Palma
Accommodation in Palma De Mallorca
Discover Palma through its art, architectural history and food culture. The city offers a range of ways to explore: temporary exhibitions and contemporary art, historic walls and buildings from different periods, as well as a market with tapas and other dishes. If you’re weighing up these interests for your trip, you can choose your accommodation based on which experiences you want to focus on.
Art in a Historic Setting
Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma presents temporary exhibitions and a significant collection of contemporary art. The museum stands at the edge of the Bastion of Sant Pere, part of the Renaissance city walls. These walls surrounded Palma until the beginning of the 20th century. This brings art and a tangible piece of the city’s history together in the same museum setting, without reducing one to the other.
The central courtyard is also part of the museum experience: cultural activities take place there, and visitors can spend time outdoors. It complements the exhibitions with another space for culture. If you’d like to include different ways of exploring in your trip, you can consider the art collection, temporary exhibitions and courtyard as distinct aspects of the museum.
Walls, Buildings and City History
The surviving remains of the historic walls can be explored along a simple route with four main stops. This clear structure provides a practical framework for discovering Palma’s fortifications. The city’s streets are also home to palaces, churches, castles, monasteries, courtyards and gardens of Roman, Muslim and Christian origin. If you’re interested in architecture and the city’s different historical influences, you can make this diversity a focus of your exploration of Palma.
Castillo de Bellver is a Gothic castle with a circular floor plan. It has three original towers and the Torre del Homenaje, which was added later. Its shape and different architectural elements offer a distinct way to explore the castle’s history. From here, the 360-degree view stretches across Palma Bay and the island of Mallorca. The castle also houses Palma’s city history museum, which presents the city’s development under Roman, Muslim and Christian rule.
The Royal Palace of La Almudaina offers another historical perspective. Its history spans Roman, Islamic and Christian periods; it served as a residence for the kings of Mallorca. Together with the city history museum, it offers an opportunity to explore Palma’s past through both a building and the city’s development.
The Market, Getting Around and Choosing Accommodation
Mercat de l’Olivar is in the historic centre of Palma. Its stalls offer tastings and tapas, as well as food to take away or eat on site. A visit for food therefore adds a real market experience to exploring the city’s art and history. As you plan your trip, you can consider whether you’d like to focus on these experiences, museum visits or historical topics.
Palma has an extensive urban public transport network. EMT operates the 31 bus routes that make up the city’s local transport network. If you’re looking for a holiday apartment in the city, access to local transport may be one factor in choosing its location. Which accommodation suits your plans depends on which of Palma’s many facets you’d like to focus on during your trip.
More area pages: Can Pastilla, Establiments, S'aranjassa, Son Ferriol, Vileta, Es Pil Larí, Gènova, Son Gual, Son Sardina, Son Vida, Cala Major.
For the broader travel overview: Mallorca.
