Things to Do in Mallorca

In short

Rent a car for Mallorca — without one you will see Palma and one beach, because the bus network does not reach the coves most people come for.
Five days covers the island at a reasonable pace; a week if you want the north as well as the Tramuntana.
May to June and September to October are the months to aim for — July and August are the peak in every sense, and much of the north and east closes from November to March.
Mallorca is bigger than it looks: Palma to Formentor is about 80 km of winding road, which is a full day, not an afternoon.

Mallorca needs a car and about five days. The island is far larger than the map suggests — the mountain road along the northwest coast is slow by design, and the coves worth the trip are not on a bus route. Come in May, June, September or October: July and August bring the crowds and the prices, and from November to March a good share of the north and east simply closes.

The car decides what kind of trip you get

This is the single planning decision that changes everything else about Mallorca, and most guides mention it in passing if at all.

Without a car you get Palma, the train to Sóller, and whichever beach the bus reaches. That is a pleasant city break, not an island trip.
With a car you get the Serra de Tramuntana, the hill villages, and the calas on the east coast — which is what people actually mean when they say Mallorca.
Roads in the Tramuntana are narrow, steep and slow. Distances mislead: 40 km can take ninety minutes.
Parking in Palma is difficult and mostly paid. If you are basing yourself in the city, pick up the car on the day you leave it.

One consequence worth planning around: the mountain road is not a route you want to drive tired or in the dark. Treat the Tramuntana as a daylight activity and come back down before dusk.

The Serra de Tramuntana is the reason to come

The mountain range running along the northwest coast is a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, and the villages strung along it are the part of Mallorca that looks nothing like the postcards of the resort strip.

Valldemossa — stone village on a terrace above the valley, and the busiest of the three because coaches stop here.
Deià — smaller, steeper, and the one that keeps its shape late in the day when the coaches have gone.
Fornalutx — a village of stone steps above Sóller, and the quietest of the group.
Sa Calobra — the road down to it is the famous one, a series of hairpins including a bend that loops under itself. It is about an hour each way and there is no shortcut back.

Sa Calobra is worth doing once and is not worth doing in a hurry. If you have half a day rather than a full one, Deià and Valldemossa give you the same landscape without the two hours of driving.

Sóller, and the tram everyone recommends

Sóller sits in a bowl of orange groves behind the mountains, connected to Palma by a narrow-gauge railway from 1912 and to its port by an equally old tram.

The train from Palma is the scenic part — it climbs through tunnels and comes out above the valley.
The tram from Sóller down to Port de Sóller is three kilometres. In season the queue for it is often longer than the ride.
The same three kilometres is a flat walk of about forty minutes, or a local bus that runs on the same road.
Port de Sóller itself is a horseshoe bay with a promenade — pleasant, and not the reason you came to the mountains.

Take the train up, and decide about the tram when you see the queue. Nobody who walked down to the port has regretted it.

The coasts are three different islands

Where the coast changes character
Coast	What it is	Best for
Northwest (Tramuntana)	Cliffs, pine, mountain villages	Driving, walking, the scenery
North (Alcúdia, Pollença)	Long sand bays, shallow water	Families, a base away from Palma
East (the calas)	Small coves between headlands	Swimming, but you need a car
South (Palma bay)	The resort strip and the city	Nightlife, and the airport

Picking one coast and staying there beats moving hotels twice. The island is wide enough that a base in the north and a base in the south are genuinely different holidays.

Palma deserves more than the airport

Most itineraries treat Palma as the place the plane lands. It is a real city with a real old quarter, and it holds up against Seville or Valencia.

La Seu — the cathedral on the seafront, unusually tall for its footprint, with a Gaudí-altered interior.
The old town behind it — a grid of lanes, courtyards and patios, best walked without a plan.
Bellver Castle — a circular castle on a wooded hill above the city, with the best view over the bay.
Santa Catalina — the old fishermen’s quarter turned into the eating district.

Common questions

How many days in Mallorca is enough?

Five days covers Palma, the Tramuntana and one stretch of coast without rushing. A week lets you add the north — Pollença, Alcúdia and Formentor — which otherwise gets squeezed into a single long drive.

Do you need a car in Mallorca?

Yes, unless you plan to stay in Palma. The buses cover the main towns but not the coves or the mountain villages, and those are what most visitors come for. Without a car the island shrinks to a city break.

What should you not miss in Mallorca?

The Serra de Tramuntana — specifically Deià and Valldemossa — the train from Palma to Sóller, and Palma cathedral. Those three between them are the island at its most itself.

Is Mallorca nicer than Ibiza?

They answer different questions. Mallorca is much larger, has real mountains and a proper city, and works for a week without a plan. Ibiza is smaller, flatter, and organised around its coast and its nightlife.

What is Mallorca best known for?

The Serra de Tramuntana mountain range on the northwest coast, the coves along the east, and Palma cathedral on the seafront. The resort strip near the airport is the most visible part and the least representative.