The Anonymous Widower

Exploring Majorca By Rail

I had deliberately wanted to be by the station, so that I could take the odd trip out.

I went to Inca and Manacor, as the beautiful old railway to Soller was closed due to engineering works. It was December and although it was quite sunny, the towns were rather dead. I just had a nice coffee and moved on.

It does seem though, that these trains are not the easiest to use, as what information there is, is rather poor.  To get to Manacor, the birthplace of Rafael Nadal incidentally, the train reverses direction at one point and you need to change at another, for which there is no announcement.  Stations generally, aren’t signed, so you could get dumped at a place in the middle of nowhere.  I nearly did.

The Intermodal station in Palma is a bit of a nightmare.  It may be an interchange, but don’t ask at the bus information for details on the trains.  They’ll tell you politely, that the trains are another company.  And the only ticket machines there, don’t seem to sell tickets to Inca and Mancor.  Or at least, it appeared so to me. I’ve had no experience of Spanish trains elsewhere, but compared to Italy, where I’ve used trains a lot, they weren’t the easiest to use.

If these countries want to make trains easy to use for tourists, they should look at their maps and ticketing systems.

December 20, 2012 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Majorca, Trains