mallorca travel guide
(Image credit: Julie Benz)

There's more to Mallorca than cheap holiday resorts if you head inland, where an enticing array of wine and food destinations await. Sue Style takes us on a tour of the island’s best-kept secrets in her Mallorca travel guide.

Mallorca travel guide: My perfect day in the Sierra Tramuntana

Start the day with a visit to the brand-new cellar and tasting room at Bodegas Son Prim, just outside Sencelles. Typical of the new generation of highly motivated winemakers, they’re appreciated for their original, value-for-money, Mediterranean-inflected wines (varietal and blended Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah with a little Manto Negro) – check out the characterful, full-bodied Merlot.

Continue north to Inca (with a look in on the market if it’s Thursday), past the pretty, pinkish-gold village of Selva to Caimari, with a brief stop at Oli Caimari to stock up on olive oil. From here ascend, via 19 hairpin bends, to Lluc – beware the cyclists, for whom this is a well-worn route – and try not to be distracted by the jagged limestone cliffs, vertiginous drops and glimpses of circling eagles and vultures. Enjoy a pre-lunch visit to the Lluc monastery, pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages.

Lunch

Book a table at Restaurant Es Guix, buried in the forest close to the monastery, with a dip in the restaurant’s natural pool before settling down to typical Mallorcan fare (rice dishes, suckling pig, kid).

Afternoon

Continue the climb from Lluc and look in on Vinyes Mortitx, the highest vineyard on the island, with 15ha of Malvasia, Riesling, Chardonnay and Moscatel, plus Monastrell, Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot. The estate makes a pretty, blush-pink rosé from Monastrell, Merlot and Cabernet, fine for summer drinking. For the cooler months, its Rodal Pla, a robust but tactfully oaked Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot blend, is a standout.

If time, press on to the coast for a sundowner on the waterfront at Port de Pollensa or Platja de Formentor. Return south from Pollensa to Campanet and through the stunning Campanet valley to the tiny hamlet of Binibona.

Evening & overnight

Check in at Finca Es Castell or Son Ametler, wrap up your perfect day with a swim in the house pool, followed by dinner on the terrace beneath the Sierra Tramuntana, and fall into a deep sleep lulled by the sound of cicadas and sheep bells.

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Sue Style
Sue Style
Decanter Magazine, Food, Wine & Travel Writer

Sue Style is into food, wine and travel and writes about all three – sometimes separately, often in combination. She comes originally from Yorkshire and has migrated over the years to London, Madrid, Fontainebleau, Mexico City and Basel. She lives in southern Alsace, within spitting distance of the region’s vineyards and conveniently placed for cross-border raids into Switzerland and across the Rhine to Baden/Germany, both of whose wines and food she explores at every opportunity. She also travels regularly to Catalunya, where both her children have had the good taste to settle. She's the author of nine books on subjects ranging from Mexican food through the food and wines of Alsace and of Switzerland to creative vegetable cookery.