The combination of familiarity with the beautiful Catalan capital and relaxation at an elite Mediterranean resort is a great choice. The island location of Mallorca, 203 km from Barcelona leaves two ways to overcome this distance – by air and sea.
Airplane
From the centre of Barcelona, El Prat Airport is 35 minutes away by a special blue bus with a large Aerobus sign. These buses run from 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and costs about 6 euros. There are also public transit buses no. 1 and 17 at the airport, where the cost of a trip is 3 euros.
There’s another convenient way to get from Barcelona to the airport. From the Passeig de Gracia train station in the city centre, the R2 Nord train departs at half an hour intervals to El Prat airport’s T2 terminal. Travel time is about 20 minutes, ticket price is 3.5 euros. The exact train timetable is available on the website.
There are about a dozen airlines operating direct flights from Barcelona to Mallorca. Among them there are many low-cost airlines, for example Iberia, RyanAir, Air Europa, Vueling Airlines. Budget airlines often use Mallorca as an intermediate refueling point to continue their flights to European cities. Planes fly to the island during the day from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., often in the morning. The duration of the flight is about an hour.
The price of the ticket depends not only on the class and season, but also on the day of the week. Thus, on Tuesday – Thursday for economy class it is 30-40 EUR on average, and on Friday – Monday – at least 60 EUR. In the midst of the tourist season it is more likely to keep in mind the cost of 80 EUR. The current occupancy of the flight for which the ticket is purchased also matters. The price increases if there are few seats left.
Minimum ticket prices for economy class of the marked low-cost companies in EUR:
- Iberia – from 28;
- RyanAir – from 16 (on separate days);
- Air Europa – from 26;
- Vueling Airlines – from 30.
Business class tickets cost more. The exact and detailed information for a particular day can be found on the listed airline websites. You can choose a flight option that includes significantly more expensive offers from other airlines on the Airtickets website. To book a ticket, select the departure and arrival points, date, number of passengers and class of flight. After selecting an option on the Airtickets search engine, you will be taken to the seller’s website. After the payment by bank card, the ticket will be sent to the e-mail address, which must be printed out and presented at the airport.
Aeroport Son Sant Joan de Palma de Mallorca is 8 km from the centre of Palma. Buses no. 1 or 17 can be used to get to the city after landing. The first bus will take you to the Plaça d’Espanya (Plaza de España) or the port for 2.5 EUR. Bus number 17 will take you to the city center for 3 EUR. Bus traffic interval is every 20 minutes. Tickets worth 3 EUR are purchased directly from the driver.
Of course, you can order a taxi or a transfer on the KiwiTaxi website in advance. For long stays in Palma de Mallorca, it may be convenient to rent a car in advance on the Rentacars website or directly at the airport.
Ferry
You can buy tickets for a ferry to Mallorca from Barcelona at its old port. It is home to the offices of two maritime passenger transport companies, Balearia and AccionaTrasmediterrania. Of course, it is possible to book a ticket in advance, on the listed companies’ websites. Both companies have only night flights starting at 11:00 p.m. Departure – from the Muelle de San Beltrán ferry terminal in the old port.
Destinations on the island for the ferries of these two companies are somewhat different. The Balearia ferry arrives in 6.5 hours to the closest port of Barcelona to Alcudia Mallorca. From there to the capital of the island will have to take a taxi. Ferry Trasmediterranea, having spent 8 hours on the way, arrives directly to the capital of the island Palma de Mallorca. Ferries from both companies provide passengers with the opportunity to sit in a bar or watch a movie in a mini-cinema.
Travel time can be spent in the cabin or sitting on the deck. The last option for 60–70 EUR can hardly be considered convenient at night. The company Balearia offers tickets in individual cabin, and Trasmediterranea ferries – in four-bed, designed for passengers of the same sex or family. The cost of the cabin is about 160 EUR on Trasmediterranea ferries and about 220 EUR on Balearia ferries. There is a significant discount when ordering to/from there. When choosing a company, you should also note that the Trasmediterranea ferries do not run on Saturdays.
Naturally, the ferry can be used to transport a car, as well as pets, for an extra fee.
Conclusions
Air travel seems to be a faster and more economical way to get from Barcelona to Mallorca, especially given the many offers of low-cost companies. A night trip by ferry may interest romantic tourists or newlyweds.
