A Good Base on Mallorca
 

There have been two towns that I have been told would make a good base. One is Soller and the other Santanyi. We have about 10 days to explore the island and enjoy it's delights.
Any suggestions would be great appreciated. We will be renting an apartment or a villa.

Why not Palma, you can get to most places from there? Soller is a lovely place, so you wouldn't be disappointed if you did choose there. I haven't been to Santanyi so can't comment. Some posts here recommend Pueto Pollensa but again not been there.

To drive from one side of the island to the opposite side, rarely takes more than an hour on Mallorca, certainly North to South with the main motorway. Palma airport to Puerto Pollensa is less than that.

With your base, do you want to be near the sea or will inland be good? Will you have a car (recommended for Mallorca) or be using public transport?

Santanyi is small and right in the South East corner of the island, so if you want to explore the place, it's perhaps not ideally situated. Soller is a busy place during the day and quietens at night, with a good choice of restaurants etc between the town and the port. It's not that far from Palma and is connected with the Palma-Soller railway.

We visit the island regularly but having stayed in most areas, we now gravitate to Pollenca. We feel that it's a great little place, with good restaurants and hotels and is a good base for the North and west coasts. It's also easy to get to Palma on the motorway or round to Andratx and Sant Elm. (This last housing a couple of really good restaurants).

I would prefer Soller. Why?

1) The west coast and the Tramuntana Mountains are the best part of Mallorca. From Soller, it is easy to drive to beautiful places like Sa Calobra, Deia, Valldemossa, Fornalutx, Banyalbufar, Cap de Formentor, Castel d'Alaro and many more. Theoretically, you can drive from Santanyi to the west coast, but you will loose 1 1/2 hours just to drive into the mountains, and then you will need more time to drive the mountain roads. The east coast has less to offer and can be explored from Soller too.

2) Soller has a scenic train connection to Palma. The train runs through mountains and orange groves.

3) In Port de Soller, there is a nice beach. From Soller, you can take the streetcar.

4) Soller is a quaint town with lots of historical atmosphere.

Yes I will have a car. I live in the mountains of New Mexico and would prefer to be nearer to the sea when traveling but don't have to stay at the beach. Love to stay in a village not far from the sea.

Thank you those that have responded. You have given me some good ideas and now I will do some more research.

Anymore thoughts on this anyone?
How would Deia or Valdemossa be as bases?

Sorry that's: Valldemossa

Deia is tiny but cute and charming. Valldemossa is bigger with lots of restaurants and shops. Both gets its share of tourists especially during the day. We love both but we'll probably go with Valldemossa if these were the only two choices.

JoyC, Please make a suggestion; those are not the only choices. We are looking to rent an apartment or villa.

We've used this company a few times and always been pleased with the villa we've rented.

www.sealandvillas.com

Thank you Rubicund. I will get on that now!
Starting to focus in on the Soller area.

I'm looking at two rentals: one in the old town of Soller and a second is a house in Fornalutx. Wondering.....again....which would be best for us? We will have a car. Fornalutx seems like an exquisite place to visit but as a base? I wonder at how convenient it will be? I am also concerned that Soller may be "too town" for us? Must make a decision today! Anymore thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you all again.

There is also a house on the "outskirts" of Soller. So that's 3 choices. Normally when I do this there are no choices but one, and that makes things much easier.

We have chosen Fornalutx. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fornalutx was a good choice for us. We rented a townhouse up in the village. Nice restaurants, walks through the hills, close to Soller, and easy to get everywhere from there. Was always lovely to come back to beautiful Fornalutx after a day of exploring. We loved that region of Mallorca and look forward to more time there in the future.