From Wikitravel
Pollença from the church on the top of the hill
Pollenca is a town in Mallorca, one of Spain's Balearic Islands. Nestled at the feet
of the Serra de Tramuntana, the mountain chain
along Mallorca's northern coast, it is a very attractive
traditional Mallorcan town which is a world away from the package
holiday resorts found elsewhere on the island.
Get in
Pollenca is in the north-east of the island. You reach it from
the Palma - Alcudia highway, the turn to Pollenca is some 40 km
from Palma and after that you have 7 km by fair road. From the
airport, Pollenca is reached by taking the Palma direction, taking
the first turn off (el Coll d'en Rebassa) and heading for Inca
until you hit the Palma-Inca (and on to Port d'Alcudia) highway.
After that, see above. Driving and parking in Pollenca is awful.
Try to find a parking spot on the lower part of the city where you
enter it, and walk from there. Walking is no problem with strollers
and wheelchairs in this small town, although the town rises towards
El Calvario.
The steps to the church on the hill
- The Good Friday procession from the church at
the top of the hill to the church in town. And on any other day of
the year, you should climb the 365 steps from the church in town to
the church on the hill. Beautiful view from there. The fourteen
stations of the Cross can be followed (reverse) on the narrow road
going from the hill down to the main city square.
- Get a nice cold beer in the main square on market day and sit
back and enjoy the view.
- Climb to the top of Puig de Pollença. The name
Puig de Pollença or Puig de Maria refers to the hill as well as to
the ancient hermit nun's monastery on its top. Its first origins
reach back to 1348. Main parts of the complex have been built in
the 15th century. After 1564, it was only sporadically used as
monastery, while the church had been maintained during all the
centuries as a pilgrim church. The last nuns left the convent in
1988. Since then, it is used as a hostel. Its location high over
the town of Pollença and the old, venerable but simple buildings
together with the view on the coastline, the Serra de Tramuntana
and the wide plane give quite a mystical atmosphere. In the outer
yard, there are several fireplaces and tables for one-day-visitors
and there is a bar and restaurant service provided by the keeper
family - Prices are moderate.
- Walk on the Cami Vell del Far (the old
track to the lighthouse). A 3 to 4 hours walk for good hikers
in the wild nature of Cap de Formentor. Drive to
Port de Pollenca and then direction Cap de Formentor. At km 13,
you'll find on the left side a big parking for your car. Put good
hiking shoes on and take water and food with you. Go back on the
road, to find the start of the walk, marked Cala
Murta. Walk down for about 30 minutes to Cala Murta on a
good dirt road. Cala Murta is a beautiful little beach. Now go
back on the dirt road for a few hundred meters. On the
right side of the track, you'll see a picnic area with a few
tables. At the end of the picnic area, you'll find the starting
point of the path to the Coll de la Creu. There's
no sign, just follow the cairns. A few hundred meters later, you'll
see the Cami Vell del Far winding up to the pass. Try to
follow the stone track as much as possible, avoiding shortcuts
which destroy the track. Remember the people who have built this
track by hand, many years ago. Once at the pass, you can lunch, and
then go to the second pass (easier than the first one). From the
second pass, just follow the track down to the road. Take the road
left, pass through the tunnel and reach your car a few hundred
meter further.
- Or just walk or run one of the areas several trails, leading to
Alcudia, Lluc, Cala Sant Vicenc or nowhere up a hilltop.
- Mallorca is great for biking, hiking and adventure sports. The
latter can be booked through mondaventura.com, which has offices on
Placa Vella. Look for 1st floot banner.
- There is a very good market
[1] in the main town square on Sundays.
- Ice Cream
- Gelats Valls, (on the main square). Very good ice cream in many flavours. It seems
to be open daily, and also has a shop on Plaça Vella which sells
the same ice cream by liter or half-liter (across from the
panaderia, in the street going away from the church).
edit
- Bakeries
- Pasteleria Il Giardino sells good cakes and
other pastries. Closed on Mondays.
- There is also a more typical panaderia on the
Plaça Vella. They sell excellent local pastries. Taste their
turnovers, their cookies with chocolate filling or their spinach
flans.
- Groceries
- Ensenyat, fine delicatessen grocery and priced
as could be expected therefrom. Carrer Alcudia 5. [2]
- Supermarkets
- Eroski, out of town, on the road to Puerto
Pollensa. This supermarket has everything you need for your stay.
Open Mo-Sa & Su morning.
- There's another supermarket - Suma - on calle de Sant Domingo.
It has a basic selection but is easier to get to than Eroski.
Restaurants
There are several restaurants worth visiting in Pollenca,
especially in the streets around the main square. Few are more than
good, though, and the ones on the main square are mostly cafés.
- The exception from the main square's cafés is Ristorante il Giardino, Placa Major
11 (bottom of the main
square), ☎ 971 53 43
02. A classical Italian
restaurant with lovely food. edit
- Clivia, Avenida Pollentia 7 (south of the main square), ☎ 971 53 36 35. A fine restaurant in the main shopping street
of Pollença. Good fishes (sea bass, lobster) and meat (excellent
confit of lamb shoulder). Appropriate clothing advised (no short
nor tee-shirt). Reservation recommended. Two-course meal with wine €50. edit
- Bar
Nou, Antoni
Maura 13 (street west
of main square, below the church), ☎ 971
53 00 05. The best in town
for mallorquin cuisine. The fish soup is fantastic. Two-course meal with wine €35. edit
- La
Posada, Antoni Maura 40 (southern corner of the main square),
☎ 971 53 00 53. Very good Spanish/Mallorquin kitchen
Two-course meal with wine €50. edit
- Hostel in Old Monastery at the top of Puig de
Pollenca, ☎ 971184132 -
639958096. You can get one
of the former nun cells as single/double rooms or dormitory. The
rooms in the upper flat give a great view of Pollenca and the
surrounding countryside and are furnished modestly with an electric
heater, a desk and a chair. The rooms in the lower flat are very
basic, limited to only a bed and desk. Toilets and (solar heated)
showers are available. The big goal is the perfect infrastructure
for self-suppliers. You can use a big (really big) kitchen with
fireplace. Bring your own dishes with you. The 15th-century
refectory is a very contemplative (but coolish) lounge.
Double rooms €14 or €19 for the room for a
night, dorms €5 pppn. During the high season, reservations are very
useful.
edit
Hotels
Pollenca has some well regarded hotels for a break, they tend to
be smaller than the big resort hotels, and friendlier too. Some of
the favourites include La Moraleja, Son Brull Hotel and Spa and
Hotel Daina.
Internet access
There's a very helpful internet shop on Calle del Mercat which
also has color print available. Pollenca has its share of wi-fi
access points, and there's even a wlan network over the town -
although information on how to aceess this is hard to come by. For
public, immdiate use, either look around or use the Emilton café on
calle Sant Domingo - it's a typical Spanish cafe with locals and
nothing to see. Other places are the youth club Club Formentor and
the restaurant next to it on calle Joan Mas/Costa i LLobera. Wifi
access is free in these places as long as you eat or drink.
- Playgrounds are located in calle Sant Domingo and in the NE
part of town. The former is covered in trees providing much-needed
shade and has a rather big and modern selection of stuff to do for
kids.
- Port de
Pollenca - the nearest beach, (its also a very good
beach!)
- Cala Sant Vicenc - just as close, it consists of 4 small
beaches with some okay restaurants attached to them. Great mountain
views in the bay, popular with children.
- Formentor - the beach on the Formentor peninsula is after the
first viewpoint, at a large parking lot (the only one to pass on
your way to Cap de Formentor) is also very nice, with all
amenities. It seems there's a pier here so boat trips from Alcudia
might be available in high season.
- Alcudia - give the
package holiday resort a miss, and head to the Roman ruins around
the old town. Or hike the remarkably undeveloped peninsula which
has several good trails.
- Palma de
Mallorca - Mallorca's capital, full of things to do, and places
to see (the Banys Arabes are fantastic)
- Soller and Port de Soller
- don't drive there direct! Go to Palma and catch the Soller train
- the best way to see Mallorca!
- S'Albufera Natural Park
- a fantastic place to come and see the fantastic birdlife that
exists on Mallorca.
| This is a usable article. It has
information for getting in as well as some complete entries for
restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this
article, but please plunge forward and help it grow! |
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