Day trips from Palma de Mallorca: caves, Sóller, Formentor and the south

The day trips from Palma de Mallorca that fit best into a day are these: the Drach caves, Valldemossa, Sóller with the boat to Sa Calobra, Formentor, Cabrera and Es Trenc, with the Hams or Artà caves as an alternative to the Drach. All of them can be done in a day and you are back in Palma to sleep. The real question is a different one: car, bus or organised tour.

The rule of thumb: Valldemossa and Sóller work very well without a car, the Drach and Formentor want a car or a tour, and Cabrera and Es Trenc are, above all, boat days. Below is a table to decide quickly, then each destination with times and tips the leaflets leave out.

Day trips from Palma at a glance: time and price

Driving times from Plaça d'Espanya in Palma. Do-it-yourself prices are the official ones from each ticket office or boat company; tour prices are the platforms' "from" price.

If you only have one free day and do not want to drive, the Sóller combination of train, tram and boat gives you the most scenery per euro. With young children, go for the Drach: an hour underground at 17–21 °C, with a concert and a boat, and back to the pool in the afternoon.

Drach caves tour from Palma: times, prices and the Lake Martel boat

The Coves del Drac are in Porto Cristo, on the east coast, 58 minutes from Palma by road. The visit lasts one hour, is not guided (you go round in a group) and includes a live concert on Lake Martel. Afterwards you cross it by boat or on foot, at no extra cost. Inside it is between 17 and 21 °C all year.

Official prices: adults (13+) €18.50 online and €19.50 at the ticket office; children 3 to 12, €11.50 / €12.50; 0 to 2, free. From 16 March to 31 October there are entry slots at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:00; from 1 November to 15 March, at 10:30, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:30. Closed on 25 December and 1 January. Times and tickets at cuevasdeldrach.com.

Without a car, TIB bus 401 links Palma with Manacor, Porto Cristo and Cala Millor. With transfers, the tour with concert and boat ride from Palma is from €54, and the one combining the Drach and, if you like, the Hams, from €56.

Coves dels Hams and Coves d'Artà, the alternatives

The Coves dels Hams are on the Ma-4020 from Manacor to Porto Cristo, km 11, a stone's throw from the Drach. Tickets are sold on platforms from €18.50; compare with the official website (cuevasdelshams.com) before you pay. The Coves d'Artà, in Canyamel (Capdepera), are guided, 35 to 40 minutes: €17 adult, €10 for ages 7 to 12, free under 7. Open 10:00 to 18:00 from May to October and 10:00 to 17:00 from November to April.

If you are staying in the north, there is a speedboat from Alcúdia to the Artà caves via Cap Farrutx (3 h, €48); it is in the Alcúdia and Pollença guide.

Palma to Valldemossa: bus 203 and the Charterhouse

Valldemossa is the easiest trip without a car: 23 minutes by car or TIB bus 203 from the Estació Intermodal (bus and train station) at Plaça d'Espanya, roughly every hour on weekdays. TIB is trialling a form to reserve a seat on line 203: use it if your day is tight.

The Cartoixa (Royal Charterhouse) opens Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00 and Saturdays 10:00 to 16:00. General entry €12.50, with the tower €15.50, students €8.50, over-65s €10.

If you would rather have it organised, the Valldemossa and Sóller tour is from €45 and the Valldemossa, Sóller and Port de Sóller by bus and tram one, from €49.

Sóller and Sa Calobra: train, tram and boat

This is the day I recommend to anyone who only has one. The Sóller train leaves from the station next to Plaça d'Espanya at 10:10, 13:30, 15:10, 18:30 and 19:40, and takes an hour: 13 tunnels, the longest almost 3 km. It costs €23 single and €30 return. Only the return train + tram combination is sold online (€40, or €32 on the online offer for certain times); everything else is bought at the ticket office on the day. Times at trendesoller.com.

From Sóller, the 1913 tram runs down to Port de Sóller in about 30 minutes (€10 per journey). From the port, Barcos Azules boats go to Sa Calobra: from 1 April to 31 October, daily at 09:50, 11:20, 13:00 and 15:00, with only two returns, 13:45 and 16:40. It costs €35 return or €23 single, with 10% off online until 20:00 the day before (times and prices).

The best version: one leg by boat and one by road. The Ma-2141 winds down to Sa Calobra through the famous "knotted tie", a 360° bend; by boat you see the Tramuntana coast from below. From the Sa Calobra quay it is about a 10-minute walk to the Torrent de Pareis beach. If the last train is full, TIB bus 204 returns to Palma through the Ma-11 tunnel. All the detail is in Sóller and Sa Calobra by boat, the Sóller train and our review of Barcos Azules.

Tours on GetYourGuide: the island tour with boat, tram and train from €103 (pick-up in the south), the coach version from €102, the Sóller to Sa Calobra boat from €35 and the speedboat along Sa Calobra and Cala Tuent, 2 hours from €49.

Formentor from Palma: the restricted road and how to get there

Formentor is 62 minutes by car from Palma, but the car only gets you part of the way. At present, from 15 May to 18 October, 10:00 to 22:00, the Ma-2210 has two regulated sections. As far as Formentor beach (km 2–8) you only get in while there are spaces in the beach car park. From km 8 to the lighthouse no private cars get through: only TIB buses, taxis, residents, bikes and coaches. Up-to-date status from the DGT (Spain's traffic authority).

The two good ways to go without fighting the barrier start in Port de Pollença (50 minutes by car from Palma):

• Lanchas La Gaviota ferry to Formentor beach: €18 adult, €9.50 child, about 25 minutes, open return. From June to October it leaves at 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00, and the last return is at 16:30.
• TIB bus 334 from Alcúdia and Port de Pollença to the lighthouse: €1.80 by bank card, €3 in cash. On the current timetable (7 September to 18 October) it leaves Port de Pollença from 09:45, every 35–40 minutes. It only serves journeys to and from Formentor: within Port de Pollença use the 322.

On a tour, the small-group Formentor beach trip with a boat to the lighthouse leaves from Alcúdia for €80, and the Formentor with market, beach and Alcúdia one, from €61. More northern boats in Alcúdia and Pollença.

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Cabrera and Es Trenc: the south by boat

Cabrera is a national park and the boats that land there leave only from Colònia de Sant Jordi, 47 minutes from Palma. The authorised operators sell 3- to 6-hour trips at €45 to €69 per adult; the classic option is about €58 with around 3 h 30 on the island. Without a car, the only way is Life & Sea from the bay: €90 (children 3 to 12, €70), leaving 10:00 from Can Pastilla or 10:15 from S'Arenal and returning around 18:15–18:30. At present the castle interior is closed for safety reasons and so is the refuge; bring water and cash, because there is only a canteen at the harbour. Everything is in the Cabrera guide and our review of the Cabrera boats.

Es Trenc is a nature park and no boat lands on the beach: boats anchor over sand, or you walk from Colònia harbour. There is no direct TIB bus; line 517 reaches Colònia de Sant Jordi via Campos. The Life & Sea "water taxi" from Can Pastilla or S'Arenal costs €40 and drops you in Colònia, about a 20-minute walk from the sand. By car, park in the signed car parks (na Tirapèl has 400 spaces). Dogs are not allowed on the beach from March to October. The full-day catamaran from Palma, 09:00 to 19:00 and from €200, is in Es Trenc by boat.

Day trips from Palma by bus and train, or on a tour

Without a car you can reach almost everything. The key lines:

• Sóller train: Plaça d'Espanya → Sóller, 1 hour.
• TIB 203: Estació Intermodal → Valldemossa → Deià → Sóller → Port de Sóller.
• TIB 204: Palma → Ma-11 tunnel → Sóller → Port de Sóller.
• TIB 401: Palma → Manacor → Porto Cristo → Cala Millor.
• TIB 334: Alcúdia → Port de Pollença → Formentor.
• TIB 517: Palma → Campos → Colònia de Sant Jordi.

For the 203, use the seat reservation TIB is trialling. If you arrive by cruise ship, EMT bus 1 runs from the ferry and cruise terminals to Plaça d'Espanya, next to the Sóller train: details in the cruise port guide. Timetables for every line at tib.org.

A tour pays off when it puts together pieces that are hard to fit on your own; for Valldemossa or Sóller you are mostly paying for convenience.

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When to go and what to bear in mind

The Sóller to Sa Calobra boats run daily only from 1 April to 31 October; from 1 to 21 November, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; in February and March, Tuesdays and Saturdays with phone booking, and in December and January there is no service. The Sóller train has closed in some winters for maintenance: check its website before you go. The Formentor restriction ends this season on 18 October. For boat days, watch the wind: the afternoon breeze whips up the sea, and the Sóller boats always sail subject to the weather. It is all in best time for a boat trip.

Staying in the city? See things to do in Palma or the beaches near Palma.