Palma de Mallorca

A Palma weekend with La Seu, Bellver Castle and the Sóller train

Palma's highlights fit into a weekend. Spend the first day around La Seu, the Almudaina palace and the old lanes between Plaça de Cort and Santa Eulàlia, ending on the sea wall at dusk, and the second at Bellver Castle, the Santa Catalina market and on the wooden train to Sóller.

Morning one: be at La Seu when the doors open at 10:00, ahead of the cruise groups, and look for Gaudí's additions and the Royal Chapel. Walk round to the Almudaina palace next door, then out onto the Ses Voltes terrace for the view over Parc de la Mar. Lose an hour in the lanes behind, between Plaça de Cort, with its ancient olive tree, and Santa Eulàlia, peering through gates into the courtyards of old merchant houses. In the afternoon take the shade of the Passeig del Born, and at dusk walk the Dalt Murada wall above the sea. Dinner belongs to the Llotja quarter or Santa Catalina.

On day two, go up to Bellver Castle early, before the heat, for the widest view of the bay from its round roof terrace. Back in town, buy picnic food at the Santa Catalina market, then catch the wooden train from Plaça d'Espanya to Sóller and ride the tram down to the port for a swim. If you would rather stay close, an EMT bus east takes you to Ciudad Jardín, where the beach is seldom crowded.

Ensaïmadas, sobrassada and lunch at the Olivar market

Start the day the Mallorcan way, with an ensaïmada, a coiled pastry made with lard and dusted in icing sugar; bakeries sell them plain or filled, and visitors fly home with them in flat boxes. Lunch can be as simple as pa amb oli: country bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil, topped with cheese or ham.

The island's best-known sausage, sobrassada, is soft, red with paprika and spread rather than sliced, sometimes on toast with a trickle of honey.

For something more filling, look for tumbet, layered aubergine, potato and peppers in tomato sauce, and frit mallorquí, a fry-up of lamb or pork offal with potatoes and peppers. Both turn up on the lunch menus of old-town bars. Fish comes grilled or baked in the restaurants along the marina.

The Mercat de l'Olivar, near Plaça d'Espanya, and the smaller Santa Catalina market are the places to shop and to eat at the counters. Cheaper meals cluster in the old town, north towards Plaça d'en Coll and down to the marina. End a meal with a glass of herbes, the island's aniseed and herb liqueur, served sweet or dry.

Palma's sweet spot in May and June, autumn downpours and Sant Joan

May and June are the sweet spot for Palma, at 23°C to 27°C with very little rain. September and October keep the sea warm but bring the year's heaviest downpours, July and August are hot and crowded, and winter stays mild at around 16°C by day.

Summer is long and dry. Highs reach 30°C in July and August, June gets only 14 mm of rain and July just 5 mm, and from July to September the island fills with visitors from Germany, Britain and Ireland. Beaches and the Sóller train are at their busiest, so start each day early. The night of 23 June, Sant Joan, brings bonfires and parties to the city beaches.

Autumn is the wettest stretch, with 61 mm in September and 73 mm in October, much of it in short downpours, but the sea holds its summer warmth and nights stay between 17°C and 20°C.

Winter is mild rather than warm: 16°C by day in January and February, with nights around 8°C to 9°C. Many resort hotels close, yet the city keeps its restaurants, museums and markets open. Palma honours its patron saint, Sant Sebastià, on 20 January, with bonfires, street grills and free concerts in the squares on the night before. Out in the countryside, almond trees blossom from late January into February, a good reason to hire a car for a day.