After the Palma de Mallorca Marathon: Sóller and Port de Sóller
The Route: Palma → Sóller → Port de Sóller → Sóller → Palma → Palma Airport Logistics: Ferrocarril de Sóller train to Sóller, then the tram to the port. Return the same way and take the A1 bus to the airport. Marathon Month: October Duration: 1 night
Palma Plaça d'Espanya ──(about 1 hr Sóller railway)──> Sóller ──(about 15 mins tram)──> Port de Sóller
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Palma Airport (PMI) ◄──(A1 bus from Plaça d'Espanya)── Palma ◄──(train + tram)──┘
The Palma Marathon finishes on the seafront opposite the cathedral, and the station for the Sóller railway is 25 minutes' walk away at Plaça d'Espanya. The day after the race, the train does something no bus or car on the island can: it tunnels straight through the mountains, with varnished wooden carriages and open windows.
October in Sóller is harvest-end in the valley. The orange and lemon trees that paid for the railway are loaded with young green fruit, the terraces are quiet, and the sea in the bay is usually still warm enough for a swim, though autumn storms can bring a day of heavy rain.
The Ferrocarril de Sóller opened in 1912 and runs from its own station beside Plaça d'Espanya. The trip to Sóller takes about an hour, through 13 tunnels and over the viaduct at Cinc-Ponts, with a photo stop at the Mirador des Pujol d'en Banya in most seasons. Single fares are around €18 to €20 (about £16 to £17) and a return about €25 to €28; tickets for the train and tram together are sold as a combined return. October is still on the summer timetable of several trains a day, but the popular mid-morning departures fill, so book online at trendesoller.com up to a week ahead. Prices vary; use the figures as a guide.
Night One: Sóller and Port de Sóller
Sóller town is the valley's market town, built on the money from citrus shipped to France in the nineteenth century, which explains the Modernista front of the church of Sant Bartomeu on the main square, Plaça de la Constitució. The square is flat and full of café tables, and the tram leaves from the edge of it. Everything else in the old town slopes, gently.
The tram to Port de Sóller is the reason to stay a night. It runs in about 15 minutes down the valley, through orange groves and along the beach road, and stops right on the harbour front.
Port de Sóller is a near-circular bay closed by two lighthouses. The primary recovery asset here is the promenade: a flat, paved walk of about 1.5 km around the inside of the bay, with the tram running alongside and benches facing the water. At post-marathon pace it takes 30 to 40 minutes one way with stops. The lighthouse walks at either end climb steeply and are better saved for another visit.
The Museu de la Mar in the old chapel above the port and the Can Prunera Modernista house and museum in Sóller town are the two indoor options; check opening hours locally, as both keep shorter hours outside summer.
Where to stay. The Gran Hotel Sóller, a converted nineteenth-century mansion in the centre of Sóller town, has a pool and spa and puts the tram stop and the square a couple of minutes away. On the waterfront, the Hotel Esplèndido faces the bay on the promenade itself, which is the better choice for anyone who wants to walk out of the door onto flat ground and watch the tram go by.
Where to eat. The harbour front in Port de Sóller is lined with fish restaurants; the local catch is the red prawn, gamba roja de Sóller, usually grilled simply with salt. In Sóller town, the square's cafés serve fresh orange juice and ensaïmadas for breakfast.
Getting to Palma Airport
Take the tram back to Sóller and the train to Palma (about 1 hour 15 minutes in total), or a taxi straight over the Ma-11 road tunnel, which reaches Palma Airport (PMI) in about 40 minutes. From Plaça d'Espanya, the EMT A1 airport bus runs roughly every 15 minutes and takes 20 to 30 minutes. Allow a generous margin if relying on the train, which can be full in October, and check the last departure time before booking an evening flight.