5 minutes before we were at the front.
The Aquarium is quite close to the beach and the airport, about 10 minutes drive South of the centre of Palma. Parking proved a bit tricky too! There are a couple of free car parks very close which were all completely full. We just managed to squeeze a space in an underground car park, next door to the Aquarium. It wasn’t expensive and there was €3 discount if you showed your aquarium ticket.
Once inside there is a set route to follow with different zones including Mediterranean, tropical seas, the jungle and big blue. Most of the tanks were huge and even the toddler could see into all of them without any lifting required. They were mostly floor to ceiling or the smaller ones had steps to give little legs some help up!
There are a couple of cafes and play areas. The children loved the large pirate ship that was in the gardens area outside. There was a separate smaller playground for young children as well and a small splash park if it’s hot. When we were there a man was doing free face painting too.
There is also an indoor soft play area. We didn’t visit this as we had already been in the aquarium for over 3 hours by this point and wanted to see more of Palma. We managed to sneak the children past without them noticing it! If you are in Palma de Mallorca with kids for a few days you could probably spend at least half a day if not more here.
There were other options that you could pay extra to do in the Aquarium, including an aqua dome and a shark vision boat. These sounded fun but we didn’t pay for them so I can’t comment on what they are like. I think our favourite section was the ‘big blue’. This is a huge tank which has sharks, rays and loads of different fish in. Apparently at nearly 9m deep it is the deepest shark tank in Europe. What was great is that you could view it from all sorts of different levels and angles. This is the tank that you go over in the glass-bottomed shark vision boat.
Top Tips
– Pick up a map at the airport with the vouchers in. If there are more than 5 in your party get more than one, each voucher is for 5 people.
– If you don’t have a voucher book tickets online in advance here. This means you won’t have to queue for as long to get in.
– The cafe inside had a large queue where we were there. If we went back I would take a packed lunch instead. There is lots of seating outside next to the play areas
Palma Cathedral
Whether you like churches or not Palma cathedral is pretty impressive. You can’t miss it if you are driving past the port as it is visible from quite a distance. From the outside it is a stunning gothic building. We approached it from the water, which gave great views while we then climbed the steps to get to the cathedral. We were disappointed at first as when we arrived it was closed! However we called on our way back to the car after dinner to find it open and a service on. Quietly, we sat at the back for a little while to admire the fabulous building and enjoy the beautiful choral music that was part of the service. Make sure you look up at the amazing stained glass windows.
Top Tips
– For a great view of the outside of the cathedral there is a bar called ‘the Guinness bar’ (not very Spanish sounding I know!) in the Parc de la Mar which overlooks the cathedral. The children had amazing ice cream while we had a drink there. There was also space for the children to play while we finished our drinks.
– Check opening times if you are going in the afternoon, it closes earlier on Saturdays and Sundays.
– There is a nice little playground down the first set of steps behind the cathedral that young children will enjoy to let off some steam.
Palma old town
If you go to the cathedral you are already at the edge of the old town. It is a beautiful, atmospheric place to wander and get lost in the narrow winding streets. The children loved exploring all the alleyways. We stopped for dinner in one of the small Plaças that we passed. We wandered all the way to the Plaça Major (main square) but were quite disappointed with it. In my opinion many of the other smaller squares were much prettier.
General Practicalities
If arriving by car like we were there are many underground car parks. We managed to park in one that brought us right in the Parc de la Mar, next to the cathedral.
The beach
Particularly if you are visiting in the summer you are probably going to want to have a. Few hours at the beach at some point if you are in Palma de Mallorca with kids. The biggest beach with the most amenities is the Playa de Palma or Arenal beach. It is over 3 miles longs and is lined with bars and restaurants and plenty of opportunities for water sports too. It is great for families as the water is shallow and easy to access for all. There are plenty of other beaches surrounding Palma so whichever part of the city you are in you won’t be far away from some sea and sand.
If you have longer in Palma with children there are other sights including the Bellver castle. You would also probably be able to do some day trips from here to other parts of the beautiful island. Read about our family holiday in Mallorca here. I have heard really good reports about the vintage train to Sóller. We weren’t staying particularly close to Palma so we drove to Sóller for our visit there instead.
Have a look here for other city break ideas!
