Port De Soller was hands down my favourite port in Mallorca. I drove around the entire island and visited Port De Pollenca, Alcudia, Cala Figuera, Deia, Port D’Andratx, Palma and more. Port De Soller had it all – the beauty, the proximity to activities, the dining and the upscale but approachable feel. It’s a truly stunning place and one I could easily revisit again and again.
Port De Soller Mallorca
Port De Soller is a stunningly gorgeous port town in the Northwest corner of Mallorca. Mallorca, of course is a gorgeous Spanish island that is about an hour from Barcelona by plane. Port De Soller is also only a 10 minute drive from Soller itself and can be reached by the Soller tram, too.
Port De Soller also has a good sized beach for swimming and sunbathing. Although it doesn’t have the turquoise blue water of somewhere like Calo Des Moro, it is still a stunning spot for a swim.
Things to do in Port De Soller
- Swim at the beach and read a book! Surely part of any good summer holiday, Port De Soller has two nice big beaches on which to sit. You can hire out sun loungers for the day, too.
- Hire a boat or go on a boat trip. Most boat trips in this part of the island leave from Port De Soller. You can go to Sa Calobra with a tour or even just hire and skipper a boat yourself if you have the skills.
- You can also hire a kayak or paddle board by the water. Scuba diving lessons and snorkelling are other water based activities on offer.
- Watch a sunset. Port De Soller is well known for their beautiful sunsets and there are plenty of lovely places to watch from. I had dinner at Jumeirah sunset lounge for this reason and the view didn’t disappoint.
- There are two lighthouses in Port De Soller – Cap Gros is apparently a stunning spot to watch the sunrise or sunset.
- Have coffee or a cocktail along the promenade. The dream spot for people watching!
Things to do from Port De Soller
- Get the tram into Soller. You can also drive, but I thought the parking situation was much more dire in Soller than Port De Soller. There is a wealth of things to do in Soller – see my post on Soller for more information.
- Go to Fornalutx. I absolutely adored the hike from Soller to Fornalutx (which goes through the adorable Biniaraix). However, you can also drive from Port De Soller – it will take about 15 minutes. I recommend going the MA 10 – I didn’t go this route but I did walk the Carrer D’Ozones route and the roads were THIN. As always, go early to get a car park.
- Drive to Deia. This will only take you about 20 minutes pending traffic. Note that the road is thin and windy, too, so it might take a bit longer (particularly when cyclists are out and about). Hot tip: parking is extremely limited in Deia so I recommend going early.
- Drive to Valldemossa. This is an approximate 30 minute drive and the parking is a little better than Deia. Still, I highly recommend getting there early in peak season.
- Go to Sa Calobra – Port De Soller is about 30 minutes from the start of Sa Calobra road. It takes another 30 minutes to drive down to the beach, but the road is part of the activity. I recommend going early and leaving early as the road is (by all accounts) very thin.
Places to eat in Port De Soller
First of all, coffee. One of my culture shocks in Mallorca (and in Barcelona) was how late coffee shops opened. Most of them opened at either 9am, 11am or even midday! The Australian coffee shops that I am used to generally open at 6 or 7am, so I was taken aback.
Anyway, another thing I noticed was that there are far less ‘coffee shops’ or breakfast/brunch cafes. This leaves you with fewer options in terms of getting an early morning coffee. I suspect that people just have coffee at their hotel, but anyway.
The only coffee shop I could find recommended in Port De Soller was Reynes cycling cafe. As the name suggests, it is part cycling shop and part cafe (with a bakery section too). The coffee was good and apparently the pastries are too.
Blai Bar is a modern style restaurant which had a gorgeous menu and a lovely vantage point. I arrived 2 minutes before their opening time and snagged the last available table, so make sure to book or get there early.
Patiki Beach is a cute little beachfront venue with modern food options and a delicious looking menu. They also made a very good spicy margarita.
Sunset Lounge at Jumeirah is a great place for a vantage point and a sunset. I won’t say the food or drinks changed my life (and it was expensive, too) but the view was stunning and the servers were lovely.
For an ice cream, IO Gelats came highly rated in an article on the best gelato in Mallorca. Can confirm, it was delicious. One of the flavours I had was champagne and mango!
More places to eat in Port De Soller
The following is a list of places of places I wanted to try but didn’t get time to. I sourced my list from extensive research on Reddit, online and on social media. There are also a few places I noticed were super busy while I was there.
- George’s cafe was very busy when I visited. It seems to be smoothies and healthy breakfast bowls as well as cocktails and sushi.
- Agapanto is apparently a local favourite and the views look stunning. Book it for sunset to have an incredible view of Port De Soller.
- Nautilus restaurant is another with a gorgeous view.
- Es Fanals and Cap Roig At Jumeirah. I wasn’t enamoured by the food at Sunset Lounge (and it was expensive) but people do say these are worth a visit. Es Fanals is also a Michelin restaurant and I have to say the menu looks great.
- Neni at Bikini Island hotel was another restaurant on my list. The food looks fun and fresh and the hotel also looks great.
- Something I noticed in Mallorca is that mostly everywhere is busy. Because the views are so stunning all along the promenade, I also recommend meandering to find dinner. Because Mallorca is such a touristed place, new restaurants pop up constantly.
- On that note: take tourist reviews lightly. Mallorca is dealing with a huge over-touristing issue and restaurant workers would undoubtedly be working under immense pressure. I see a lot of lower starred reviews for rushed service but that’s the reality of holidaying in Mallorca! It’s busy.
Places to eat near Port De Soller
- See my Soller post for all of my recommendations within Soller. Special mentions to Mr McCoys island ices which I visited pretty much every day. Soller is a 10-15 minute drive from Port De Soller.
- Bar Bodega Biniaraix and Bar Deportivo in Binaraix and Fornalutx respectively (follow it up with an ice cream at Pruna Gelateria Artesana in Fornalutx). Fornalutx is a 15 minute drive from Port De Soller and Biniaraix is a 15-20 minute walk from the base of Fornalutx.
- Hotel Corazon en route to Deia is a 10-15 minute drive. Lovely views, gorgeous interior design and nice cocktails.
- Ca Xorc’s restaurant Bennetes – I didn’t go here but the views alone look insane. This a 10-15 minute drive.
- Nama in Deia is a 20 minute drive from Port De Soller. Stunning views and lovely modern Asian food. This is a 20 minute drive.
- The restaurants at Belmond Residencia in Deia (for the views, not really the food). This is a 20 minute drive.
- Béns D’Avall is a Michelin restaurant in Alconasser. I didn’t go but I did drive past it en route to the Es Moli private beach (which is right below it). The views and food look stunning.
Soller or Port De Soller?
I’ll say this up front: if I did my trip again, I would have skipped Cala D’Or and Cala Ratjada and used those nights to stay in both Soller and Port De Soller. I stayed in Soller and absolutely adored it – no regrets whatsoever. I’m not an overly beachy person but I do love wandering the streets of old towns. Soller made perfect sense for me and it was my favourite place of the whole trip.
With that said, I would highly recommend staying a few nights in both places. Despite the fact that they are so close, the vibe is completely different. On a whim I decided to have dinner in Port De Soller one evening and was amazed at how different the atmosphere is at night. It really came alive with people dressing beautifully to have dinner on the promenade. It is truly worth staying for a few nights at least to get a sense of the port.
I understand that you can’t always choose both, though. So here are my thoughts on which to choose according to your plans:
Tips
- If you’re not a beachy person, choose Soller. Port De Soller, being a port, is very beach and water oriented. Shocker!
- If you’re a swim, wine and dine person, choose Port De Soller. It felt like there were more restaurants (could just be because they’re all along the promenade) and water activities are the main focus.
- If you love the feeling of a European town square, choose Soller. It has that cosy communal atmosphere in the mornings and evenings.
- As a base for activity days, either is fine. I was happy with Soller as my base because it is slightly better poised for trips, but either will work.
- If you intend to constantly move between the town and the port via car, stay in Soller (and choose a hotel with free parking). The parking situation in Soller can be horrendous, whereas there were plenty of paid parking lots in Port De Soller.
Port De Soller or Port De Pollenca?
One thing that shocked me about my trip to Mallorca is how different my idea of a perfect holiday spot is from other peoples. I had read nothing but rave reviews of Cala D’Or, only to find it incredibly over touristed and full of ‘stop and flop’ tourists. I had read nothing but glowing reviews of the ‘small and authentic’ Cala Ratjada, only to find it to be a German party town. Since then I have seen someone call it ‘German Magaluf’ which felt very accurate.
This is not to mock other peoples tastes, just something to point out. I have never experienced this before: generally people will say ‘touristy but good for families’ or something along those lines, so I was thrown.
Which brings me to my point: I see a lot of people suggest Port De Pollenca over Port De Soller. Personally, I didn’t feel that way at all. Granted, I only spent an afternoon in Port De Pollenca before heading to Pollenca. However, I felt it was a little less refined, the port a little less beautiful and the vibe not quite as nice. It was busy with English accents (and I love the Brits!) but I felt that Port De Soller had more of an international vibe which I liked.
I will say that Port De Pollenca makes for easy access to Cap De Formentor and Cala Formentor. Pictures of Port De Pollenca do show a generously large and lovely beach, but I didn’t see that walking in the pine walk area. Overall, though, I was very happy with my choice of Port De Soller.
Where to stay in Port De Soller
I’ll preface this by saying that I didn’t stay in Port De Soller, I stayed in Soller town. However, I did look at a number of hotels when I was booking the trip. The notes on availability of parking are current at the time of writing but subject to change. I would always double check.
- Jumeirah is the fanciest hotel in town and has stunning views. I felt it was a bit too much of a walk away from town to be in the thick of it, but it’s an incredible view. I guess it depends what your plans are for the trip. I assumed for the price they would include parking but it seems they charge 30 euros per day!
- Bikini Island hotel looks very cute and has the added bonus of having a great restaurant (Neni) on site. It seems to have free parking but doesn’t say ‘no reservation needed’ so I would double check.
- Hotel Esplendido is right on the foreshore and well reviewed. It doesn’t have parking, as far as I’m aware.
- Hotel Es Port looks absolutely gorgeous and gets great reviews. It also has free parking which is an absolute necessity if you have a car.
- For a budget option, Hotel Marina is well reviewed online. It appears that they have free parking available but I’m not sure whether it’s affiliated with the hotel or just a parking lot.
- Salino seems to be a newly renovated hotel that looks gorgeous from an interior design perspective. Their current listing says parking is available nearby for 8 euro per day.
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