Pollensa on a budget!
 

Hi all,

This isn't technically just a restaurant-type question, but I wasn't sure where to post! We are coming over to Pollensa (staying in a villa approx. 1 mile from Pollensa town) for a week on 6th August. Long story short, we've been through a bit of a rough patch financially recently; the holiday is being paid for by (very generous!) relatives- but we have very limited resources once we are there. My fiance and I have a budget of 220 euros each for the week- fortunately no kids or anything to worry about!

Can anyone recommend any budget activities / restaurants in the area? We are quite happy to just laze by the pool for a few days but I can imagine that the novelty will wear off pretty quickly. We're looking for cheap things to do and places to go. Any advice would be gratefully received! :D

Thanks in advance.

Hi packers. Depending on how much of your flight weight allowance you are using you could bring some food with you, I brought loads last year to save money. Eroski is quite cheap for things like booze and water.

And there are loads of good places to eat that do reasonably priced set menus which will allow you to budget well..

We arrive on the same day as you..

Have fun :)

As Wrightstuff says,plenty of restaurants offering good value MDD both at lunchtime or evening pricesvary but lots at around 15 euro mark,some less and some more. Or you could go for just one course of A la Carte. Lots of nice walks around Pollensa area. Buses are fairly cheap so you could spend a day in Palma. You could also eat in or BBQ some days. Enjoy your holiday.

Will you have a hire car so you can travel around easily ?

Thanks for the feedback so far! :)

We will have access to a car- we're going with my fiance's mum, dad, sister, her husband and 2 nieces- they're hiring 2 cars and fortunately they've named my other half as second driver on both! he's never driven abroad before though- think he finds the prospect a little intimidating...

The driving is a doodle when in a local car , you just have to remember that the driver side of the car goes to the middle of the road - just like at home and you go round roundabouts the wrong way

Now I am sure that many technically minded gents will laugh At this piece of Advice but I promise you from the moment I adopted this philosophy driving in and around pollensa became a piece of cake

Take a drive to lluc and then onwards to dolled via the cuber reservoirs

Got to agree with CD. It actually feels quite natural and I find the difficulty is when returning home!

The important thing will be to go to local supermarkets rather than `tourist´supermarkets and buy spanish fresh products not british imported products or ready prepared products. You can purchase lovely salad itmes, ready cooked chickens etc. for lunches and then go to a restaurant offering a `set priced menu´in the evenings so you know what it is going to cost you. The villa will almost certainly have a bar b que so purchasing some sausages, burgers and pork belly is cheap for a few barbies around pool too. Your budget does sound a bit tight but if you are careful.... public transport is very cheap so you can take a bus along to Alcudia or to the lovely beach of Formentor if you want to go your own way rather than `en mass family trips´. Enjoy your stay.

Thank you JMD40! You're right- the villa does have a BBQ and we are quite happy to stay at home most evenings- I'm more of a daybird anyway...the rest of the family did mention BBQing at home at least 2 nights during the stay, and there's no reason why we can't stay at home and babysit if they want to take the cars and go off and do romantic couple-y things! Thanks also for the advice about buying fresh local produce- I tend to do that at home anyway, so I'll just do the same when I'm there.

Is Eroski the best supermarket then? I'll have a look on the map and see whereabouts it is!

Thanks again.

Hi, Packers, as JMD40 says, public transport is cheap and reliable - and the great thing is that both of you get to enjoy the views!


Lollipop has suggested taking the bus down to Palma and JMD40 has mentioned taking the bus to Formentor beach. Another possible day out would be to take the bus from either Pollensa or Puerto Pollensa and go to Soller for the day. It's a lovely drive and, again, both of you would be able to enjoy the ride. Soller itself is a lovely little town to wander round and explore. You could also take the little train down to Puerto Soller. The bus timetables are on this website. Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

If you are feeling energetic you could hire a couple of bikes for the day. It is a lovely cycle around Pollensa Bay and some of the lanes between Pollensa and Cala San Vicente.

Depending on if you are early birds or not, why not get up early one day and watch the sunrise?

You get some beautiful golden glows over the bay, and listening to all of the birds, dogs and livestock coming alive as the day begins is amazing.

Cheapest and most most uplifting thing that you can do!

Have a brilliant holiday.

I am sure that you will manage...we have had some fabulous holidays on less....
440 euro for the week will give you a great time.

Try to take a small coolbag and ice packs if you can.....use hold luggage for ice packs.
Buy a chicken or lovely meat from the supermarket, with some salad and fresh fruit, make up some lovely picnics to take on to the beach or on a walk.....add some alioli, crusty bread and bottle of wine or Sangria mmmm delicious.
ooooops don't forget some water :D

You can then eat out some nights and enjoy your BQ other nights.
You will have a fabulous time :)

PS have to agree with lovemallorca......check out my sunrise pics on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susiejb13/

fruit & veg at local markets - Pollensas is on Sunday - are v cheap

Thanks again for all the suggestions- had a look at the Eroski website last night and couldn't believe how cheap some of the things were- especially BEER! (mmm...beer....)

All I need is a bottle of wine, some tunes and some sunshine and I'm in heaven.

And the idea of taking a coolbag is genius- I am a massive fan of picnics (other half not so keen) so being on a budget is the perfect excuse to drag him on daily picnics in the interests of frugality! : )

Thanks again for all the ideas.