Destination No. 05 — Balearics, Spain
Mallorca
An island with a mountain range that makes summer bearable.
For travellers Mallorca divides into two islands. One is familiar to everybody. The other lies in the north-west: the Serra de Tramuntana, terraces of dry-stone wall, sandstone villages, coves reached on foot.
Stay there and you get mountain and sea within the same hour — a path between olive trees in the morning, a cove at midday, a village square in the evening. The east and south are flatter, warmer and quieter outside high season.
Why we like this place
Three reasons
01
Because the Tramuntana is a World Heritage landscape, and you can read that in every wall.
02
Because you can still swim here in October and walk through almond blossom in January.
03
Because Palma is a real city — market, cathedral, bookshops — not a holiday backdrop.
For planning
- Best time to visit
- May, June and September to early October
- May is green and good for walking; September has the warmest sea. July and August are hot and busy. Winter is its own very quiet season for walkers and cyclists.
- Suggested length
- Five to seven nights
- Five nights at one address in the north-west cover mountains, coves and a day in Palma. If you want to change sides of the island, split it three and three.
Which months do we recommend on Mallorca?
April to early June and late September into October. The Serra de Tramuntana is walkable, the coves are quiet and Palma is a walking city. High summer belongs to the water — pleasant with a boat, hot without one. One planning note: the north-west coast is markedly cooler and windier than the south.
Noted by Pure Voyage
Pure Voyage Atlas
Where this leads
The Atlas connects what belongs together: the region, the collections, the right season and the houses that sit within the same story.
Related Houses
Within These Collections
Where we stay
Addresses in this region
One address on a northern bay, pine forest behind it and its own stretch of water in front.
Related collections
From the Collection
Continue through Pure Voyage
Where to go from here
Not a catalogue, but a next step: the houses, routes, countries and essays we would mention at this point in a conversation.
Hotels
Addresses that belong beside this page.
Journeys
Routes that open up this region.
Recommendations
What we suggest for this occasion.
Journal
Further reading before you decide.
An Invitation
Once a month: hotels, new openings and travel ideas
One hotel that convinced us, with our advice on suite and season. The openings that actually matter. And a destination at its best right now. No offers, no advertising.