Spain trip

Valencia and Mallorca - October 2025

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Day 1

Another very early morning, my alarm sounded at 04.00am and by 04.30 I was on the road towards Brussels Airport. I went to the check-in desk, I am not a fan of the automatic check-in stuff! My bag was checked at 10.1 kg … fantastic! And I was off to the Fast Lane at security and then the Business Lounge at Brussels Airport called “The Loft” where I enjoyed my breakfast and had some time to work on some tasks on my MacBook. By 08.20 I had boarded the Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 with registration OO-SNO … yes indeed for the people knowing their airplanes, this is the themed airplane called Trident, a lucky surprise this morning.

The flight went well and as I was seated in the first row on the window, I had plenty of leg room. The service was pretty good and the meal was basic but fine for a short flight. By 10.30 I was in Valencia Airport waiting for my bag and didn't expect it to take this long so instead of finding a bus to the city and make my way to my hotel, I took a taxi instead. I had booked a room in the Ibis Budget near the port because of the location and price and although technically the room was available from 14.00, I got the key anyway by 12.00 and went up to room 606 for a long rest, eventually finding out that I had again fallen victim to some stomach issue and decided not to leave the hotel anymore today but just survive on rest, medication and snacks with plenty of water to drink.

Day 2

Luckily today I was feeling a bit better although not 100% yet, and I had to get out of my room by 12.00! I was not about to roam the city with my trolley so I left it conveniently at the hotel until late afternoon. First stop was the Port of Valencia, Club Med 2 was visiting and I went briefly inside the maritime terminal but wasn't allowed further than the bar, outside there is no way to view ships so I decided to go a bit further out only to find out you can't even get in the port without a proper permit! There is absolutely no way to view any cruise ships or ferries in this port, everything is closed off to outsiders, a real NO GO! So I decided to go to the city. Bus line 4 from the port will bring you to the Plaça de la Reina where you can find shops, restaurants and most importantly the Cathedral, I decided to explore the area just a bit but quickly felt hungry and went for some kind of brunch to pass the time before shopping for some supplies and fridge magnets for a friend that collects them. The Cathedral was my next visit, the entry fee is 10 EURO and I think it is money well spent as this Cathedral looks great from a photographers point of view. I realised by now that I hadn't properly prepared for this trip as I usually do, mainly because of all the stress in my busy life lately, after some more exploring I decided that even though I didn't have any place to rest, I needed to go somewhere calm and rest a bit, so I took the bus back to my hotel to collect my bag and have a drink and snack while resting a bit in the small bar area. The best way to go from here to the Balearia terminal in the closed section of the port is actually by taxi, so I took a taxi at only 6.50 EURO to bring me to the terminal where the famous Balearia ferries dock. The terminal is a very small building in the industrial area of the port where multiple ships can dock at the same time, I was way too early but didn't mind, the Rosalind Franklin (former Bretagne of Brittany Ferries) was docked right behind the small terminal, I could take some decent shots of her but I knew the best chance for me take good shots would be when she would sail, by 18.30 she was leaving and luckily the sky was stunningly orange, so I got the shots that I wanted and relaxed in terminal for the rest of the time, the Visborg came in later and the Denia Ciutat Creativa docked next to it while the Hypatia De Alejandria was waiting on the other side of the dock, she would be the ship that I would sail on this evening. The terminal is small but has toilets, vending machines, check-in desks, a ship model of the Martin I Soler and a security checkpoint, seating area is more than enough for the traffic they get and there is free WiFi. By 20.45 I realized that a slightly older couple with 2 small dogs and myself were the only foot passengers on this sailing and we were asked to pass security and then step on the waiting bus, the bus took us to the back of the ship where we walked onto the vehicle ramp towards a lift that took us to the reception deck where I got my ticket for seat 1H. The reason for this choice was simply money, at rates of 75 to 80 EURO this fare is much cheaper that a cabin fare, however … big mistake! The seats are ok but for a full night it is just not enough for me, I had some quick pizza for dinner but soon realized like most passengers that sleeping on the floor is no problem and is the best way to sleep on this voyage, even though it still isn't comfortable enough to get enough rest. I spent the night sleeping in short bursts and turning around in different ways most of the time. The ship is basic but offers pretty good service and they do dim the lights at night though.

Day 3

Arrival in Palma de Mallorca! At 05.00 we were docking in Palma de Mallorca and the bus took us from the ship to the terminal building near the main road on the shore. There was not much else to do so I took another taxi to bring me to the airport, not to take a flight but to pick up the car I rented. I arrived the Sixt rental desk and the man was very friendly, even at this early time, I had rented a small basic SUV type car like the Peugeot 2008 but this was not available and as I was a regular client with benefits from my company, he gave me free upgrade, asked me if I needed much space for bags, I said no and he said that I could have this nice little car on the monitor, a Mini Cooper cabrio! This was a nice surprise as the weather here in Mallorca was still sunny and about 25 degrees (Centigrade). I took the car out and went in the general direction of my AirBNB to rest in the car for a while on a calm spot at the side of the road.

By the time the sun had come out I decided that there was no better moment than now to explore the first area on my list, the area where I was earlier today when leaving the ship, Porto Pi … the lighthouse to be precise actually. The Porto Pi lighthouse is located in the military area of the port so there is no access but I was able to get some good shots from a distance anyway. I went all the way up the hill behind Porto Pi to the Castel de Bellver for a visit to this very nice castle and to have a good view over the port and Palma city. Some ships were docked and I had a view over the other lighthouse in Palma port, also not accessible in any other way.

The Marella Discovery docked and the La Riba lighthouse in Palma de Mallorca

By now I was so tired from the bad night that I went to my AirBNB on a small finca about 30 minutes away, the road to get there is challenging and without the instructions from the owner I would never have found it, once there I found out that this place was just the little gem that I hoped to find when I booked it, small but cosy and basic but everything I needed, I only went out to the local supermarket to get supplies and made dinner before falling asleep to finally get the rest I so desperately needed!

Day 4

After waking up, breakfast was the first thing on my mind, simple toast with cheese and an egg is perfect for a morning during a trip, and then … Formentor! The most visited lighthouse of the island and a famous tourist spot actually is the Cap Formentor lighthouse, this place is easy to reach by car but in the high tourism season, you have to park the car at the start of the access road (free parking) and take the bus to the lighthouse, only in the low season are you allowed to drive there yourself, since this is still high season, I had no choice but to park and take the bus, there is one roughly every 40 minutes and it runs pretty late as well so I decided to visit in the afternoon and remain there until darkness fell, keeping the morning for some urgent things I had to do on the laptop (yes you can't escape all responsibilities in life). The bus is cheap and it saves you a long 11 km walk or bike ride over pretty steep roads and sharp turns, if you ever want to do this on your own on foot or bike, make sure you are trained and prepared!

The good thing about tourism is the service provided, this place offers toilets, a small restaurant with some souvenirs and indoor and outdoor seating, when I arrived there was a moderate breeze so I took the time to photograph the lighthouse and surrounding views and grab something quick to eat and drink, I passed the time writing in my notebook and started to notice a drone flying low around the lower road, indeed the wind had gone down so I decided this was the moment I had been waiting for, I launched the DJI mini 3 for a nice flight around the lighthouse, I managed to fly out pretty far over the surrounding sea even though I was a bit nervous about it, but it resulted in great footage and shots, when I called the drone back for landing, a girl next to me was also preparing her DJI mini 3 for launch and the previous drone owner also came up to our level, first time 2 other drones were flying at the same time as me! Most people were now going back on the bus but I decided to head out to a small viewpoint in the next turn of the road and set up my Canon EOS 90D with tripod for some evening shots and by the time I had taken the shots I wanted, I could see the next bus arrive and I climbed aboard for the trip back, by now everything was dark and drove from the parking straight back to my AirBNB for dinner and some Youtube time before going to sleep.

Day 5

Today I woke up well rested and again made my usual breakfast of toast with cheese and eggs before starting the trip of the day at the small fishing and pleasure port of Port de Sóller, this is also a popular destination for beach and bar tourists and the town has a nice train going around as well, for me there was a small museum about shipping and the sea that drew my attention, it is free to enter and has a small collection of items and displays about the island and the shipping history. There are 2 lighthouses in the town itself, the old and new lighthouse of Sa Creu, the new one is known as Far de la Creu, unfortunately they are located within the small military area in this town and not accessible, even from higher up and from the port I could not see them. So because there is another lighthouse on the other side of the bay, I went back to the parking lot where I had paid only 1 EURO for a few hours of parking … cheapest I have ever seen! I drove all the way up to the hill to the South of Port de Sóller to arrive at the Far del Cap Gros where you can find a small parking area on both sides of the lighthouse, and a refuge with small bar is available too. This place has some nice views on the 2 lighthouses that I couldn't reach from town so I took the chance to get the shots that I wanted from here, the lighthouse of Cap Gros itself is visible but also off limits and the only way to get some good shots is to climb down a bit in front of the tower and take some shots from there, as the wind was too strong, I couldn't launch the drone here so I had to make the best of it.

I had planned to get some dinner here but that wasn't going to happen so I decided to drive to Palma instead and explore the area around the Cathedral, a very good area to walk around and take some good shots of this famous building is right between the Cathedral itself and the main road out of the city as the road is located on what used to be sea. When the government decided to build the road and redevelop the area, the land was won from the sea and the Cathedral no longer hugged the coast, so they built a small lake with complete walking park in front of the Cathedral to make it look like it used to when the lower wall was actually facing the sea. First I had to find a place to park and the area right next to the marina seemed obvious, the meters didn't work but some guys were guiding cars towards available spots and then asked for some money, an obvious scam of course but it gives you a cheap parking spot, I gave the guy 2.50 EURO and walked towards the Cathedral. The old city is basically built around the old port and the Cathedral was clearly the central meeting place since ancient times, a good starting point for me as well. The streets can be confusing but I soon found a nice little place to have dinner and relaxation. The city was still pretty busy and I stayed there until the sun was going down, the perfect time for the next round of photos! From the foot of the Cathedral you actually have the best view on ships getting in or out of the port, so I took this location for some shots of the Star Princess leaving Palma de Mallorca and Mein Schiff Relax still docked. Of course the view on the Cathedral is also stunning and certainly at night this offers great opportunities for any photographer, the evening fell and I went back to my AirBNB for the night.

Day 6

My last full day on the island of Mallorca started with no power and no water as the owner had warned me about so cold breakfast with bread and cheese was on the menu today. The road took me to the West side of the island where the lighthouse of Capdepera was my first stop, luckily I had charged all 3 batteries of my DJI mavic pro and there wasn't much wind so since most of these lighthouses are visible but closed off, I took the drone up to do the photography work for me, flight one for today successful!

Portocolom lighthouse was the same story, visible from a distance if you walk next to the fence but closed off again, so drone flight number two was also successful.

I decided to stop somewhere along the way for fuel and some snacks before heading towards the third lighthouse at Cap Salines, and surprise surprise … closed off as well, the only difference here was that it was much better visible from the rocky area in front of the tower itself and the area was pretty open, yet again the drone did the best photography work for me, flight number three also being successful. That was all for today and I went back to the AirBNB only to stop just one more time for some more supplies at a local supermarket. The night was young so I relaxed with some writing and some recreation on Youtube before preparing a bit for the next morning, flight day! Luckily the water and power were back so perfect to charge all the batteries for the next day during the night as well.

Day 7

Last day! I woke up, made breakfast and did the last dishes, took my shower and packed the last things in the car to leave the AirBNB. I has seen all the lighthouses that were more or less accessible and had seen all the areas I wanted to do on this trip so I decided to spend the last hours in Palma again, this time parking the car in the underground parking garage right next to the main road in the city, much more reliable of course and out of the sun. The area was again vibrant and of course I took the time for some shopping and getting a cold milkshake during my photo walk in the old city.

From the seawall opposite the Cathedral, I had a good view on the port and the ships docked and moving:

Sea Cloud Spirit:

Abel Matutes of Balearia was already far out:

Followed by GNV Bridge:

AIDAcosma was docked on the most outer pier:

Marella Voyager was docked on the other side:

And Ciudad de Palma of Grimaldi Trasmed was just leaving port:

Finally leaving in time for me to fuel up the car one last time before delivery at Palma Airport where the SIXT employee checked the car for damages and handed me the delivery note, all was well and I went to the check in area where by 15.15 I could check my bag and head towards security and the Sala Formentor lounge to relax and have some small dinner, my flight was delayed so I had plenty of time to finish my notes and writing and by 18.15 the boarding process started, this was a full flight with lots of families with children, from experience I know that this means very slow boarding and it eventually delayed the flight even more to the point we took off at 19.00 instead of 17.30 (scheduled time) or 18.10 (first delay) or 18.35 (second delay) as was announced in the messages I got from Brussels Airlines. The staff handled it well though and by the time we were at cruising altitude they handed out the meal for all three business class passengers including myself and apart from a few minutes of turbulence, the flight went smooth, eventually landing Brussels at 21.00.

THE END