Best areas to stay in Majorca

Set around a sheltered bay, Palma is very much a Mediterranean city, with palm trees and bushes of fragrant oleander, outdoor cafés with colourful awnings, and yachts and working vessels bobbing in the bay alongside one another. Palma is a city with a long history, as the Gothic cathedral towering above the city walls indicates as you approach from the airport. It’s smart and urbane, with designer boutiques, smart restaurants and chic art galleries hidden in narrow alleys. Come sundown, it’s a lively city that stays awake long into the night too. The old quarter surrounding the cathedral - ‘Centre Historic’ on direction signs - sits on a small hill overlooking the bay, and its narrow, atmospheric streets are full of pleasant surprises, making it the best neighbourhood to stay in Majorca. To the east of the centre is the Platja de Palma, a long line of excellent sandy beaches. To the west is the seaside promenade of modern Palma, where luxury hotels look out over a forest of masts in the yacht harbour. Crowning the wooded slopes above the city, where the Spanish royal family have a summer home, are the stone towers of the Bellver Castl.

When tourism hit Majorca, the Bay of Palma, with two magnificent sweeps of white sand almost 30km (18 miles) long, was irresistible, and the resorts that mushroomed along here in the 1960s and 1970s gave the island a name for cheap and cheerful holidays. To the west of the bay, find Camp de Mar, where the coast road winds through forest to Port d’Andratx. After a detour to Sant Elm, at the island’s southwestern tip, there is a beautiful winding coast road to the village of Banyalbufar. Then head inland via the La Granja estate and Reserva Park (La Reserva Puig de Galatzó), after which you can complete the circle back to Palma, or carry on up the picturesque west coast.

The West Coast is one of the most dramatic and beautiful areas in Majorca. It’s hard to pick a highlight as there are so many, from Valldemossa, where George Sand and Frédéric Chopin once stayed, to the lovely hilltop village of Deià, once home to poet Robert Graves, the cliff-top mansion of the Habsburg Archduke Ludwig, and the agreeable town of Sóller. Passing through groves of olives and almonds, your first stop in the area will be at Valldemossa. As you approach, the incline becomes steeper and the village and monastery suddenly appears, like something out of a fairy tale.

The north of Majorca is a region of great variety. It encompasses the rugged Cap de Formentor, the sandy coves of Sant Vicenç, two attractive towns - Pollença and Alcúdia - the resort of Port de Pollença and the huge, curved Badia d’Alcúdia, lined with resorts and facilities. Parallel to the bay is a complete contrast in the wetlands of the Parc Natural de S’Albufera . There are plenty of comfortable hotels in the area. Think Sant Jaume in Alcúdia which is located close to the city walls and L’Hostel which is housed in a traditional townhouse.

The bays and beaches along the east coast have become slightly overdeveloped and overcrowded, but the resorts are nicer and far less excessive than those around the Bay of Palma, and some spots - harbours such as Port Colom and Cala Figuera - are delightful and some of the best areas to stay in Majorca. There are also two fortified towns in the northeast corner - Artà and Capdepera - and several amazing caves to visit, plus the Bronze Age sites of Ses Païsses (near Artà) and Capocorp Vell, near the south coast.