Palma's Arab Baths and old town: the visit and a walking route

Palma's Arab Baths are not a spa or a hammam you can bathe in: they are a monument, a bathhouse from the Islamic period that is still standing today, right in the old town. You see them in half an hour, they cost about €3.50 according to guidebooks and they are five minutes from the cathedral. They work best as a stop on a walk through the neighbourhood's streets, not as an outing in their own right.

This guide covers the practical side (price, opening hours, how to get there, how long you need), a walking route round Palma old town that takes them in, and the guided tours, by day and by night, that are worth it if you would rather have someone tell you the story.

What the Banys Àrabs are

They are baths from the 10th and 11th centuries, from when Palma was called Medina Mayurqa. They are often described as the only building of the Islamic city to survive intact. The main room is square, with a half-orange dome resting on twelve columns, many reused from older buildings, which is why no two are alike. Light comes in through the round oculi in the roof.

You can make out the caldarium (the hot room) and the tepidarium (the warm room), and beneath the floor lies the hypocaust heating system, which circulated hot air. It all sits in the garden of an old manor house, Can Fontirroig, with palms and orange trees where you can sit for a while.

Arab Baths Palma: price and tickets

Entry costs about €3.50 per adult. Guidebooks also say that children aged 10 or under get in free and that groups of 10 or more pay €1.50 per person. There are no prices on an official website we can link to, so treat these figures as a guide and check them at the door.

If you plan to use the sightseeing bus, City Sightseeing's Bus + 9 attractions pass (48 h, from €65.20) includes entry to the Arab Baths along with the cathedral, Es Baluard, the Palau March and other museums. It only pays off if you really are going into almost all of them; we explain it in our guide to the Palma sightseeing bus.

For the city's other monuments, here are the official prices:

Arab Baths opening hours

Guidebooks give opening hours of 10:00 to 18:30 every day, and some warn that they change with the season. As there are no official published hours, don't leave it to the last minute: go before 18:00 and, out of season, preferably in the morning or early afternoon.

The visit takes 30 to 45 minutes, including the garden.

How to get to the Arab Baths in Palma

They are at Carrer de Can Serra 7, in the Sa Calatrava neighbourhood of the historic centre, east of the cathedral.

• From the cathedral: about 5 minutes' walk east, through the narrow streets behind La Seu.
• From the cruise port: EMT bus 1 to the Paseo Marítimo or Plaça d'Espanya (€2 in cash), then on foot. Details in our cruise port guide.
• From Portixol, El Molinar or the Aquarium: EMT bus 35 to Plaça de la Reina, next to the cathedral.
• From a boat on the bay: the Escala Real, next to the Moll Vell (old quay), is below the cathedral, a few minutes' walk away.

The practical way is on foot: the old town is made for walking and everything is close together.

A walking route round Palma old town

A circular loop to do at an easy pace in a morning or an afternoon, not counting time inside the monuments. Every stop is a few minutes' walk from the next.

If you still have energy: towards the Born and the sea

From the cathedral, carry on west along the Passeig del Born, the shopping boulevard, to Es Baluard and the Santa Catalina neighbourhood, for dinner. Or head down to the sea past La Llotja, the old Gothic exchange, now a temporary exhibition space. And if it is lunchtime, Monday to Saturday, the Mercat de l'Olivar (closed on Sundays and public holidays) is the place to eat. More ideas and a full one-day route in things to do in Palma.

Walking tours and evening tours of the old town

You can explore the old town on your own without any trouble. A guide adds what the façades don't show: the courtyards, the history of each neighbourhood and why the streets are the way they are. These are the ones that work best on the list, all bookable on GetYourGuide:

Palma old town tours

1

First visit, you want the full story

Rated 4.9 from more than 900 reviews, the highest among the tours with lots of reviews. An hour and three quarters to two hours round the historic centre.

GetYourGuide105 minutes - 2 hours

Palma de Mallorca: Guided Tour of the Old Town

4.9 (908)

from €39Check availability

2

You have seen the cathedral by day and want a different mood

Two hours round the old town at night, with different light and a different atmosphere. A good option after a day on the beach or a boat.

GetYourGuide2 hours

Palma de Mallorca: Old Town Atmospheric Evening Tour

4.8 (720)

from €39Check availability

3

You want the old town and the cathedral in one morning

Two and a half hours with skip-the-line cathedral entry included, so you don't have to buy it separately.

GetYourGuide2.5 hours

Palma: Old Town Walking Tour & Cathedral Skip-the-Line

4.9 (48)

from €42Check availability

4

Tight budget

The cheapest on the list, from €28: an hour and a half round the old town and the cathedral.

GetYourGuide1.5 hours

Palma de Mallorca: Old Town and Cathedral Tour

4.6 (831)

from €28Check availability

GetYourGuide105 minutes - 2 hours

Palma de Mallorca: Guided Tour of the Old Town

4.9 (908)

from €39Check availability

GetYourGuide2.5 hours

Palma: Old Town Walking Tour & Cathedral Skip-the-Line

4.9 (48)

from €42Check availability

GetYourGuide8 - 10 hours

Palma de Mallorca: Old Town Guided Tour & Cathedral Visit

4.1 (56)

from €55Check availability

GetYourGuide2 hours

Sip & Paint in the heart of Palma’s old town

5.0 (13)

from €65Check availability

GetYourGuide3 hours

Palma: Old Town Guided Tour with Cathedral Skip-the-Line

4.4 (4)

from €59Check availability

See all on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 6 October 2026

If you love food, there is also a guided tapas route through the historic centre of about three hours, considerably more expensive; and craft workshops inside the old town for a different kind of afternoon. They appear in the full list of Palma old town tours.

Looking for an Arab bath to bathe in?

Lots of people search for "Arab baths Palma" expecting a hammam with hot water and massages. The Banys Àrabs are not that: there is no water, and you visit them as a monument. If what you want is a bathing session, Palma has a modern hammam, Hammam Al Ándalus, with hour-and-a-half sessions and massage options:

See sessions at Hammam Al Ándalusfrom €68Affiliate link: if you book, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

From the old town to the sea: a boat from the Escala Real

The easiest way to end the walk is to head down to the water. From the Escala Real, next to the Moll Vell, below the cathedral, Mallorca City Boat leaves for 55 minutes round the bay, €19, every hour from 11:00 to 17:00, Monday to Saturday. You pass the Almudaina, the cathedral and Bellver, and come back to the same spot. There is no swimming stop. More in our Mallorca City Boat review.

If you want a swim in a cove, the catamarans leave from the Muelle de las Golondrinas, opposite the Auditòrium, about 1.5 km from the Escala Real: compare options in catamarans in Palma or departures from Palma port. To end the day, have a look at sunset boat trips.

Palma cityThings to do in Palmafrom €11 Palma cityPalma Cathedralfrom €11 Palma cityHop-on hop-off busfrom €27