Mallorca’s four big day trips each have a different booking rule, and that is where mistakes happen. As of 6 October 2026, the Drach Caves sell entry only for a fixed time (€18.50 online) and refund nothing. The Sa Calobra boat costs €35 return, depends on the weather and is confirmed by phone. For the Sóller train, the official site sells only the €40 combined ticket online. And from 15 May to 18 October, the road to the Formentor lighthouse is closed to private cars from 10:00 to 22:00. Here is what to book, and when.
The essentials before you book (checked on 6 October 2026)
Mallorca’s best-known day trips are far apart: the Drach Caves in the east near Porto Cristo, Sóller and Sa Calobra in the western mountains, the Formentor lighthouse right in the north, about 80 km from Palma by road. Each follows its own booking rules. Five figures to know before you click:
- €18.50 per adult for the Drach Caves online, €19.50 at the ticket office. The ticket is valid only at the booked time; the operator’s FAQ rules out any change or refund.
- €35 return for the boat from Port de Sóller to Sa Calobra (price table of the Barcos Azules company, 10% off online). The crossing takes about an hour each way.
- €30 for Palma–Sóller return on the wooden train. Online, the railway sells only the combined train + tram ticket at €40.
- 15 May to 18 October 2026: the road to the Formentor lighthouse is closed to private cars every day from 10:00 to 22:00. Bus 334 costs €1.80 from Port de Pollença (card payment).
- 24 hours before the start: the deadline until which GetYourGuide offers marked “free cancellation” are fully refundable, according to its general terms.
Operators’ prices and rules come from their own pages, read on 6 October 2026; the GetYourGuide figures are rough guides, flagged as such further down. Prices move: read them as a dated snapshot, not as an offer. To fit these trips into a holiday budget, the one-week Balearic Islands budget does the sums.
What can be booked and what it costs
The operators’ own sites give the prices and conditions that count. Here is the table, checked on 6 October 2026:
| Trip | Price according to the operator | Booking | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drach Caves (Porto Cristo) | Adult €18.50 online / €19.50 ticket office; child 3–12 €11.50 / €12.50 | Online up to ~30 days ahead, fixed time; not by phone | No changes, no refunds |
| Boat Port de Sóller – Sa Calobra | Adult €35 return (€23 one way), 12–22 years €27, 6–11 years €18, free up to age 5 | Seat confirmed by phone according to the page; 10% off online | Weather dependent; reconfirm the timetable the day before |
| Sóller train (Palma – Sóller) | €23 one way, €30 return; combined train + tram €40; tram alone €10 each way | Online: the combined ticket only; everything else at the ticket office on the day | No refund; change until 9:00 on the day of departure |
| Formentor (lighthouse) | No entry fee; bus 334: €1.80 from Port de Pollença (card) | No booking | – |
Two calculations for a family of two adults and two 8-year-old children: Drach Caves 2 × €18.50 + 2 × €11.50 = €60 online, €64 at the ticket office. Sa Calobra boat 2 × €35 + 2 × €18 = €106, or about €95.40 with the 10% online discount. Both amounts are our own sums from the fares, not an offer. The boat company’s price table is headed “2025” while its timetables are for 2026: check the final price when you book.
Drach Caves: entry at a fixed time
The Cuevas del Drach are in Porto Cristo on the east coast. According to the operator the tour lasts about an hour, is the same for everyone and is not guided: the concert (about ten minutes) and the crossing of Lake Martel are included in the price.
The times. From 16 March to 31 October tours leave at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:00; from 1 November to 15 March at 10:30, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:30. The caves are closed on 25 December and 1 January. Tickets can be bought up to about 30 days ahead.
Miss your slot and you lose the ticket. If you are not there at the booked time, the right of entry is lost and nothing is refunded, the operator says. The entrance is 200 m from the car park; the caves advise arriving 15 minutes early. The quietest tours, according to the FAQ, are those at 10:00, 16:00 and 17:00.
In the heat and in the rain. It is 17 to 21 °C inside and rain does not affect the tours. You cannot get in with a pram or wheelchair (steps); tripods and selfie sticks are banned, and no photos are allowed during the concert.
Without a car. The caves’ website points to the bus services on tib.org and lists “EXPRESS Palma – Cuevas del Drach (11:20h)”. Another option is excursions from Palma: the offer “Palma: Caves of Drach Entrance, Music Concert, and Boat Trip” lasts about 5 hours and costs from about $60, rated around 4.3 to 4.4 out of 5 on more than 1,000 reviews. These figures are rough guides: the GetYourGuide page cannot be read automatically, so we took them from search-engine snippets, in dollars and from different dates. The time and meeting point are shown on the offer page. The gap with the €18.50 entry pays for the transport. To compare, open the excursions from Palma with free cancellation.
Sa Calobra: by boat or by the hairpin road
Sa Calobra is a cove at the mouth of the Torrent de Pareis gorge. Two ways lead there: a single winding road, opened in 1933, with a 270° spiral called the “tie knot” (Wikipedia), or the boat from Port de Sóller.
By car. According to Palmaweekly (updated 13 June 2026), the MA-2141 is 13 km long from Escorca. From Sóller allow about 38 km and an hour; from Palma about 1 hour 30 via Inca and Lluc. The car park at the bottom costs about €0.03 a minute (€1.80 an hour) and spaces are limited; the page advises arriving early or in the late afternoon to avoid the coaches. Five hours of parking comes to €9 (our calculation). To fit this road into a week of travel, see the one-week Mallorca road trip.
By boat. From 1 April to 31 October 2026 the company sails daily from Port de Sóller at 9:50, 11:20, 13:00 and 15:00; the return leaves Sa Calobra at 13:45 and 16:40 (elsewhere the page gives 13:40 and 16:45). From 1 to 21 November there are departures on Tuesdays and Saturdays only, and the page shows no departures from 22 November 2026 to 31 January 2027. The crossing takes about an hour each way.
What that means for your day. Leaving at 9:50 gets you there around 10:50 and leaves almost three hours before the 13:45 return, nearly six before the 16:40. Leaving at 15:00 gets you there around 16:00 and leaves about 40 minutes before the last return (our calculation from “about one hour each way”). The company states that a seat is guaranteed by phone confirmation, that sailings depend on the weather and that you should reconfirm the timetable the day before.
The online alternative. GetYourGuide lists “Sóller: Boat Trip to Sa Calobra and Torrent de Pareis” from about $40 (search-result snippet, in dollars, indicative), rated about 4.4 out of 5 on over 900 reviews, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before; the return times are shown on the offer page. Compare the final price in euros with the company’s €35 (€31.50 with the online discount, our calculation).
The gorge on foot. Palmaweekly describes the whole Torrent de Pareis from Escorca as a walk of about 5 hours, to be done only in dry weather and with a local guide.
Sóller train and tram: what you can book online, and what you can’t
The wooden train has linked Palma and Sóller since 1912. Departures from Palma are at 10:10, 10:50, 12:15, 13:30, 15:10, 18:30 (to be confirmed at the ticket office) and 19:40; the journey takes about an hour (10:10 departure, 11:10 arrival). On the way back the last train leaves Sóller at 19:30 and reaches Palma at 20:30. Between Sóller and the port, the tram (€10 each way, ticket on board) runs roughly every 30 minutes.
Online, only the combined ticket. The official site sells Palma–Port de Sóller–Palma by train + tram for €40 (an online-only €32 offer appears at certain times). Separate tickets add up to €30 + 2 × €10 = €50, so the combined ticket saves €10. With it, the train time is fixed and the tram time is free. All other tickets are bought at the ticket office on the day of travel. Once issued, a ticket is not refunded; the date and time can be changed until 9:00 on the day of departure. Be at the station 30 minutes before departure; bicycles and electric scooters are not allowed on board.
A day without a car, worked out from the official timetables. Train from Palma at 10:10, Sóller at 11:10; tram to the port; boat from Port de Sóller at 13:00, Sa Calobra around 14:00; return at 16:40, Port de Sóller around 17:40; tram to Sóller; train at 19:30, Palma at 20:30. Cost for one adult: €40 + €35 = €75, or €71.50 with the online discount on the boat. The connections are tight: for the way back, count only on the 19:30 train.
If you would rather not link the stages yourself, GetYourGuide lists day trips such as “Palma: Tramuntana Full-Day Tour with Sóller Train and Lunch” and “Mallorca: Island Trip by Train, Tramway, and Boat” (titles seen in search results, early October 2026). Check on the offer page what the price includes (train, tram, boat, lunch) and whether “free cancellation” is shown: the day trips combining train, tram and boat are gathered there. And for several nights in Sóller, where to stay in Mallorca compares the areas.
Formentor: closed to cars in summer, reachable without booking
Formentor cannot be booked, but from 15 May to 18 October 2026 you cannot drive your own car up to the lighthouse. The Consell de Mallorca regulates the MA-2210 road every day from 10:00 to 22:00. In 2025 the period ran to 31 October: check the year.
- Section 1 (Port de Pollença to Formentor beach, km 2 to 8.7): access limited until the authorised parking spaces are full. The beach car park holds 300 vehicles according to palmaairport.info.
- Section 2 (beach to lighthouse, km 8.7 to 19.6): traffic banned in both directions. Anyone who drove in before 10:00 must be out of the zone before 10:00.
- Who is affected: private cars, motorbikes and lorries without authorisation; palmaairport.info names hire cars explicitly. Allowed are TIB buses, residents, vehicles for people with reduced mobility (authorisation to request three working days ahead at formentor@dgt.es), cyclists and walkers; on the beach section only, also taxis, chauffeur-driven cars and coaches.
- Fine: €100 to €200 (Mallorca Global Mag, 27 April 2026), and about 2,300 fines in 2025 according to the same magazine.
Bus 334 links Alcúdia to the lighthouse via Port de Pollença and stops at Mirador del Colomer, Formentor beach, Cala Figuera–Cala Murta and the lighthouse. Paying by bank card, the fare to the lighthouse is €1.80 from Port de Pollença and €2.70 from Alcúdia (TIB 2025, repeated for 2026 by palmaairport.info), against €3 and €4.50 in cash. During the restricted hours a bus leaves Port de Pollença roughly every 35 minutes (Mallorca Informa, 15 May 2026); exact times are on tib.org. For parking, the Consell points to the service roads along the Port de Pollença ring road.
Full guide: Car hire in Mallorca: prices, deposit and the Formentor ban
Official ticket or online offer: when each is better
Entry alone is cheaper with the operator. An online offer is worth it when transport is included, when you want to be able to cancel up to 24 hours before, or when several stages go together. The comparison, checked on 6 October 2026:
| Situation | Official route | Online offer (GetYourGuide) |
|---|---|---|
| Drach Caves from Palma, no car | Bus (tib.org) and entry at €18.50, no refund | Excursion of about 5 hours from Palma, from ≈ $60 (indicative), free cancellation up to 24 hours before |
| Sa Calobra without the hairpins | Boat €35 return, phone confirmation | Boat from Sóller from ≈ $40 (indicative), free cancellation up to 24 hours before; return times on the offer page |
| Sóller train | Online only the €40 combined ticket, the rest at the ticket office, no refund | Day trips including the train (titles above); read the conditions on each offer |
| Formentor | Bus 334, no booking | Not needed |
Can you trust the platform? On Trustpilot, GetYourGuide shows 3.9 out of 5 on around 56,600 reviews on 6 October 2026: 68% five stars, 19% one star. The most frequent criticisms are tours cancelled by the organiser or overbooked, unclear meeting points, extra fees, badly delivered tickets and disputed refunds; some customers also report prices above booking direct. Those are exactly the points of the checklist below.
The traps and how to avoid them
- Drach Caves: the time. If you are not at the entrance at the booked time, you lose your ticket. Allow 15 minutes’ margin and the walk from the car park.
- Boat: weather and phone. The company confirms seats by phone and sails according to the weather. With the 15:00 departure, you have only about 40 minutes on site.
- Train: only the combined ticket online. For any other ticket you will queue at the ticket office on the day. The railway reports heavy demand in high season.
- Formentor: no private car after 10:00. Take bus 334; with your own car you must be out of the zone before 10:00.
- Online offers: the meeting point and the final price. Check the meeting point, the start time and the total price in euros, and keep the voucher.
Before you pay: the checklist
Each point can be read on the operator’s or the offer’s page:
- Do the date, time and meeting point fit your journey (Drach Caves: 15 minutes early)?
- Is “free cancellation” shown on the offer, and until when (24 hours before the start)?
- What does the price include: entry, transport, boat, lunch?
- Does the fare match your age and your children’s (caves: child aged 3 to 12, €11.50)?
- Does the return suit you (boat: 13:45 or 16:40; train: last departure 19:30)?
- Is the final price shown in euros, and does it exceed the operator’s price: what does the difference pay for?
If those lines check out, you can open the excursions and tickets for Mallorca for your dates. And if you are still choosing between the islands, Mallorca or Menorca helps you decide.
Top-rated activities in the Balearics, bookable online:
