Museu de Mallorca

The visit ends at the top of the building, where the third floor opens onto a rooftop view over Palma.

The palace itself belongs to the collection. It was built in 1634 and took in parts of two earlier Gothic buildings, so the island's history is shown inside a surviving piece of it. Three floors hold the displays. Medieval religious art takes up much of the permanent collection, followed by rooms on the 18th and 19th centuries. Between them sit cases of small artefacts from across Mallorca. The works are well conserved, and the rooms are arranged to tell the island's story in sequence.

• Allow an hour to an hour and a half for the whole building, roof included.
• Coin lockers take bags and water bottles. Carry a one-euro coin; it comes back when you collect your things.
• Much of the permanent collection is medieval religious art. If that is not your interest, head for the 18th- and 19th-century rooms and the roof.
• There is no gift shop.
• Toilets are inside the museum, one of them wheelchair-accessible.

The museum stands in the old town of Palma, and the last stretch is on foot through its streets whatever you arrive in.

By bus, the nearest stops are Església de Sant Francesc, about 200 m away, and Plaça de Cort, about 250 m away. By car, the closest parking is at Plaça de Sant Francesc, about 220 m away in a straight line; the paid car park at Parc de la Mar sits about 340 m away. From either, you walk in to the door.

Best: a Wednesday or Thursday, the only two days the museum stays open into the evening.

Avoid: Monday, when it is closed, and late arrivals on the other days, when it shuts at lunchtime.

The afternoon opening lets you pair the visit with a morning elsewhere in the old town, and as an indoor sight it fills a wet day or the hot middle of a summer one.