Cala San Vicente
Away from the package-holiday hot-spots, you will find heritage hotels, mouth-watering authentic cuisine, inspirational activity retreats – and even empty beaches!
Hotel Mirabo de Valldemossa
Hotel Mirabo was originally an olive farm and dates from 1500. Old wooden beams, tree-trunk thick walls and an original olive press, which now forms the magnificent stone dining table, help create a warm and welcoming hotel. The menu features authentic dishes such as Sopa Mallorquina (a type of fish stew) and Tumbet – a tomato, aubergine and potato dish cooked in local olive oil.
Valldemossa
High up in the UNESCO protected Sierra de Tramuntana, Hotel Mirabo is as serene as its mountain views. Double rooms start from €275 in high season. Mirabo.es
Mirabo is on the doorstep of the pretty north island village of Valldemossa. Cobbled lanes hide narrow town houses all with pots of colourful flowers hanging from their walls. In the centre is a wonderful 13th century monastery.
Deia and Pollensa
Only fifteen minutes’ drive away is Deia, where poet Robert Graves used to live. Now something of a millionaire’s mountain hideaway, the village is chic with many upmarket restaurants such as El Olivio in the Hotel La Residencia and Es Raco D’es Teix.
El Olivio restaurant
If you fancy the beach and some watersports, head to delightful Puerto Pollensa, also on the northern coast. There is a small marina and a magnificent sandy beach, though it does get busy.
Just inland is the original old town of Pollensa, which is big enough to be bustling, but small enough to be quaint. Enticing cafes and restaurants line the elegant Placa Major (the main square) and on Sundays there is a colourful market.
Puerto de Pollenca
Son Brull boutique hotel
Flop at the five star boutique hotel Son Brull. This stylish hotel, surrounded by 40 acres of olive groves, is only a country lane stroll from Pollensa. Son Brull was once an eighteenth century Jesuit monastery, though the rooms are now so luxurious you’d never know it.
The indoor/outdoor pool has a relaxing spa and yoga classes take place in the lush garden. Package breaks include tennis, cooking, walking and cycling, or you can simply relax. The hotel has free bicycles available for local trips and professional mountain bikes for hire for longer routes. A three-day package with car hire and two evening meals starts from €1,800.
Son Brull
Cycling holidays
Whether you prefer steep mountain passes or the gentle by-ways of Es Pla (the plain), Mallorca has cycling levels for everyone. Inntravel has a self-guided six-day cycling week from hotel to hotel with bikes, luggage transportation and meals. From the Plain to the Wild Coast runs until 20 July and then from 1-15 September. £1,020 per person.
Wheel2Wheel Holidays is more affordable at £609 per person for a leisurely self-guided week, including 3 star hotels and bike hire. Tours and a range of levels are also available.
Mallorca’s villages
Visit the centre of the island for authentic Spanish villages such as Santa Maria del Cami. The pretty village has an award-winning bodegas (winery), Macia Batle, with excellent wine tours.
Finish with a tasting and tapas made from local produce. Not only is the wine delicious but so is the food, and the local, blackberry-flavoured balsamic vinegar is outstanding.
Mallorcan yoga and spa breaks
Font Santa hotel
For those wanting to nurture their “inner karma” there are relaxing yoga and spa breaks. Mallorca Retreats offers detoxing and yoga in a 13th century estate near the Sierra Tramuntana. There are also guided hiking and craft classes.
One week in the high season starts from €690 per person.
Font Santa Hotel on the southern coast, near magnificent white sandy Es Trenc beach, has natural thermal springs and offers thermal therapies and yoga breaks. Prices start from €295 for a double room, high season. Spa days from €85.
The best beaches in Mallorca
No Mallorcan holiday is complete without a visit to the beach. Here we list five of the best.
Es Trenc
At 2 km long with sugar white sand and aquamarine sea, this is as close as Mallorca gets to the Caribbean. It’s not attached to any resort so it has a wild natural feel as well as an unofficial nudist corner.
Es Trenc beach
Cala Mondrago
Within Mondrago National park in the south east, this small beach is unspoilt with silky soft sand. It can get crowded in the summer, so go early.
Playa de Muro
In the north near Ca’n Picafort, this 6 km long stretch of sand is one of Mallorca’s best blue flag beaches.
Cala Formentor
Cala Formentor
In the north of the island, Cala Formentor is a strip of dazzling white sand with pine forests and mountains as a backdrop, which have ensured its popularity.
Port de Pollensa Beach
In a horseshoe bay overlooked by the Sierra de Tramuntana, it is quite simply one of the best settings on the island.