Balearic Islands · Spain
A mountain range, three hundred coves and a Gothic cathedral, on an island most people wrongly assume is one long resort strip.
Photo: Geir Hval (www.MacWhale.eu) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mallorca has an image problem created almost entirely by about fifteen kilometres of coastline. The resort strips either side of Palma — Magaluf, S'Arenal — are real and are exactly what their reputation suggests. They also account for a tiny fraction of an island 3,600 square kilometres in size, with a mountain range 90 kilometres long, a capital city of 420,000 people and a Gothic cathedral that took four hundred years to build.
The Serra de Tramuntana runs the length of the northwest coast, rising to 1,445 metres, and is UNESCO-listed as a cultural landscape — a thousand years of dry-stone terracing, irrigation channels and olive cultivation on slopes that should not be farmable. Villages like Deià, Valldemossa and Sóller sit in its folds, connected by a road of relentless hairpins that is one of the best drives in the Mediterranean and, from January to March, full of professional cyclists training.
The rest of the island divides into the flat agricultural middle, the wild rocky headlands of the northeast, and the calas — several hundred small coves, many reachable only on foot or by boat, with water that shades from turquoise to deep blue over white sand. Five days is the minimum to see more than one of these Mallorcas.
Why visit
Mallorca is the most varied of the Balearics by a wide margin, and the only one that works equally well as a walking, cycling, city and beach destination.
Ninety kilometres long, rising to 1,445 m, and UNESCO-listed for the terraced agriculture that has shaped it for a thousand years. The GR221 dry-stone route runs its length in eight stages, and the coastal road is among Europe's great drives.
Not a resort centre — a working capital with 420,000 people, a Gothic cathedral of extraordinary height, Arab baths, a Moorish palace, and one of the best restaurant scenes in the Balearics. It would justify a trip on its own.
Several hundred calas around the coast, many requiring a walk through pine woods to reach and correspondingly empty. Cala Deià, Sa Calobra, Es Trenc and the Caló des Moro are all different kinds of beautiful.
Professional teams train here in winter for the climbs, the empty roads and the mild weather. Sa Calobra's 26 hairpins are a pilgrimage, and February brings thousands of cyclists to the island.
The island is about 100 km across and 75 km deep. You can be in the mountains in 40 minutes from Palma, at a cove in an hour, and back for dinner in the city.
Main attractions
Split the island in three: Palma, the Tramuntana, and the coves. A car makes all of it far easier.
La Seu, begun in 1229 and finished in 1601, with the widest Gothic nave in the world after Beauvais and a rose window almost 14 metres across. Gaudí remodelled the interior between 1904 and 1914; a contemporary artist added a ceramic chapel in 2007.
Tip Twice a year, in early February and November, the rose window projects onto the wall beneath its twin. The cathedral opens early on those mornings and it is worth the alarm.
A knot of lanes behind the cathedral holding Arab baths from the 10th century, the Almudaina palace, courtyard mansions open to the street, and Es Baluard contemporary art museum in the sea walls.
Tip The patios of the old merchant houses are visible from the street through open gates. Look in as you pass — it is expected.
A wooden train from 1912 runs from Palma through orange groves and a 3 km tunnel to Sóller, and a vintage tram continues to the port. Slow, beautiful and entirely impractical, which is the point.
Tip Sit on the right leaving Palma. Book ahead in summer — it sells out.
Two Tramuntana villages of honey-coloured stone on terraced slopes. Valldemossa has the monastery where Chopin and George Sand spent a miserable winter in 1838; Deià was the home of Robert Graves and has a small rocky cove below it.
Tip Both fill with coaches from 11:00. Go early or after 17:00, and Deià's cove is a 30-minute walk down from the village.
A road descending 800 m in twelve kilometres via 26 hairpins, including one that loops under itself, to a cove where a gorge meets the sea. The gorge itself is a serious scramble in summer when the water is low.
Tip Drive it very early — coaches use the road from 10:00 and there is no room to pass. Boats from Port de Sóller are the alternative.
The island's northernmost point, a knife-edge peninsula of cliffs and pines with a lighthouse at the end and viewpoints along a dramatic road. Playa de Formentor at its base is a fine pine-backed beach.
Tip In summer the road is closed to private cars during the day and served by shuttle bus. Check the current restriction before driving.
Caló des Moro, Cala s'Almunia, Cala Llombards and Es Trenc — the last a two-kilometre undeveloped white-sand beach that looks Caribbean and is protected from building.
Tip Caló des Moro is tiny, famous and often overwhelmed. Arrive before 09:00 or pick one of the dozens of near-identical coves nearby.
A walled medieval town with Roman ruins beside it, a long shallow bay, and the S'Albufera wetland — the largest in the Balearics and a serious birdwatching site.
Tip Alcúdia's old town holds a good Tuesday and Sunday market inside the walls.
Things to do
Mallorca rewards mixing days: one mountain, one cove, one town, repeat.
The MA-10 from Andratx to Pollença runs 110 km along the mountains above the sea through Banyalbufar, Valldemossa, Deià and Sóller. Constant hairpins, constant views, and one of the best drives in the Mediterranean.
Tip Allow a full day with stops. Start early — the road is busy with cyclists and coaches from mid-morning.
The Dry Stone Route runs the length of the Tramuntana in eight stages on old mule paths and terracing. Individual stages make excellent day walks, with buses back from most villages.
Tip Best October to May. Summer on these slopes is too hot for a full stage.
The famous calas are famous and crowded. The ones reached by a twenty-minute walk through pine woods are frequently empty, and there are dozens of them along the southeast and northern coasts.
Tip Take water and shoes you can walk in — the paths down are rocky and there is rarely anything to buy at the bottom.
Professional teams train here from January to March. Sa Calobra, Puig Major and the Cap de Formentor road are the classic climbs, and the flat plain in the middle of the island is gentle enough for anyone.
Tip Hire shops in Palma, Alcúdia and Port de Pollença rent road bikes to a high standard. Book ahead in February.
Much of the Tramuntana coastline has no road access at all. Boats from Port de Sóller, Sant Elm and Port d'Andratx reach coves and sea caves you cannot otherwise get to.
Tip The boat to Sa Calobra avoids the hairpin road entirely and is a better approach.
Almost every inland town has a weekly market — Sineu on Wednesday is the oldest and best, Santanyí on Wednesday and Saturday, Alcúdia on Tuesday and Sunday. Produce, livestock and no resort atmosphere at all.
Tip Sineu's market has run since 1306 and still trades live animals. Go early.
Local food
Mallorcan cooking is Mediterranean island food — pork, vegetables, almonds, olive oil and bread — with a strong Catalan inheritance and some local specialities.
Dense brown country bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil, topped with cured ham, cheese or anchovy. The Mallorcan staple, served as a light meal in its own right rather than as an accompaniment.
Where to try it Village bars and specialist pa amb oli restaurants throughout the island.
A soft, spreadable cured sausage of pork and paprika, unique to the Balearics and eaten spread on bread, often with honey. Protected status and a genuine island product.
Where to try it Any market or village charcuterie. The version from black Mallorcan pigs is the best.
A spiral of laminated pastry made with pork lard, dusted with icing sugar, sold in flat round boxes that you will see people carrying onto flights home. Plain or filled with pumpkin jam.
Where to try it Bakeries across Palma. Eaten for breakfast with coffee.
Layers of fried potato, aubergine and red pepper under tomato sauce, baked. The island's vegetable dish, served hot or at room temperature, sometimes with fish or meat on top.
Where to try it Traditional restaurants inland. Best in late summer when the vegetables are local.
Literally 'dirty rice' — a soupy rice with pork, rabbit, game and vegetables, dark with spices including cinnamon and saffron. A winter dish from the island's interior.
Where to try it Inland village restaurants, particularly around Sineu and the Pla. Autumn and winter.
Hierbas is a herbal liqueur drunk as a digestif, made with fennel, rosemary and lemon. The island's wine regions of Binissalem and Pla i Llevant grow local varieties such as Manto Negro and Callet.
Where to try it Hierbas in any bar; wineries around Binissalem, half an hour from Palma, receive visitors.
Accommodation
Where you stay determines what kind of Mallorca you get. Palma for the city, the Tramuntana for mountains and walking, the northeast for family beaches, the southeast for coves.
Transport
Palma's airport is one of the busiest in Spain, with direct flights from most of Europe, and ferries link the island to three mainland ports.
A car is close to essential for anything beyond Palma. The island's best places are coves and mountain villages that public transport reaches badly or not at all.
When to go
Mallorca has a long season and a very sharp peak. The shoulder months give you warm weather, open restaurants, walkable mountains and none of the August pricing.
Green, warm at 18–27°C, with almond blossom in February and wildflowers through spring. Ideal for hiking and cycling. The sea is cold until about mid-June.
Hot at 30–34°C, extremely busy, and the most expensive weeks of the year — flights, rooms and car hire can all triple. The coves are beautiful and crowded. The mountains are too hot to walk.
The best of the year. The sea is at its warmest in September, temperatures ease, prices fall sharply after the first week, and the mountains become walkable again. October is quiet and still swimmable.
Mild at 10–17°C, with the almond blossom in late January and February, and the cyclists' training season. Many coastal hotels and restaurants close from November to March, so a winter trip means basing in Palma or Sóller.
Worth planning around: August, when the island is at capacity and car hire in particular becomes both scarce and extremely expensive. Also note that much of the coastal tourist infrastructure closes from November to March.
Itinerary
Two nights in Palma and three in the Tramuntana, with a car from day two. Covers the city, the mountains and the coves without repeating a road.
The capital, which most visitors skip and should not.
Collect a car and take the mountain road north.
Hairpins early, then the coast.
Formentor and the walled town at Alcúdia.
The southeast, and a market town on the way.
Travel tips
Island-specific practicalities. The car booking one is the expensive mistake.
FAQ
No — that reputation comes from about fifteen kilometres of coast either side of Palma, principally Magaluf and S'Arenal. The island is 3,600 square kilometres with a UNESCO-listed mountain range along its entire northwest coast, several hundred quiet coves, a working capital city of 420,000 people, and inland villages with weekly markets that have run since the Middle Ages.
For anything beyond Palma, effectively yes. The coves, the Tramuntana villages and the interior are served badly or not at all by public transport. Buses reach Sóller, Valldemossa, Alcúdia and Pollença reasonably well, and the Sóller railway is a lovely journey, but the best of the island needs a car. Book months ahead for July and August.
Five to seven. Two days for Palma and the south, two or three in the Tramuntana for the mountain villages and the coast road, and one or two for the coves and the north. Less than five and you will only see one of the island's several distinct characters.
May to June and September to October. September is the pick — the sea at its warmest, prices dropping sharply after the first week, and the mountains cool enough to walk again. August is hot, crowded and the most expensive week of the year for flights, rooms and car hire alike. From November to March much of the coastal infrastructure closes.
A mountain range running 90 kilometres along Mallorca's northwest coast, rising to 1,445 m, and UNESCO-listed as a cultural landscape for the thousand years of dry-stone terracing and irrigation that made its slopes farmable. It holds the island's most beautiful villages — Deià, Valldemossa, Fornalutx — the GR221 long-distance walking route, and one of the finest coastal drives in the Mediterranean.
Es Trenc in the south is a two-kilometre undeveloped white-sand beach protected from building. The southeast calas — Caló des Moro, Cala s'Almunia, Cala Llombards — are small, spectacular and often crowded. Formentor and Alcúdia in the north have long sandy stretches suited to families. The best rule is that any cove requiring a twenty-minute walk will be far emptier than one with a car park.
It is arguably the best road-cycling island in Europe, which is why professional teams train here from January to March. The Tramuntana offers serious climbs — Sa Calobra's 26 hairpins, Puig Major, the Formentor road — while the flat central plain suits casual riders. Hire is excellent in Palma, Alcúdia and Port de Pollença, though it should be booked ahead in February.
Keep exploring
Places that pair well with Mallorca, whether you have a few spare days or are building a longer route.
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Don't miss The Turia — a river diverted after a flood and turned into a green park running right through the middle of the city.
Explore Destination — ValenciaCatalonia, Spain
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Don't miss The Sagrada Família's stained glass at the right hour — blue-green in the morning, red-gold by late afternoon.
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A volcanic island 1,000 km from mainland Spain, with year-round warmth, a black-sand coastline and a national park caldera that looks like another planet.
Don't miss The cable car to 3,555 m on Teide, above the cloud layer, looking down on the other Canary Islands.
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A UNESCO-listed stretch of Campanian cliff with lemon terraces, ceramic-domed churches, a Norman-Arab cathedral at Amalfi and Ravello's gardens hanging over the sea.
Don't miss The Path of the Gods — a ridge trail 600 metres above the water, looking down on Positano and across to Capri.
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