Wandering Old Town Alcúdia, was one of the things we did in the Northern part of Mallorca. The old part of the city was founded in 123 BC and when we visited in December it was quiet since most things are only open for the higher tourist season which runs June-September.
A Little History
The Romans used the beaches of Alcúdia bay when they captured the island in 123 B.C and later pirates used them to raid the area. By 1298 the city plan (which remains the same today) was started with construction of a church, square and few buildings and the city walls were completed in 1362. Tourism is now the biggest driver of the economy here.
Walking the Wall
One of the best things to do here is climb up and walk along the 14th century wall looking over the tops of the houses in town. There are periodic towers, amazing architecture and green gardens to view from this perspective. We arrived during golden hour and the lighting was so pretty as it shone on the stonework.
The peaceful countryside
It was also great to look out to see the farms & gardens outside of the walls bordered by the mountains in the distance.
The Narrow Streets
After enjoying being on top of the city walls we began to meander our way through the streets within. For us, this meant it felt like we had the entire village to ourselves since there was hardly anybody else there and the businesses were all shut! Sometimes we periodically got a glimpse inside of the exterior of a building and saw incredible modern high end renovations that had been done. The combination of old stone exterior and new high end interior designs was striking. We were told that during the summer season there are lots of restaurants and little business open here which would be fun, but we could also see how it could get very congested! We sat in a park and had peanut butter sandwiches for dinner since nothing was open and felt so lucky to have seen it like this in such a special way.
More great things to do in this area:
Visit Playa d'Alcúdia which is a long sandy white beach
Take a scenic drive out on the peninsula to Mirador La Victoria.
Enjoy a fantastic hike that we wrote about here.
Birding at S'Albufera de Mallorca
We loved this is a natural park, which includes large wetland areas, about 5 minutes northwest of Alcúdia. We parked here and then walked a short distance to reach the best bird blind we experienced on the island.
December 2022
The stonework on the wall and buildings looks AMAZING, especially with the golden hour light. 😍 And those birds!!