Autumn Adventures in Mallorca ||Artà, Inca & Alcudia
As we drifted into the second half of our Autumn adventure in Mallorca, our remaining days were busy but calm and we tried to cover as much of the island as possible in the time available. As ever, loving the laid back vibe of the Lonely Planet guide and choosing areas that sounded beautiful or had particular recommendations.
The first stop when we changed AirBnb’s to the north of the island was a day trip right across the centre, whizzing along in our hire car with the windows down, singing along to songs we could pick out from the Spanish radio and enjoying the drive as the roads wound through countryside villages and slightly larger towns.
Artà
Our aim was for the town of Artà, a medieval village with a mix of tree lined avenues and small winding alleys, sitting in the shadow of a grand hill that frames the church and sanctuary. The particular day was warm and breezy and we followed a path less trodden by tourists admiring how the locals choose to live – shutters flung wide over bare stone walls, women chatting in frantic Spanish from open windows across the street to each other. I liked that Artà wasn’t part of the main tourist trap, that although the church itself was quite busy, the rest of the town was settling down for winter and the few shops that were open simply sold sticky dried figs.
Alcudia
Exploring the north of the island felt different to the busier south with it’s usual assumptions along the lines of “Shagaluf”. Our apartment overall was nicer than the one we’d left, but the area – port de Alcudia, was not. Imagine a street lined with Irish pubs, tacky souveniers and bare chested sunburnt brits yelling obscenities at their children. Not my ideal, or in fact, anything like the research beforehand had informed me. However, tucked away from that, and with our car to escape in, Alcudia itself was charming and picturesque and we visited briefly twice – exploring the town from above as you walk along the high walls that encase it.
Inca
Wanting to visit a bustling busy market, one morning we got up early before the sun had a chance to beat down and headed to Inca, the largest outdoor market in Mallorca. Finding a free place to park along the winding streets, and praying we’d be able to somehow find it again we followed a stready trickle of locals into the town centre, with stalls of every variety packed out. There was still a great deal of tack, and very useless items to tourists like ourselves – every day shopping, if you will – but we enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere and I chanced upon what looked like a pumpkin pasty, and which turned out to be a sweet pumpkin cake/biscuit filled with pumpkin jam, possibly my favourite local food of the trip!
Cap De Fermentor
On our final day, I was excited to visit Cap de Formentor, the most northernly tip of Mallorca island and a great jutting piece of rock sticking out of the sea. Here, it’s popularity was obvious as with one wiggly road to the end, you’re sharing a narrow stretch with many other cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Still, nothing like a bit of slalom to get you to your destination. There’s an expensive cafe right at the end, and unorganised parking, plus you’ll be battling with many other tourists, but it’s made up for by the sparkling blue sea, view across the island and jagged cliff face. Definitely somewhere to visit, but not for the faint hearted if you suffer from vertigo. Especially if you feel up to climbing the metal runs on the top most tower to gain and even higher view. Winding your way back down, Pollenca has a busy promenade with many al fresco tapas restaurants. Despite a near meltdown on my part from hanger, we actually had a really good selection in exchange for less euros than we anticipated.
For a cheap short getaway in the sun, I’d actually really recommend Mallorca. It had lots to do, the scenery was gorgeous and in most parts was unspoilt by irritating tourists (ironic as we were equally the same). Even with a marginally laddy reputation, we got exactly what we wanted from a break abroad, and autumn was the perfect mix of sun and relaxation that I think you can only really get out of season.
If you’re interested to see what else we got up to in Mallorca during the first half of our visit, see my previous post on Palma, Sóller and Valldemossa.
