This past month they've been visiting me in Dublin, and last week we made a cheeky trip over to Mallorca, Spain. We were all craving a beach-y vacation, and after weeks of deliberating about the location, we agreed Mallorca seemed to be the perfect place!
We head off late on Friday night, arrived in the dark, had some dinner & then woke up to THIS:
I know. I. freaking. KNOW.
Question: Is this real life?
Answer: Strangely, yes.
If you've never tried Airbnb before, I literally could not recommend it more. It's life changing. Renting this bad boy only put us back around $100/night per person. It's a villa property with one main house and two bungalows, all of which can be rented.
A white Spanish villa, covered in greenery and blooms, set amongst mountains and complete with a gorgeous private swimming pool and tennis court. No big deal.
Straight up freaked out when I saw the villa in the daylight. I immediately helped myself to a morning swim before we head off to grab some breakfast and explore the island.
Honestly, we didn't have too much planned. Beaches were our main concern for this trip, but we decided we wanted to visit a bunch in one big chunk the following day. So, for our first day on the island we ended up literally just getting into our car and aimlessly driving. It ended up being the best idea EVER.
Within twenty minutes we drove into the mountains and came across this incredible landscape:
Spain? Or ancient Inca?
We followed the road to the seaside, where we stopped when we saw this little fortress:
Which casually had a mind blowing view of the Mediterranean Sea
A photo shoot and some mermaid watching ensued, naturally
This water though, can you deal?
I wanted to jump in right then & there! But alas, our next stop was not the beach. Actually, it was Palma, the biggest city on the island
While the whole city of Palma isn't exactly a looker, the city center and touristy areas are filled with quaint, warm-toned Spanish beauty
Spot the pooch!
We wandered, shopped, searched for food and enjoyed the sunshine for a while, and sadly that was the only time I got to explore Palma. I spent my time at the beach rather than in the city during this trip, which I don't regret! But next time I'd love to see more of Palma, especially the old town.
The next day we woke up and head straight to the beach. I had done some research and found 3 beaches that especially intrigued me, the first being Calla Falco, a tiny hidden beach about 30 minutes from Palma
We spent a couple hours lying out like beached whales before heading over to our next stop, Beach Club Grand Follies in Port D'Andratx. Sadly we just got to admire this beauty from afar. Something to keep in mind when going to Mallorca - beaches cost money, and they book up fast. If you see a beach club online that want to visit, reserve a spot ahead of time!
Despite the fact that we didn't get to rest in one of those delicious looking loungers, just stopping by to visit was worth it. The area is absolutely STUNNING:
And last but certainly not least, the famous Camp de Mar - my favorite of the three. While Calla Falco wins in beauty, and Grand Follies wins in relaxation, Camp de Mar was lively, bright, beautiful, and filled with lots of yummy food in the surrounding area. Not to mention the swimming there was by far my favorite - very minimal rocks! Yes, it's crowded (and I hate crowds) but the atmosphere was not by any means buzzing with anxiety. It was just filled with a bunch of chilled people enjoying their time with their loved ones.
After a couple hours of swimming & lounging in the sun, we made our way over to the biggest hot spot in Camp de Mar, Restaurante Illeta. It's situated on the end of its own private pier, in the middle of the ocean. You can literally swim to it if you want, which is seriously cool. Plus: amazing views, and even more amazing paella.
Livin' the dream.
For our final day on the island, we only had one thing on the agenda: the Caves of Drach.
In the late 1800s a French explorer came to Mallorca and discovered a huge amount of underground limestone formations surrounding what is currently Europe's largest underground lake. I saw photos of the caves online and immediately new it had to go on our to do list.
BEST. TOURIST ATTRACTION. EVER.
I was afraid this was a massive tourist trap and would be seriously disappointing. I'm happy to report it exceeded my expectations ten fold. Genuinely an incredible place, I walked around with my jaw dropped to the floor the entire time. I got goosebumps and shivers while admiring them. Nature is so powerful and amazing.
HOW IS THIS REAL? How does this exist in nature?? WHERE IS INDIANA JONES AND HIS WHIP?
The farther down into the cave we got, the more the underground lake came to view.
Everyone say hello to the entrance to frickin Atlantis:
Um ok. WHAT.
I think just viewing the caves alone was worth the money, but they added a couple special touches to make it extra magical. When you get to the lake, you sit down in an amphitheater they've built into the rock. Once everyone arrives, they have an orchestra float in on boats and give a short performance that shows off the cave's acoustics. It's an absolutely gorgeous experience. Afterwards they give all of the visitors a chance to hop in a boat and experience what it's like to be on the water, which is VERY cool - but it's such a long wait for such a short trip, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
Definitely don't expect to walk right into a tour during the summer unless you book with a bus tour! We showed up at 12pm and ended up getting tickets for the 5pm tour. It ended up working out fine because we had another beach day while we waited. However, went to the famous Es Trenc beach and I REALLY disliked it. It's crowded, rocky, loud, and very very plain looking. I'm still trying to figure out in my head why it's so popular. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Sad day coming across something highly recommended that you dislike, but it happens! The woes of travel.
These caves tho. These are UNREAL. A bucket-list worthy item in my opinion!
If you're interested in viewing the insanely gorgeous stunning beautiful magical AF villa that I stayed in, you can click here to view the listing (going to be honest - the inside doesn't match the outside, but you can't beat what you get for the price!)
Wanna book it, or ANY Airbnb for that matter? Click here and you'll get $30 off your first booking!
No comments
Post a Comment