Palma to Soller, Mallorca…. a few nights in the mountains

November 26th, 2024

Today we are heading back to the  Serra de Tramuntana, where we are staying for two nights in the town of Soller…

Since we are travelling by bus to Soller we head back to the Estacion Intermodal. Here we are taking a TIB Bus #204 to Soller a 45-minute ride away costing us 9 EUR (13 CAD). We are staying two nights in Soler visiting the town and hiking.

Soller dating back thousands of years, is located deep in the Serra de Tramontana mountains which left the town isolated from the rest of Mallorca, it also meant it missed out on much of the Roman occupation. However, pirates and other seafaring invaders were always a danger to the inhabitants of Soller, which is why the main town is situated a couple of miles inland from the sea where there is a port, Port de Sóller. During the 16th century, Soller suffered repeated attacks from Moorish pirates from Algeria.

Soller’s location is bucolic, set in a valley of orange & lemon groves between the mountains and the sea and is extremely popular with tourists who mainly come to wander around the town, have a coffee at the Plaça Constitució soaking up the atmosphere while watching the world go by. With several tapas bars, a fine selection of pastry shops, local ice cream, and freshly squeezed orange juice, there is little temptation to move on. We are staying at the very well-rated Casa Bouganveilla.

As we got there early, we could check in our room but our room was still being cleaned so we joined the tourists for a tapas lunch (selection of 4 > good not great) at Sa Granja on the  Placa Constitucion…

After lunch, we head to Port de Soller about 3 KM away via a vintage tramway running between Soller and the port. The tram imported from San Francisco at the turn of the last century is now a tourist attraction passing frequently through the central plaza in Soller. It is 18 EUR ( 26 CAD) for a 15-minute ride one way!

There are many shops, dining places, and lodging establishments here as well as a pretty nice beach…

Afterwards, we returned to Soller and strolled around the town. The impressive Church of Sant Bartomeu dominates the town square and was first built in the 13th century. A Baroque structure was added in the late 17th century and the modernist facade was created in 1904 by the architect Joan Rubid, an ex-pupil of Gaudi. The church also has a 1912 arched tower suspended above the rose window, with spires like huge needles pointing into the air. The same architect designed the equally impressive Santander Bank next door. These structures as well as many manor houses were built as a consequence of “orange money”  > the area was a major producer of oranges & lemons.

Then it was siesta time and after some input from the Casa owner we elected to have dinner at Can Pintxos which is reputed to have excellent tapas, as it turned out we had a cool view of the kitchen preparing our goodies and several were outstanding!!

Afterwards a short stroll back to the Casa ….it has been a very nice day and dinner!

 

November 27th, 2024

It is a lovely morning with clear skies and a morning temperature of  11C. After coffee and a bun…

…we gear up and head out on the trail  > our objective is to walk to Biniarix then onwards to Fornalutx returning to Soller via a hamlet called Binibassi,  mainly on small roads and some old mule tracks for some 11.5 km.

It is reasonably well signposted although we do need to backtrack once or twice…in the future, it would make sense to subscribe to an app like All Trails ensuring that you do not stray from your chosen route. The walk passes many orange and lemon orchards as well as olive groves with views of the mountains. There is a profusion of flowers mostly oleander and bougainvillea providing a pleasing scent to the air.

We soon pass through Biniaraix, more a hamlet than a village…

…and then reach Fornalutx a very pretty village perched on the mountainside and our turnaround point…

Just before the start of the mule track, we take advantage of an orange juice vendor (she also sells olive oil) and is happy to “chat” with you)…the OJ is super sweet and delicious. Then onwards back to Soller…

…some views of Biniaraix across the valley…

and Soller below us…

 

The skies have been threatening but there was no rain in the end. Back at the Casa Bouganvellia to catch on correspondence and of course the blog…then off to dinner. Tonight we are keeping it simple …pizza at the Sa Granja with a bottle of red just sipping and sitting watching the comings and goings with the sun slowly setting !!

A pretty fine day and tomorrow will be busy as we are heading to the coast albeit in a rather circuitous manner!