Mallorca in May
Es Baluard — May travel guide
May is a favourite for many visitors. The sea starts warming up, beaches are generally less crowded than in summer and mountain walks are easier before the strongest heat arrives. It’s a good time to visit places that become very busy later.
Your month at a glance
What Mallorca feels like in May
Start → end of month
Sunrise06:51 → 06:25
Sunset20:43 → 21:10
Palma · local time 2026
Warm afternoons and cooler evenings suit a mixture of beach time and days out. The sea is still cooler than in high summer.
Pack swimwear and a light jacket.
Rounded monthly averages: air temperatures and sunshine for Palma, sea temperatures around Mallorca. Individual days and locations vary.
The figures and their sources →Twelve months, twelve different islands
2 further places do not yet have monthly ratings.
Worth a visit
The quietest places first
Ariany
Mallorca’s youngest municipality, Ariany only separated from Petra in 1982, after two unsuccessful attempts. This ridge-top village in the Pla has a chu…
Búger
One of Mallorca's smallest municipalities: around a thousand people on a hill surrounded by almond and carob trees. No big attraction, souvenir shopping…
Ermita de Crestatx
A small pilgrimage chapel among pines near Sa Pobla, on the site of an older settlement. A paved path leads up to the church, with tables in the shade f…
Església de Son Serra
A church among the pines, beside the old Son Serra estate with its towers and farm buildings. A glimpse of the rural countryside behind Son Serra de Mar…
Llubí
A village in the Pla known for capers rather than conventional sightseeing. A church above the rooftops, a shaded square and just over two thousand resi…
Maria de la Salut
Just over two thousand people live on this rise in the Pla, with a substantial fieldstone church and a long square beneath plane trees. There’s little a…
Montuïri
A hilltop village in the Pla, with eight old windmills along one street and steps climbing to the church. It’s best known for a dance tradition that has…
Pina
Around 450 residents, a Baroque church, an old well and natural-stone lanes, plus a convent whose religious community spread across Mallorca from 1856.…
Sant Joan
Two thousand residents on a rise in the Pla, a church with a hefty tower and a town hall with a figure on its gable. Above the village stands the Consol…
Sant Jordi
A village in the Prat de Sant Jordi, the flat plain east of Palma, between fields, farm tracks and the airport flight path. Aircraft climb away above th…
Sant Miquel de Campanet
One of Mallorca's oldest churches, standing alone among the fields outside Campanet. Built on the site of a mosque after the conquest of 1229, it served…
Santa Eugènia
A rarely visited village halfway between Palma and Inca, with stone houses, a shady square and a hillside church — plus views across the plain that you…
Santuari de la Consolació
A small 15th-century sanctuary on a 205-metre hill near S'Alqueria Blanca, rarely busy and with views over the east coast. Getting up is the challenge —…
Santuari de Consolació
A small pilgrimage church on a hill above Sant Joan, reached by a broad stone staircase. There is a well, shade beneath the pines and picnic tables, wit…
Sencelles
A quiet village between Palma and Inca, birthplace of Sor Francinaina Cirer, who was later beatified. Her house remains a place of pilgrimage and explai…
Son Carrió
The village comes alive on 8 May and the second Sunday in May, for the patron saint's festival and agricultural fair.
Alcanada
Combine a coastal walk with a stop beside the water.
Algaida
Most people know Algaida only from the sign on the Palma–Manacor road. It’s the turn-off for Puig de Randa, but the village itself has old windmill towe…
Binissalem
Mallorca’s wine town, at the heart of the Balearics’ first designated wine-growing area. Golden sandstone manor houses, a substantial church and Septemb…
Bunyola
A village at the foot of the Tramuntana with a lovely old railway station. The wooden Sóller train stops here before disappearing into the long tunnel b…
Caimari
Around eight hundred people live at the foot of the Tramuntana, among rough stone lanes and olive groves. The old pilgrims' path to Lluc starts here, an…
Cala Brafi
The walk is more comfortable before summer heat arrives; the sea can still feel cool.
Cala Figuera
Morning light reaches into the narrow harbour inlets. A walk is worthwhile even when it isn't swimming weather.
Cala Moltó
Pause at the rocky cove on a coastal walk. The sea may still feel cool for swimming.
Campanet
A village below the Tramuntana with a large church and a broad, tree-lined square. Nearby are two very different natural sights — the caves and Fonts Uf…
Campos
A farming town in the south, with golden sandstone streets and a long connection to dairy farming, capers and vegetables. Many visitors pass through on…
Canyamel
Combine the beach with the Coves d'Artà if the sea is still too cool for a swim.
Capocorb Vell
A Talayotic settlement beside the south-coast road, with five massive dry-stone towers and the outlines of twenty-eight houses. Follow the paths between…
Colònia de Sant Pere
Founded in 1880, this small coastal town has a harbour, a short beach and a promenade with a handful of restaurants, backed by the mountains of Artà. A…
Coves de Campanet
A quieter cave visit near Campanet, with limestone formations rather than a boat ride or colourful show. Allow around forty minutes underground, then en…
Ermita de Betlem
Road cycling season; take care around cyclists on the bends.
Ermita de Bonany
A pilgrimage sanctuary on the Puig de Bonany above Petra, 317 metres above sea level. Hermits lived here until 1990. On clear days, the terrace looks ac…
Ermita de la Victòria
The best time for the walk up to the Talaia.
Es Capdellà
A quiet village inland from the coast, just ten minutes from Peguera but with a very different feel: stone houses, a shop and a church square, with the…
Es Llombards
A village of six hundred people between Santanyí and Mallorca’s southern tip, built from local sandstone. A few lanes, an arched gateway and dry-stone w…
Es Trenc
Often pleasant for a beach day, though the sea can still feel fresh.
Galilea
One of Mallorca’s highest villages, 460 metres above the sea. Two hundred residents, a white church with a red tower roof, a café on the square and, in…
Muro
An old-town walk complements an outing to the Bay of Alcúdia.
Necròpolis de Son Real
A Talayotic burial ground right beside the sea between Can Picafort and Son Serra de Marina. Around 110 tombs occupy eight hundred square metres, where…
Palma Aquarium
A large aquarium on Playa de Palma, with Europe's deepest shark tank. Open all year, it is a reliable option for a rainy day with children.
Es Jonquet
Palma's smallest and most distinctive neighbourhood: a rocky spur above the harbour with five surviving windmills and a handful of low fishermen's house…
Petra
A golden sandstone village in the Pla, birthplace in 1713 of Juníper Serra, whose name is especially familiar in California. His small, low house still…
Platja des Carbó
Mild days suit the walk from Colònia de Sant Jordi. The sea may still feel fresh.
Pollentia
Best in the morning. From midday, the sun beats down on the shadeless site.
Porreres
A village in the Pla known for its apricots and windmills. An unexpectedly large church stands in the centre, while the hilltop sanctuary of Monti-sion…
Puigpunyent
A village below Puig de Galatzó, twenty minutes from Palma yet rarely visited. Plane trees overhang the road, the church overlooks a square, old olive p…
Randa
A village of a hundred people at the foot of Puig de Randa, with a stone cross at the fork in the road and lanes of rough stone houses. The climb to the…
S'Alqueria Blanca
A quiet village between Santanyí and the coves that most people drive straight through. An unusually large church, a few sandstone lanes and the road up…
S'Estanyol de Migjorn
A small coastal settlement between Sa Ràpita and Palma bay, without hotels or a sandy beach. There is a marina, holiday homes, a shingle cove and a harb…
Sa Pobla
A small town on the edge of s'Albufera, built on drained marshland and known for two things — potatoes and the devils of Sant Antoni in January.
Sa Ràpita
The long beach is good for walking; the sea is still cooler than in high summer.
Salines d'Es Trenc
The colours develop as the water evaporates.
Santuari de Sant Salvador (Artà)
Ideal in the morning; the steps get warm from midday.
Santa Margalida
Pleasant temperatures, with everything open.
Santuari de Gràcia
The middle of the three religious houses on Puig de Randa, built beneath an overhanging cliff that extends right above the roof. Cypresses fill the fore…
Santuari de Santa Llúcia
A pilgrimage church on a rocky ledge above Mancor de la Vall, documented since 1275. The terrace looks across much of inland Mallorca, and even in summe…
Selva
A village at the foot of the Tramuntana on the road to Lluc. Sant Llorenç church stands above a broad outdoor staircase lined with cypresses — the lovel…
Ses Covetes
A small coastal settlement at the western end of Es Trenc, giving access to the natural beach. The unfinished apartment blocks were demolished in 2013.
Ses Salines
A village of golden sandstone on the road to Mallorca's southern tip, named after the coastal saltworks. In the centre, a lane forks around a tall windo…
Son Corró
Son Corró is a small prehistoric sanctuary near Costitx. Six re-erected stone columns stand among low walls. The famous bronze bull heads of Costitx wer…
Son Serra de Marina
The water is still cool and the beach almost empty.
Torre de Son Jaumell
A watchtower dating from 1566 on the summit above Cala Agulla and Cala Mesquida, now a ruin. The walk up takes just under an hour, with views across the…
Alaró
A village at the foot of the Tramuntana, beneath a flat-topped mountain crowned by one of Mallorca’s three former royal castles. Down below are lanes, a…
Alcúdia
Combine the walls and market without the usual summer heat.
Andratx
The main town of the south-west was built inland from its harbour to keep it safer from corsair raids. Sandstone houses climb the hillside towards a for…
Artà
A small north-eastern town beneath a fortified hilltop sanctuary, surrounded by some of Mallorca’s least developed countryside. Nearby Ses Païsses is on…
Banyalbufar
A terraced village above the sea, shaped by Moorish farming and wine-growing. Around two thousand dry-stone terraces step down towards the water. The st…
Banys Àrabs
An 11th-century brick chamber in an old-town garden, with twelve columns, horseshoe arches and a dome pierced by round skylights. The Arab Baths are amo…
Cabrera
The water starts warming up and migrating birds pass through.
Cala Agulla
Combine the beach and pine woods. Arriving early is worthwhile even in May, especially at weekends.
Cala d'Or
Explore the small coves before peak summer, remembering that space is limited even in May.
Cala de Sant Vicenç
A good time to visit the coves before high summer.
Cala Fornells
The small bathing spots make a pleasant coastal walk. Don't assume parking will be available.
Cala Llombards
Pale sand between high rocky sides, clear water and boathouses built into the shore. Cala Llombards is no secret, but outside the busiest weeks it still…
Cala d'en Marçal
An easy-to-reach beach for a spring visit, with the sea still cooler than in high summer.
Cala Mesquida
Add a walk on the dune boardwalk to your beach visit. Check conditions carefully on windy days.
Cala Millor
Nearly two kilometres of pale sand, a car-free promenade and hotels behind it. Cala Millor is an unmistakable holiday resort, with a few more year-round…
Cala Mondragó
Combine beach time with the park's paths. Use the designated car parks.
Cala Pi
A narrow inlet reaches roughly 400 metres inland, ending in a small sandy beach. Old boathouses line the water, while a watchtower built in 1663 stands…
Cala Ratjada
Combine the harbour and coastal paths with the beach. The sea is cooler than in high summer.
Cala s'Almunia
Milder days suit the walk down to the boathouses. Check access and parking arrangements before travelling.
Cala Santanyí
Combine the beach with Es Pontàs. Parking remains limited.
Camp de Mar
A compact sandy bay in the municipality of Andratx, surrounded by pine-covered slopes. A wooden footbridge leads out to a small rocky island with a rest…
Can Pastilla
At the western end of Playa de Palma, ten minutes from the airport by car: a marina, a rocky waterfront promenade and the start of the long sandy beach…
Can Picafort
A small fishing settlement first recorded in 1860 has become a busy holiday resort. Come for the beach, the promenade and everything within walking dist…
Capdepera
The Mercat Medieval brings stalls and crowds in May; check this year's programme.
Castell de Capdepera
The Mercat Medieval fills the castle and town in May. Busy but worth experiencing; check the dates.
Castell de Santueri
A rocky hilltop fortress 408 metres above sea level near Felanitx, its walls rising directly from the cliff edge. Explore the ruins and cistern, then lo…
Colònia de Sant Jordi
Combine coastal walks and beach stops. Check excursion boat timetables for Cabrera.
Coves d'Artà
A limestone cave with a huge opening above the sea near Canyamel. Inside, a guided route climbs and descends steps through lofty chambers filled with ro…
Coves dels Hams
The caves near Porto Cristo take their name from their hook-shaped formations. Smaller than the nearby Coves del Drac, they combine unusual limestone sh…
Deià
An ochre-coloured village on the slopes of the Teix, long associated with writers and artists and now one of Mallorca's more expensive places to stay. R…
El Toro
Visit the beach and Port Adriano before the busiest summer period.
Es Baluard
Free admission on 16 and 17 May for International Museum Day.
Esporles
A Tramuntana town whose main street was built above a stream: a long, tree-lined space beneath plane trees, with green-shuttered houses on either side.…
Estellencs
Four hundred residents on a steep west-coast hillside, stone lanes and a fortified church tower. Below, a small rocky cove has a boat slipway. The route…
Far des Cap de ses Salines
Mallorca’s southernmost point has a lighthouse built in 1863, flat coastal rocks and open sea, with the uninhabited island of Cabrera on the horizon. Th…
Felanitx
A working town in the east, with a church above a broad flight of steps, locally grown capers and wine, and two hills rising beyond it, Sant Salvador an…
Fornalutx
The island’s steepest village, built from the rock it stands on. Stepped lanes replace streets, painted tiles line the eaves and terraces climb towards…
Gordiola
A family glassworks dating back to 1719, beside the road to Manacor in a castle-like building. Watch glassblowers at work downstairs, then explore the c…
Gorg Blau
Mallorca’s largest reservoir sits in the heart of the Tramuntana beside the MA-10. Swimming is forbidden, there’s no café or proper car park, but the ro…
Inca
Mallorca’s third-largest town has long been shaped by leatherworking. It has the bustle of an inland commercial centre, the island’s largest market on T…
Jardins d'Alfàbia
At the foot of the Sóller pass, this garden has irrigation rooted in Moorish times. Palm groves, a pergola with hidden water jets and a manor house make…
Llucmajor
The independent Kingdom of Mallorca ended on the fields outside this town in 1349. Today Llucmajor is a working town with broad squares shaded by plane…
Mirador de Ricardo Roca
The first major viewpoint on the west-coast road after Andratx. Stone steps climb from beside a road tunnel to a rocky lookout with coastal views in bot…
Mirador Es Colomer
An excellent time to visit. Daytime road restrictions begin in mid-May.
Mirador Es Pontàs
A freestanding rock arch in the sea, one of the south-east coast’s best-known views. The viewpoint lies between Cala Santanyí and Cala Llombards, costs…
Monestir de Miramar
Ramon Llull founded a school for Eastern languages here in 1276. Six hundred years later, Archduke Ludwig Salvator bought the estate and began helping p…
Orient
Forty residents in a high Tramuntana valley, reached by a road with seventeen hairpins. Rough-stone houses, ivy-covered façades and no shops, with walki…
Peguera
Three sandy bays in a row, separated by pine-covered rocky headlands, with a plane-tree-lined boulevard behind that belongs to pedestrians in the evenin…
Palau de l'Almudaina
The royal palace beside Palma cathedral began as a Moorish alcázar, later converted into a residence for Mallorca’s kings by Jaume II. Reopened on 29 Ju…
Palau March
The March family's city palace between the cathedral and the Almudaina: a terrace filled with 20th-century sculpture, historic living rooms and an 18th-…
El Terreno & Bellver
On the hillside west of the harbour, beneath Castell de Bellver and a pine forest in the middle of the city. Mallorca's nightlife centre in the 1960s, f…
Hafen von Palma
A particularly pleasant month for walking beside the water.
Palmanova
Broad sandy bays with pale, shallow water, right beside Magaluf but with a different feel. The quieter neighbour, and my choice for the beaches.
Platja de Formentor
The 2026 restrictions begin on 15 May; the earlier part of the month is particularly appealing.
Platja de Muro
A long sandy stretch of the Bay of Alcúdia, with protected dunes and pines at Es Comú rather than a continuous hotel frontage. S'Albufera lies behind it…
Pollença
A small town at the northern end of the Tramuntana, set inland because the sea brought pirates for centuries. Climb 365 cypress-lined steps to the Calva…
Port d'Alcúdia
Combine the beach and promenade with a visit to Alcúdia's old town.
Port d'Andratx
An upmarket natural harbour in a deep, sheltered bay, with fishing boats on one side, yachts on the other and villas covering the surrounding hillsides.
Port de Pollença
Plan accommodation and transport ahead for harbour trips and walks around the bay.
Porto Cristo
Combine the harbour with a cave visit. Check current tour times.
Porto Petro
Combine a harbour stroll with a trip towards Mondragó.
Portocolom
Explore the natural harbour on foot before high summer.
Puerto Portals
The south-west's marina, with 670 berths, rows of white boats and a white tower by the quay. You come here to look around rather than swim.
Raixa
A country estate near Bunyola, transformed by an 18th-century cardinal into an Italian-style villa. A terraced staircase, stone lions and cypresses fill…
Sant Elm
Mallorca's westernmost village, a small seaside resort at the end of the road. The uninhabited island of Dragonera lies opposite. Beyond here, there is…
Santa Maria del Camí
A wine village on the old Palma–Inca road, with traffic passing straight through. Sunday brings the market, the surrounding estates belong to the Biniss…
Santa Ponça
A large resort in the south-west with a broad sandy beach, marina and offshore islands. Jaume I landed here in 1229 — a stone cross above the bay marks…
Santanyí
Explore the sandstone lanes before the summer heat arrives.
Santuari de Cura
A monastery estate on the highest point of the Pla, 548 metres above the plain. Ramon Llull retreated here in the 13th century. Today, there is a cloist…
Santuari de Sant Salvador
A pilgrimage church has stood here since 1348, 509 metres above Felanitx at the southern end of the Serra de Llevant. Today there are guest rooms, a res…
Santuari de Lluc
Mallorca's spiritual centre, a sanctuary at 525 metres in the heart of the Tramuntana, with guest rooms, a children's choir and a Rosary Way whose desig…
Sineu
Early May brings Fira de Maig, the town's main annual fair.
Son Marroig
Archduke Ludwig Salvator's country estate above the west coast, with a white marble pavilion on the edge — the best-known viewpoint between Valldemossa…
Torre des Verger
A round 16th-century watchtower on an isolated rocky outcrop above the west coast. Climb the stone steps to the roof for one of the Ma-10's finest coast…
Cap de Formentor
Start early and check the restrictions, which begin in May in 2026.
Castell de Bellver
A striking circular Gothic castle, built above Palma between 1300 and 1311. Inside is a two-storey round courtyard; outside are views over the city, har…
La Seu
Palma’s cathedral was begun in 1230 and built over several centuries. Its Gothic buttresses rise above the water, with one of the world’s largest rose w…
Palma
A good balance — warm enough to sit outside, without the summer heat.
La Llotja & Es Puig de Sant Pere
Mild evenings are ideal for combining a walk through the lanes with a stop outdoors.
Santa Catalina
A good balance of weather and activity. Book ahead for dinner.
Passeig del Born
The plane trees provide shade for a break between walks around Palma.
Port de Sóller
Es Firó re-enacts the 1561 attack during the May celebrations. Memorable, but very crowded.
Sóller
Es Firó brings costumes, crowds and a memorable re-enactment during the May celebrations.
Cala Anguila
A good month for a day by the bay. Arrive early for a particular spot or sunlounger, even outside high season.
Cala Bona
Walk north from Cala Millor and the seafront stroll becomes a wander around the harbour. In Cala Bona, little boats are moored right beside the cafés an…
Cala Mandia
A good time for a swim before the summer crowds. Parking close to the sand can still fill.
Costitx
A coffee, a few lanes and a church at the heart of the village: Costitx lies north-east of Sencelles in central Mallorca. It makes a lovely short stop a…
Es Calderers
A particularly lovely time to explore the house and garden.
Es Fortí
Es Fortí stands on the rocky headland at the entrance to Cala Llonga in Cala d’Or. Behind its thick walls is a small courtyard, with a ramp leading up t…
Església de Nostra Senyora dels Dolors
The tall bell tower of Nostra Senyora dels Dolors rises above Manacor’s rooftops. Inside are a lofty vaulted nave, richly decorated side chapels and a l…
Església Nova
A church without a roof stands in the middle of Son Servera. Beyond Església Nova’s iron gate, garden paths pass between high walls and pointed arches,…
Finca pública de Son Real
Old farm buildings, gnarled olive trees and a museum about earlier life on Mallorca. Son Real lies between Can Picafort and Son Serra de Marina. Explore…
Manacor
Manacor is a town for wandering, shopping and watching everyday life. Café-lined squares open between shops, narrow lanes run through the old centre, an…
Mancor de la Vall
Old stone houses, narrow lanes and a coffee at the foot of the Tramuntana. Mancor de la Vall is worth a quiet village walk or a stop on a cycle ride or…
Mirador Son Real
A few steps onto a wooden platform reveal the coast of Son Real. A dolmen lies beside the viewpoint, with the necropolis and distinctive red-and-white n…
Museu d'Història de Manacor
Behind the Rafa Nadal Sports Center is a museum worth taking time over. Inside Torre dels Enagistes, the galleries explore the history of Manacor and it…
Santa Magdalena
A small chapel and a wide view across Mallorca. Santa Magdalena stands on a hill near Inca. The winding climb is short but has steep sections for cyclis…
Ses Païsses
Visit during opening hours; closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Talaiots de Son Fornés
On a low hill near Montuïri are the remains of a settlement founded almost 3,000 years ago. Massive talayots, low passages and the foundations of many b…
Son Fred
Son Fred is a well-preserved talayot near Sencelles, a round tower built from enormous stone blocks. Duck through its low entrance to reach the massive…
Son Servera
Son Servera lies inland from Cala Millor and Cala Bona. Cafés surround Plaça de Sant Joan, and Friday market stalls fill the centre. A few steps away st…
Worth considering — check the details
Platja de Palma & S'Arenal
Six kilometres of sand east of Palma, from Ca'n Pastilla to S'Arenal, with Son Verí Nou beyond — Mallorca's most developed holiday coast. The Palma end…
Port de Valldemossa
A tiny fishing settlement beneath the cliffs, reached by six kilometres of tight hairpin bends. A few stone houses and boats on slipways sit beside the…
Caló des Moro
Arriving early becomes increasingly important.
Casc Antic
Palma's old town between the cathedral, Plaça Major and the old city walls: a Moorish street plan, major Gothic buildings, Renaissance courtyards and Ar…
Sa Calobra
A shingle cove at the mouth of the Torrent de Pareis, reached by a winding road completed in 1932 that is almost more famous than the destination. Twelv…
Valldemossa
Mallorca's best-known mountain village, famous for a winter that was mostly wet. Chopin and George Sand stayed in its former charterhouse in 1838–39. Vi…