Palma de Mallorca/Soller on our own

We will be in Palma de Mallorca on a cruise in November. We were there last year and did a very nice tour thru CC friends to the Cathedral, pearl factory, caves of Drach and then the castle. Wonderful tour, but this year I would like to do the train to Soller, tram to port of Soller, and then take the express bus back to port. Is this doable on our own? We will be in port from 10:30 am until 10:00 pm. Do we need a private tour? Thanks for all your help.

Give me some info about private tours. Definitely want to take train to Soller and then tram to Port of Soller. Was looking so forward to this last November, but time did not permit. DH is also very worried about getting back to the ship on time, but hopefully these times will be better.

You can do by your own the train lea es from plaza España every day 12.15 and takes you to Soller, here you don' t have reserved seats, if the train is not to full no problem to get a sean,then you can come back by publico bus or again with train.

If you prefer to do a private tour there are also many posibilities, if you need any advices just Let me know, be have been se eral times in Mallorca and made lot of private tours and I highly recomend it, no rush and you can see much more.

I would also love to have the information on the Soller private tours. I will also be there in November and would like to do this. If you prefer email is: brandtjm@verizon.net. Thanks so much for the information. I will check back here as well. Joyce

I would love to hear more about the train to Soller and/or private tour.

We have never been to Mallorca so interested in some alternatives to what to do.

We will be there in May.:)

We went to Puerto Soller on our own. When you get to the train station do not go to the new modern one, instead look to your left and you'll see an iron gate. That is the entrance to the train station. Train ride is fun and when you get to Soller you'll get off and dash thru the train station to the tram to the Port (separate fare).

Once at the Port find the bus stop, it is one or two blocks into town from the port train station and decide which bus you'll take back. Then you'll feel free in walking around town, having lunch, etc.

Take the bus from the port back to Palma. By the time the bus stopped in Soller it was pretty full and getting a seat could have been difficult.

http://www.trendesoller.com/en

Last time we were in Mallorca we booked our private tour with Mallorca private tour guides www.mallorcaprivatetourguides.com and Mail contact is mallorcaprivatetourguides@gmail.com or alex_fraile@hotmail.com

They help us with our tours in Mallorca,Barcelona and Málaga and we highly recomend you.

They write a blog too www.mallorcaprivatetourguides.wordpress.com and they have very interesting post about what to see, history,gastronomy...it is very informative.

They came to pick up on the pier,at the ship' s gangway and we want to valldemossa a great village on the mountains where we visited a monastry where Chopin was leaving and we got a great piano concert.

Then we drove an scenic drive through the coast crossing spectacular villages such Deia where we visited a beautiful cementery where is burried the bristish writer Robert Graves and la residencia a charming but very exclusive hotel for a drink, then we arrived to port the Soller for lunch and took the tram to Soller and then train back to palma, we got reserved seats on the train, and then they took us back to the ship.

It was a great tour, our guide was very professional and tried to show us everything without rush, giving us tips for the best picture spots, places for eating and answering all our questions.

She speaks fluently english and has increíble knowledges about the island, you can realised she really loves to do her Job.

They offer the posibility to share a tour but we prefer to go by our own.

As I said it was a perfect day.

Hope to help you, Let me know if you have any more questions

thank you for sending informagtion. IT is really appreciated. You were a big help.

We went to Puerto Soller on our own. When you get to the train station do not go to the new modern one, instead look to your left and you'll see an iron gate. That is the entrance to the train station. Train ride is fun and when you get to Soller you'll get off and dash thru the train station to the tram to the Port (separate fare).

Once at the Port find the bus stop, it is one or two blocks into town from the port train station and decide which bus you'll take back. Then you'll feel free in walking around town, having lunch, etc.

Take the bus from the port back to Palma. By the time the bus stopped in Soller it was pretty full and getting a seat could have been difficult.

http://www.trendesoller.com/en

Thanks so much All information helps. Joyce

Thank you much for the info:)

Is it possible to NOT do a tour in Majorca? Is there anything close to where the ships anchor/dock? When we were in Minorca, we had the best time exploring on our own. Is it possible to do that it Majorca?

Is there anything in particular to see and do in Soller???

Thank you so much for the information. Its very helpful.

We have decided to take the train to Soller and explore the town a little.

Thanks so much for all the info. Still haven't decided to do on our own or with a private excursion. The ship does not offer anything to Soller and I really want to go there. Last year we did the Cathedral, pearl factory, Drach caves, which was a walking nightmare for me plus the 192 steps out of the caves, but I DID IT, and the castle. I really want to do the train to Soller this year, so thanks for your suggestions. I will research further.

Thanks so much for all the info. Still haven't decided to do on our own or with a private excursion. The ship does not offer anything to Soller and I really want to go there. Last year we did the Cathedral, pearl factory, Drach caves, which was a walking nightmare for me plus the 192 steps out of the caves, but I DID IT, and the castle. I really want to do the train to Soller this year, so thanks for your suggestions. I will research further.

If you are in port for almost 12 hours then you will have plenty of time to DIY - but because you are going in November, just make sure the buses still run regularly.

We went last September, took a cab to the train station from our hotel near the cathedral (don't forget to go through the iron gate to the left!), bought our tickets and were on our way. To be honest, the first part of the journey was through light industrial/residential and scrubland, before it got to the mountainous part, which was spectacular (if not as much as I expected) They stop the train at a platform part way through the mountains, so passengers can get out and take photos (it was funny waiting for the first one to make a move!).

Once at Soller, there was a very long queue for the tram down to the port, but we wanted to see Soller first, and then had lunch in an in-the-middle-of-the-road cafe in the main square, which was quite nice, despite the rain, as the trams went within touching distance straight past us. It's not a huge town, but worth a look, and if it hadn't been raining, we'd have lingered longer, but we wanted to go on down to Port de Soller. We went back to the tram stop, but it was still chaotic (a free-for-all when the trams arrived), so we grabbed a cab and were there in less than 10 minutes (it was not very expensive either for the 3 of us). The taxi came down the main entrance road at the right of the resort, near the marina, and it was back up this road that we walked to get the bus back (a few hundred yards). Just go to the first roundabout and the bus is just around the corner on the left. It took half the time to return to Palma, and also made for some wonderful views, so if we were ever to go back, we would skip the train and take the bus both ways - but if you have not done it before, it's a must-do. The bus dropped us back at a very modern bus station, and we got another cab back to our hotel, so you could do the same for the port.

I would probably miss out Soller on a return trip and head straight for the port, which is in a lovely setting and has quite a lively atmosphere (don't know what it will be like in November, though).

Check it out on google earth and you will see the road leading up to the bus stop, marked in yellow, and the blue bus stop sign - but, like I said, do check the timetable for that time of year.

Have fun :)

Yes! You have time to do the itinerary you want. I've done it twice. It's lovely! The 2nd time we had the opportunity to do the boat trip to Sa Calobra from Puerto Soller and it was beautiful! It was my favorite part of our time in Mallorca. If you need add'l info, the boards at trip advisor have more on this area. From the 1st to 2nd trips, the bus stop in Puerto Soller changed, so be aware of that if you read older posts on the web (It's pretty small, so the bus stop may just be a telephone pole with a sticker, but both times the stop was just a little ways off the main road behind the shops).

There was also a package deal for such an itinerary, but I couldn't book it because we left around 5pm or so. The flyers were at the train station. As long as your itinerary didn't change, I would think you'd have plenty of time. I'll try to find the website for you.

With being in port for so long, you should be able to have a great day in the area, whether you take a private tour, rent a car, or do it all yourself. You have lots of choices with that much time. A plus is that you've been there before!

Here's the website: http://www.vallsollerservices.com/ It's not in English, but there's an Email address where you could request more info. I don't know how early they depart, but according to the flyer it includes the old train to Soller, tram to Puerto Soller, boat to Sa Calobra with free time, returning b/t 6:30-7pm. As always, double-check on your hours in-port, ours were changed by a couple hours there once. (as I recall, people could make reservations the 'day of' at the train station). Also, be aware that weekend hours of operation are different for buses, etc. (Mallorca's website has all train, tram & bus schedules).

The train ride there is stunning. The tram is fun. We took the express bus back both trips and it's quick and efficient. Note on the 2 Bus Options: The longer, more scenic bus home from Puerto Soller stops at other places, e.g., Valldemossa and Deia, and I have known of others who have gotten off, strolled around for an hour or two and hopped the next bus on the way back. The Spain Tourism Office also provided me booklets, which were quite helpful. Enjoy your time!

Thank you everyone for the excellent advices.