We spent about a week in Spain between Barcelona and Mallorca over New Years. We did more than the below, but here are our recommendations:
Barcelona
- Stay
- Seventy Barcelona – Great hotel and location – the breakfast/drinks at the bar are soo good
- Cava & Hotel Mastinell – 60 minutes outside of Barcelona. The rooms are designed to look like wine bottles. Good experience but not much to do in the area outside of visiting wineries
- Fairmont Juan Carlos – we booked here because we had an early flight. Good business hotel, but wouldn’t book if you want to really be in Barcelona
- Eat
- Brunch & Cake – Best food of the trip – we went 3 times. Must gets: peanut latte, detox juice, any of the food
- Cerveseria Catalana – well known place with a huge menu, go early to put your name down, the waitlist can get long
- Flax & Kale Passage – was hyped but we thought it was overrated
- Cal Pep – awesome place, sit at the bar and let them order for you
- La Pepita – right across from the hotel, solid tapas
- Boldu – good donuts shaped like little people
- Xurreria Trebol – mmm churros
- Do
- BCN Kitchen – Went shopping for the ingredients at a market and then cooked paella. We thought it was just okay
- BCN Baila – We found a dance studio and set up a private one hour salsa class – was fun!
- Pares Balta terroir tour – One of the highlights of the trip – wine tasting and off-road drive through the different vineyards on the property
- Standard tourist stop: Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Ramblas, etc. If you want to go to a park or museum, buy your ticket in advance.
Mallorca
- Stay
- Park Hyatt Mallorca (eastern coast) – amazing hotel, kind of far away from everything which is great to go to the beach but not great if you want to visit towns
- Sant Francesc Hotel Singular (Palma) – nice hotel in an old family’s house – good location in Palma
- Eat
- Ca’n Joan de s’Aigo – ensaimadas are delicious – we were fighting some food poisoning so could not enjoy them in all their glory
- S’estret – cute and tasty cafe in Valldemossa
- Do
- Cuevas Drach – touristy caves, but they are still cool
- Beaches – beaches are amazing, we went in the winter so there was nobody on them
- Palma cathedral – nice cathedral, overrated on the inside
- Valledemossa – really pretty town
- Inca / Inca Market – waste of time, not worth it