The Hotspot Map
Here is the Mallorca Hotspot Map that will help you navigate the island. You can click on the different pins for more information about the places.
I included all places from the previous two articles Mallorca: Top 10 Best Beaches and Mallorca: 10 Fun Activities Away from the Beach, and some honorable mentions.
In the following article, I will discuss the options to move around (cost, convenience, travel times) and reach the best hotspots around the island, so you will be able to decide what works best for yourself! 🙂
Mallorca: How To Move Around?
Although it may seem small at first, Mallorca measures around 100km East-to-West and 75km North-to-South.
All major villages are well-connected by an efficient and generally punctual network of public buses. More secluded areas are reachable by shuttle buses or taxis. Renting cars (or other vehicles) is also a super-popular choice and therefore there are many car-companies fighting on prices for their share of the market.
Let’s go with order!
TIB- Public Buses
Mallorca enjoys modern infrastructure in several sectors (connectivity, touristic services, accommodation) and of course, transportation is too! Almost the entirety of villages on the island is indeed well-connected by TIB public buses (Transportes Illes Baleares), which are normally clean, reliable, and on-time.
On this page, you can check the bus fares, timetables, and hops of all bus lines. As bus times and frequency are changing often during the season (higher frequency in summer), I suggest always consult the website for the up-to-date timetables.
The central bus station, from where all routes start from, is in Plaza de Espana (Palma), which is also easy to reach from the airport by taking the bus A1 (5 Euro fare). Overall, buses in Mallorca are cheap: to give you an example, the longest route (the whole island side-to-side) will cost you 11 Euro.
To sum it up, know that with buses you’ll be able to reach the center of almost any village around Mallorca, it’s going to be relatively stress-free and cheap. Good option if you’re not feeling comfortable driving on your own.
NOTE 1: Tickets are made directly with the bus driver, you can pay cash-only and they don’t accept notes larger than 20Euro.
NOTE 2: If you’re over-65, you can apply for a Pensioners Card in the office at Plaza de Espana (Palma) which will grant you 50% off on all bus tickets.
Rent a Car
Renting a car in Mallorca is an extremely popular choice: when you arrive at the Airport you won’t see the end of companies renting cars: GoldCar, Clickrent, Europcar’s, Wiber, Hertz, Budget, Sixt… there’s only the embarrassment of choice. Also in most major touristic villages, you’ll always find somebody renting cars.
First of all, why should you rent a car in Mallorca? Convenience and freedom. If you’re more than one person or a small group, renting a car may be cheaper than riding buses; it cuts travel times and of course, allows you to freely reach all hidden corners of the island and enjoy them at your own pace.
Prices change greatly during the year, obviously following the huge changes in demand, touching 40-50Euro/day for an economy car in full summer, to literally nothing in winter months (I rented a car from Wiber in February for 0,04Euro/day, yes…4 CENTS per day, no joking!).
If you are planning to rent a car for a one-day excursion, I would suggest you rent it from a local shop near your home-base, as it’ll be cheaper. If instead, you’re planning to rent long-term for the duration of your whole holiday, I can warmly suggest to book it only through Wiber.
Wiber is a car-rental service transparent and professional, you can book your car online and just pass to pick it up. From the airport they offer a free shuttle to their parking place (5 minutes away), they offer insurance but you can also choose to leave a deposit and take the risk (your choice!).
I sometimes rented cars without insurance (as I had private parking and I know I am a careful driver) and saved a lot of money with that option (a lot!). Once back, the process to check the car takes 2 minutes and it’s totally stress-free, I found the staff always kind, honest (many are the stories of companies trying to rip-off tourists) and helpful.
If you’re visiting in full summer though, I would advise you to stipulate insurance as traffic gets worse and people in Mallorca are not exactly you’re best drivers (scratches and parking bumps happen often).
Private Shuttles
A private shuttle is a convenient and reliable option to move between the Palma airport and your hotel/residence at any hour of day and night (and therefore also outside public bus timetables), they are just required to be booked with a minimum of 3 days in advance.
The two main companies operating on the island are Transunion and Shuttle Direct, both are reliable and ensure you to get your plane on time at the time of departure (on the links you can get price estimations).
When you’ll arrive on the island though, the journey to your home/resorts may take way more time, as the shuttles will go door-to-door to leave all the passengers which destination comes before yours (and trust me, it can be veeery slow… be patient!).
Shuttles are generally pricier than public buses. Therefore, I would suggest them only in the cases you have too many luggage (2 or more large ones), your hotel/destination is too far away from public bus stops, or if your flight is scheduled during the night/early morning hours and you can’t reach it in time with normal buses.
Of course, last but not least, shuttle transfer offers the convenience of not having to learn how to navigate with buses, carrying your own luggage, and potentially get lost. For those who don’t want to organize the connections by themselves, shuttles are easy, fast, and beautiful.
NOTE: Most shuttles run from April-October, not providing the service in winter months (for those, you’ll need to go with TIB Buses, car rental, or taxis).
Taxis
Taxis in Mallorca don’t have boundaries; they can bring you and come to pick you up anywhere you want on the island.
Flagging them down though, it’s almost impossible. In fact, the taxis in Mallorca are all organized in groups (covering the different municipalities) and to get one you need either to order it by phone or take the first in line waiting at the taxi stop. All taxis use taximeters and you don’t risk getting ripped-off, they all operate legally.
The price of a taxi is (of course) the most expensive of all transportation options. If you don’t rent your own car and you’re travelling in a small group, a taxi may be an optimal choice for moving on medium-short distances.
To give you an idea, consider that taxi side-to-side of the island (ex. Palma-Pollensa) costs around 80Euro during the day-time while moving between neighbouring villages can be between 10-15Euro.
The winning point of taxis though is that they are always available, anytime, anywhere, year-round. You just need to call them; so I leave you here the numbers of Palma Radio Taxi:+34 971 401 414 or +34 971 400 004 (both work 24h).
NOTE: Uber and other car-sharing apps are banned from Mallorca.
Conclusion
These are all the transportation options available for your holiday in Mallorca, now up to you decide which one to go!
Note also that there is a touristy century-old wood train leaving from Palma to Soller (but it’s more for spending a fun day instead of displacing yourself, the bus is much faster and cheaper) and sometimes touristic boats can also be used to move between different beaches (of course, that’s also way more expensive).
I hope you found this article useful. If you need more information don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments.
Thanks for reading, and good planning! 🙂
Majorca Travel Guide
Content Summary
1) Mallorca: Top 10 Best Beaches
2) Mallorca: 10 Fun Activities away from the Beach
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