The best things to do in Mallorca

An old adage states that Mallorca’s variegated landscape makes it more like a miniature continent than an island. Certainly, it’s surprising that a chunk of land the size of Norfolk can be home to such amazing diversity. Mallorca has a seaside and mountainside, as well as culture and agriculture. It has a capital city (Palma) where urban life flourishes in medieval streets. Though a Mediterranean island, it has a mountain range (the Tramuntana) whose highest peaks are often snow-capped in winter.

While continuing to live very well from the traditional beach tourism it largely invented, the island/continent increasingly attracts a new kind of visitor keen to experience its markets and museums, its new-wave wineries and chef-driven restaurants, its gardens and grand country houses. The range of activities it offers, from cooking and clubbing to boating, biking, birding and hiking, is practically inexhaustible. Though it’s possible to be bored here, you’d have to try quite hard. Here are our favourite things to do in Mallorca.

Es Trenc

Salt has always been produced on Mallorca’s south-east coast, but Flor de Sal d’es Trenc has raised the bar with its range of exquisite artisan salts flavoured with Mediterranean herbs and spices. The salt flats lie within a protected natural landscape of striking beauty. Wander among dazzling white “mountains” as you learn about traditional salt production, then visit the on-site café and shop to stock up on local olive oil and toasted almonds. Round off the day with a dip in the sea at unspoiled Es Trenc beach.

Website: www.flordesal.com

Barranc de Biniaraix

The island’s interior has some great hiking routes, especially in and around the Tramuntana mountain range. One spectacular yet easily tackled route is the Barranc de Biniaraix, a deep gorge with a rushing mountain stream in its depths. Leave the car in Biniaraix village and follow the stone path up the valley, through olive groves racked up steeply on narrow terraces like a Mediterranean Machu Picchu. (The barranc is almost an open-air museum of dry-stone wall building.) At the top of the gorge, retrace your steps for a good three-hour ramble.

Address: 07100 Sóller, Balearic Islands, Spain

Cabrera

For a privileged glimpse of the Balearic islands as they were in the days before mass tourism and development, take a day trip to Cabrera, a protected archipelago (and one of Spain’s 15 national parks) lying 11 miles off Mallorca's south coast. A regular boat service leaves from Colónia de Sant Jordi for the 25-minute journey. The main island of Cabrera is a gorgeous place where there’s little to do beyond delicious dips in deserted coves (bring a picnic and a snorkel) and gentle walks in a pristine landscape smelling of sun-warmed herbs.

Website: marcabrera.com; excursionsacabrera.es

Can Alluny, Deià

Can Alluny, outside Deià, was poet and novelist Robert Graves’ home from 1946 until his death in 1985. The house has been sensitively restored as a museum, displaying original furniture and objects like the great man’s glasses, his collection of straw hats, and English teabags in the kitchen. The pilgrimage continues with a visit to the writer’s simple grave in the village churchyard followed by a walk (one of Graves’ favourites) through terraced olive groves to the rocky sea-cove at Cala Deià.

Website: fundaciorobertgraves.org

Catedral-Basílica de Santa María, Palma

One building in Palma towers over everything else – both literally and metaphorically. The sublime 14th-century cathedral, surely a prime candidate for Spain’s finest Gothic church, stands proudly on a battlement overlooking the ocean. The interior is held up by just eight columns as slender as palm trees. There is much to admire here – notably the multi-coloured rose window high up on the western façade, the bizarre hanging arrangement over the altar (by Antoni Gaudí), and Mallorcan painter Miquel Barceló’s extraordinary makeover of a side chapel.

Website: catedraldemallorca.org

Jardines de Alfàbia

The possessió (rural estate) of Alfàbia, outside Bunyola on the lower slopes of the Tramuntana, dates from the Arab occupation of Mallorca. The 15th-century dwelling house is a delicious confection of Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance and Rococo elements. But Alfàbia is best known for its swooningly romantic gardens, with their pergolas, stone staircases, and fountains dribbling into glassy pools, all enveloped in an atmosphere of genteel decadence. Time your visit carefully – early morning is best, before the coach parties pitch up. Plus, early visits avoid the midday heat and allow time to do one of our other favourite things to do in Mallorca – lounge on one of the spectacular beaches.

Website: jardinesdealfabia.com

Can Lis

Fleeing from the disastrous gestation of his Sydney Opera House in 1966, Danish architect Jorn Utzon bought land on a cliff-top in Porto Petro. Here, in 1971, he built a house described by Richard Weston in his book on Utzon as “one of the finest built in the 20th century”. This simple Mediterranean masterpiece, preserved just as the master left it, can now be visited on a series of open days during the summer. (Professional architects can also rent the whole house at around £2,000 per week.)

Address: Avinguda Jorn Utzon, 80B, 07691 Santanyí, Balearic Islands, Spain
Website: canlis.dk

Mallorcan cooking with Deborah Piña

Installed in the uniquely beautiful surroundings of an 18th-century bakery (Forn de sa Llotgeta) in Palma’s atmospheric old town, chef Deborah Piña offers a fast-track route to the island’s culinary soul. Piña’s Palma Food Tour is a gastronomic safari around the city. Or sign up for her Traditional Cooking workshop, which takes guests to the Mercat de l’Olivar – central Palma’s finest produce market – and back to the bakery to prepare such classic Mallorcan dishes as albergínies facades (stuffed aubergines), arrós brut (rice with mixed meats) and gató (almond cake).

Address: Carrer de la Llotgeta, 8, Centre, 07002 Palma, Illes Balears, Spain
Website: deborahsculinaryisland.com

Son Moragues

A sprawling possessió once owned by the Mallorca-loving Archduke Luis Salvador of Austria (1847-1915) and now by Spanish businessman Bruno Entrecanales, Son Moragues is run as a sustainable farm supporting itself by the sale of organic olive oil, vegetables and meat. Guided tours take visitors through the estate’s rolling groves of olive trees, some of which are upwards of 700 years old, winding up at a great stone water tank high in the hills, fed by freshwater springs and shaded by high trees.

Website: sonmo.es

Pamboli

The word is a contraction of pa amb oli, literally “bread with oil” in Mallorquín. The recipe could hardly be simpler: slices of country bread are rubbed with tomato before being drizzled generously with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Pamboli can be eaten just as it comes, or makes a brilliant vehicle for cheese, Spanish charcuterie, and especially sobrassada – the speciality Balearic sausage cured with pimentón. An evening pamboli session at a rustic village bar makes for a properly authentic Mallorcan experience.

Wunder Workshop

The Wunder Workshop cafe is a natural coffee shop serving amazing vegetarian milk, matcha and turmeric drinks right in the heart of Palma de Mallorca. Sustainability, nature, and ethically sourced produce are at the core of everything Wunder Workshop does, and this cafe is an opportunity to share this ayurvedic knowledge in a breezy, laid-back space. Ana Lui

Website: wunderworkshop.com

Lobster Club

With unrivalled sea views, Lobster Club, situated in the glitzy Sea Portals, is a magnet for the jet-set traveller. The seafood is a standout here, but, as the name suggests, lobster takes centre stage on the fresh Mediterranean menu. When ready to wash down your lunch, take drinks on one of the Balinese beds and enjoy Balearic beats as the sun goes down. Ana Lui

Website: lobsterclub.es