If the frantic resorts in the south of the island are not to your taste, then Alcudia on the north coast of Majorca may be the place you are looking for to spend your next family holiday.

Although being 62km north of the capital Palma, the journey into the resort from the Son Sant Joan International airport is possibly one of the easiest on the island. Although a slight complication certainly worth mentioning for those making the transfer by hire car, is that in recent years the local Government on the island has re-numbered most of the roads on Mallorca, so please make sure that you have an up to date map before setting out!

The basic route for this journey for those wishing to drive, is from the roundabout leaving the airport grounds take the 1st exit onto the Ma-19 Autovia de Levante heading west towards Palma, before then joining the Ma-20 Circunvalacin de Palma.

As the Ma-20 arcs around the northern outskirts of the city, keep a sharp lookout for exit 3B signposted towards Inca/Port d'Alcudia/Son Castell.

From here the fast Ma-13 Autovia de Palma - Inca heads north past the industrial town of Inca, where shortly after just outside the village of Crestatx, it becomes the Ma-13a Carretera de Inca - Alcudia.

Continue along the Ma-13a, and at the roundabout, a short distance before the outskirts of Alcudia Old Town, take the 1st exit onto the Ma-3460 to complete your journey into Puerto Alcudia.

A more detailed version of this route, complete with links to maps where appropriate, is available from the Route Map link on the left hand frame of this page. Generally speaking a coach transfer into the resort should take approximately 1.1/2 hours, however, at least one of the major tour operators is known to first drop guests off at the nearby resort of Puerto Pollensa before making the short trip over to Alcudia, which is effectively adding another 45 minutes to the already lengthy journey time.

For the growing numbers of visitors who are now opting for a taxi transfer, there are always plenty of taxis available from the ranks outside of the arrivals hall, although on occasions you should be prepared to queue. In theory at least, these taxis should all operate on a fixed price basis, typically charging around €70 for the journey to Alcudia.

Experience has shown that this "fixed price" may vary slightly depending upon the number of suitcases, the time of day or night of the journey, and of course the number of passengers carried. Also an important consideration for those families travelling with small children, is that these taxis do not as a rule carry child seats, therefore children may have to sit on their parent's knee for the duration of the journey.

If this is a cause for concern, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements for a pre-booked taxi to be waiting for you, and clearly specify at the time of booking that a child seat is needed for the journey.

The original old town of Alcudia is 2 miles inland from the coastal development, and it is certainly worth a visit during your stay with parts of the town dating back to around 1300. What visitors may not realise however, is that it was the Phoenicians and Greeks who first settled here, closely followed in the 2nd century BC by the Romans, who made Alcudia the capital of the island.

Visitors to the Old Town today enter the narrow streets through one of the two gates that were constructed, along with the impressive city walls, after the conquest of the island by King Jaime I of Spain. The best way to fully appreciate this side of Alcudia is to take the 2 hour guided walking tour that is organised by the local tourist office every Wednesday and Friday, starting at 10.00am by the Sant Jaume church.

The actual port and holiday resort of Alcudia, where most of the hotels and tourist developments have taken place over the last 40 years, lies at the western end of the magnificent Bay of Alcudia, which runs for over 8km through Playa de Muro and onto the resort of C'an Picafort in the east.

Many of the tour operators now conveniently refer to the hotels of Playa de Muro as being in Alcudia, however, the resort is quite remote and some considerable distance from the centre of Alcudia. A leading tour operator was once asked what the difference is between Alcudia and Playa de Muro, and flippantly replied "about £200 per week". Which indirectly highlights that, being the newer development, Playa de Muro does have a far higher proportion of 4 and 5 star hotels and aparthotels than Alcudia.

The resort itself is spread either side of the busy Ma-12 northern coast road, and really lacks a centre or focal point. When booking a holiday here it may be worth checking on which side of this road your accommodation is situated. For the more adventurous, brave or just stupid, this road does have a "dedicated" cycle lane running the full 3 mile length of the resort, which on occasions you do have to share with taxis, or other locals who can't be bothered with the formality of using the main road. Bicycle hire is plentiful and relatively cheap throughout the resort, and costs around £4 per person for a days hire.

The warm shallow waters of Alcudia Bay make this resort very popular with families with young children, and the beach is without doubt a major attraction with fine, clean sand with a wide variety of water sport and other facilities available to suit all tastes. Whatever part of the beach you choose, you will never be more than a few hundred metres from the nearest beach bar or cafe.

One thing that we did unfortunately encounter on our visit is that actually getting around the resort is sometimes very difficult. Buses are often full, especially so on market days, and taxis are almost non-existent when you need one. So be prepared to walk.

If however you are determined to use public transport to see more of the surrounding area, during the summer months at least, the local bus operator the "Consorci de Transports de Mallorca" do in all fairness run 11 routes that pass through the town. Whilst no guarantee is given on our behalf as to the accuracy of their timetable it can be found at:
www.tib.org

Over the past few years, the local council has visibly spent many millions of Euro improving the appearance and general upkeep of the public areas of the town, which is something that can only be of a benefit in the long term if visitors return as a result.

Alcudia is not a loud resort. Evening entertainment here is mainly hotel based, however, the resort does have a small number of late night bars and nightclubs. But in all fairness, these could never compare either in quantity or volume to the all night clubs in the popular south coast resorts which unashamedly target the very profitable 18 to 30's market. Overall we feel that Alcudia is a good quality mainstream beach resort, which is especially suitable for families.

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