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Citrus Groves & Dramatic Coast
Mallorca ’s most dramatic scenery - and its prettiest villages - are to be found in the Tramuntana Sierra in the north-west of the island. With their craggy limestone peaks contrasting with the sea below, the rugged mountains provide a spectacular backdrop to clusters of honey-coloured houses which sit amid immaculate terraces of orange and lemon trees stretching as far as the eye can see. One such town is charming Sóller, a bustling place nestling in a fertile, bowl-shaped valley planted with yet more citrus groves. Within easy reach of the capital, Palma, it makes a great base for walking and exploring in Mallorca’s magnificent north-west corner and beyond using the efficient and widespread local transport system (or inexpensive taxis). Ca’s Curial, SóllerYour base for the week is this luxurious, beautifully restored house of 4-star standard. It is surrounded by five hectares of fragrant orange and lemon trees yet only five minutes’ walk from the town centre. The eight elegant bedrooms retain many original features, and the gardens provide many shaded corners in which to relax and enjoy the views of the amphitheatre of mountains framing Sóller. Dinner is included in the hotel’s elegant restaurant (or on the terrace on warm evenings) on two nights, leaving you free to try some of the many restaurants in the town on other nights (pay locally). Walking and sightseeingFrom the centre of Sóller you can catch buses, trains, trams or taxis (pay locally in all cases) to travel between villages and access the walks and places of interest that we suggest. Delightful Deià (12km, 4hrs): catch a bus to Deià, a very pretty village and a favourite of many bohemians, writers and poets in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Spend some time strolling through the cobbled streets of honey-coloured buildings before either catching the bus back or following the old postman's route across the Muleta Plateau and descending to Port de Sóller, from where you can take the old-fashioned tram up to Sóller itself. Valldemossa & the Puig des Teix (12.5km, 4hrs): described by Chopin as ‘the most beautiful place in the world’, Valldemossa is another village not to be missed, and is again easily reached by bus. It is dominated by its famous Carthusian monastery which houses a 17th-century pharmacy, Chopin’s piano and an excellent small art collection that includes works by Picasso and Henry Moore. After visiting the village, you can enjoy a rewarding circular walk up into the mountains, passing beneath the peak of the Teix (1,064 metres) for superb views of the coast in clear weather. You then follow bridleways created by Archduke Luis Salvador, Mallorca’s great benefactor, across a limestone plateau before descending back to Valldemossa through woods of holm oaks where wild goats often graze. The Orange Valley (11km, 4.5hrs): take a taxi to the viewpoint above Sóller and walk along ancient cobbled trails through a deep, fertile valley coated with orange groves. After rising out of the valley, you descend to the coast and follow the spectacular coastal path to the beach at Cala Tuent, enjoying some of the best sea views on the island before returning to Sóller by taxi. The Muleta Plateau (7.5km, 2.5hrs): starting and ending in Port de Sóller, which you can reach by tram, this walking route explores the Muleta Plateau, passing its distinctive lighthouse where you can pause for lunch. Along Pilgrims’ Paths (16km, 5.5hrs): take a taxi to Lake Cuver, from where a path rises gently through pine woods to the Ofre Pass for views of the Mediterranean in clear weather. From the pass, you descend into the valley and walk down through the dramatic Biniaraix Gorge on a cobbled pilgrims’ trail comprising almost 2,000 shallow stone steps that are thought to have been originally cut by the Carthaginians for transporting olive oil some 2,500 years ago. Fornalutx Stroll (8km, 3hrs): the neighbouring village of Fornalutx, another of Mallorca’s most delightful villages, is well worth a visit, and is easily reached on foot from Sóller. Like most villages here, the houses are built of warm-coloured stone that glows in the sunlight, and there are cafés where you can sit and enjoy the views of never-ending orange and lemon groves stretching up towards the craggy limestone peaks. Lluc Monastery: the mountain hamlet of Lluc, its imposing monastery and opulent basilica constitute Mallorca’s most important centre of pilgrimage after a boy named Lluc found a brightly coloured statue of the Virgin Mary in the mid 13th century. On the Trail of Archduke Salvador (8km, 3hrs): this walk/visit starts in Deià (take a bus there and back), from where you head to Son Morraig, the cliff-top mansion where Archduke Luis Salvador spent a lot of time. After visiting the house, which is filled with an interesting, if slightly eclectic, range of artefacts, it is well worth descending along a track to the Sa Foradada Peninsula, which is made all the more remarkable by the huge hole in the rock near the tip. There is a small beach where you can bathe in warm weather before retracing your steps to Deià. The Nostalgic Train to Palma: experience the nostalgic – and very dramatic – narrow-gauge railway through the heart of the mountains to Palma for a day of sightseeing and shopping. Mallorca’s bustling, cosmopolitan capital boasts a magnificent sea-front cathedral, some of the best restaurants on the island, and a walled old quarter in which medieval architecture contrasts with many late 19th-century buildings. Bustling Sóller: Sóller itself deserves attention too. It boasts botanical gardens and a lively Saturday market as well as an attractive main square where you can watch the world go by from one of the pavement cafés. The church here has a striking early 20th-century façade and there are other examples of modernist architecture among the manor houses and colourful gardens that line the elegant streets. On the coast, neighbouring Port de Sóller boasts a horse-shoe shaped beach ringed by a pleasant seafront promenade dotted with restaurants and bars.
Prices & travel 2008:
*Connecting travel: return taxi from Palma (out/home 0h35) £48pp Extra nights:
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The coastal hills 
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