Mallorca

Palma, Mallorca’s capital, is the Balearics’ one real city, a bustling, historic place whose grandiose mansions and magnificent Gothic cathedral serve as a backdrop to galleries, museums, a well-preserved Old Town and an excellent cafe and restaurant scene.

To the north, the wild and wonderful Tramuntana Mountains roll along the coastline, punctuated by deep sheltered valleys and beautiful cove beaches. Tucked in the mountain folds is Soller, a delightful little town of old stone houses best reached from Palma on the antique railway – an extraordinarily scenic journey. Besides offering the best hiking in the Balearics, the mountains also camouflage a string of picturesque villages, most notably Biniaraix, Fornalutx, Estellencs and Banyalbufar. There’s also the splendid medieval monastery at Valldemossa, where Frédéric Chopin and his lover George Sand famously wintered in the 1830s. And of course there’s Deià, a mountain village so beautiful that the poet Robert Graves chose to make it his home.

In the north, Mallorca finishes with a final flourish in the rearing cliffs of the Formentor Peninsula, best appreciated from the water, while diversions in the east include the spellbinding Drac Caves, home to one of the largest subterranean lakes in the world.