The holiday resort of C'an Picafort is the principle coastal development of the municipal district of Santa Margalida, 60km north east of Palma, at the eastern end of the Bay of Alcudia, on the north coast of Majorca.

Transfer time into the resort from the Son Sant Joan International airport on the outskirts of Palma is usually around 1.1/2 hours, and 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 Autovía de Levante heading west towards Palma, before then joining the Ma-20 Circunvalacion 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 Castello. From here the fast Ma-13 Autovía de Palma - Inca heads north past the industrial town of Inca, where just outside the village of Crestatx, you then need to join the Ma-3420 towards the town of Sa Pobla.

From Sa Pobla take the Ma-3430 towards the town of Muro, where finally the Ma-3431 will then take you the rest of the way into the resort.

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.

If for whatever reason you prefer not to drive, and do not have the luxury of a coach 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, they should all operate on a fixed price basis, typically charging around 70 euro to 75 euro for the journey to C'an Picafort, however 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 families 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 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 town of Santa Margalida itself actually lies approximately 10km inland of C'an Picafort, and this is where most of the resident population of the area live. Depending on the route taken for your transfer from the airport, you may have already passed through it on the way into C'an Picafort.

If you have the time to visit the local council web site, you will see that they proudly state that the municipality of Santa Margalida has the largest concentration of archaeological sites on the entire island of Majorca.

Records show there are now over 150 officially recognised sites, most of which date from pre-Roman times, the most important of these being the Son Real Necropolis, or "Cemetery of the Phoenicians", which we'll cover in more detail on our Attractions page.

I have to say at this point that C'an Picafort is possibly my least favourite of all the resorts on Majorca, and the town itself has a very strong German influence, with many of the numerous bars and restaurants targeting the German tourist. Whilst the British Euro spending visitor is never turned away, you may however, feel somewhat "uncomfortable" in such a German dominated environment.

C'an Picafort is not a purpose built tourist resort, however, the influx of visitors to the island transformed it from a small fishing village with less than 200 inhabitants in 1960 to an important tourist centre with 8,750 hotel beds at the beginning of the 1970's.

Little now remains of the original fishing village, although the resort has retained a small working harbour from where a number of pleasure trips also depart several times each day.

The resort has a wide traffic free beachside promenade, which is lined with restaurants and bars running from the marina and fishing harbour, to the more modern Son Baulo area of the town, which is a further 2km away to the east.

For beach lovers of all ages, the best of the resorts two main beaches is found in the Baulo district too, where you will also find a small protected nature reserve. Parents with small children should be aware that this area has a large pool of stagnant water and is host to a number of other "less protected" species of wildlife.

Although again the local council are keen to point out that the presence of Mediterranean tortoises, red pheasants, hares, rabbits, weasels, dormice and Algerian hedgehogs, all of which contribute to making this area of great environment significance.

In all fairness, this beach is very clean and does have good facilities, although you should expect to pay around 10.5 euro for the hire of two sun beds and an umbrella for the day.

Other than the numerous bars and restaurants, the resort really has very little other tourist attractions, and with the notable exception of the two nightclubs in the town, evening entertainment is generally hotel based.

A regular bus service runs along the coast road, running through Playa de Muro into nearby Alcudia. It costs just over 1 euro per person for the one way trip, but please note that the buses can become very crowded at times, and are known to attract pickpockets. In comparison a taxi for the same journey costs around 10 euro for a maximum of 4 people.

No part of this web site may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publishers. For further information please contact Islas Travel Guides. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of editorial content of this site, no responsibility can be taken for any errors and omissions that occur therein.

This website was launched on 1 May 2002

Copyright 2019 Islas Travel Guides