The Perfect 7-Day Mallorca Itinerary (Road Trip Edition)

The Island That Reveals Its Secrets Slowly

Seven days in Mallorca is like speed-dating with paradise. It’s just enough time to fall hard, but barely enough to scratch beneath the surface of an island that has been seducing travelers for over a century. This isn’t your typical “hit the highlights and move on” itinerary – it’s a carefully orchestrated dance through Mallorca’s most compelling landscapes, designed by someone who’s spent 15 years learning where the island keeps its best secrets.

Your rental car becomes your key to freedom here. Public transport exists, but it’s like trying to explore a symphony with a kazoo – technically possible, but you’ll miss all the beautiful notes in between. This route covers 415 kilometers over seven days, taking you from the Gothic grandeur of Palma through the vertigo-inducing heights of the Serra de Tramuntana, to the postcard-perfect coves where the Mediterranean shows off its most brilliant blues.

The Real Cost of Paradise

Before we begin, let’s talk money. Mallorca in 2025 isn’t the budget destination it once was. A week here will run €180-240 per day for a couple (mid-range accommodation, decent meals, rental car, and activities). Yes, it’s expensive. But when you’re watching the sunrise paint the limestone cliffs of Cap de Formentor while sipping coffee that costs €4 but comes with a view worth €4,000 – it starts to make sense.

La Seu Cathedral dominates Palma’s skyline – your first glimpse of the architectural wonders that await on this week-long journey.

Day 1 & 2: Palma – Where History Meets Instagram

Day 1: Arrival and Gothic Immersion

Start Time: 6:30am arrival (if flying) or drive from accommodation End Time: 10:00pm after dinner in Santa Catalina

Land at Palma Airport and immediately feel the Mediterranean breeze that carries the scent of orange blossoms and sea salt. Skip the airport chaos by pre-booking your rental car pickup – I recommend Centauro for reliability, though expect €35-65/day depending on season and car size.

Morning (9:00am-12:30pm) Drive straight to the old town (20 minutes from airport, €3/hour parking in underground lots). Begin at La Seu Cathedral, but don’t just photograph the exterior like everyone else. Pay the €9 entrance fee and climb the rooftop terraces at 10:30am (advance booking required). The Gothic buttresses and bay views are worth the climb, and you’ll understand why this cathedral took nearly 400 years to complete.

Afternoon (1:00pm-6:00pm) Wander the Gothic Quarter’s maze-like streets. The Royal Palace of La Almudaina (€7 entrance) offers cool stone chambers and peacock-filled gardens – a perfect escape when the midday sun becomes overwhelming. End at Plaça Major for people-watching and a cortado at Bar Bosch (€2.40, unchanged since 1936).

Evening Dinner at Ca’n Joan de S’Aigo for traditional Mallorcan pastries, then drinks in the Santa Catalina neighborhood where locals outnumber tourists after 10pm.

Day 2: Markets, Castles, and Neighborhood Secrets

Start Time: 8:00am at Mercat de l’Olivar End Time: 11:00pm rooftop cocktails

Morning (8:00am-12:00pm) Begin at Mercat de l’Olivar when the vendors are still arranging their displays and the locals are buying ingredients for lunch. This isn’t a tourist market – it’s where Palmesanos have shopped for centuries. Try the Mallorcan breakfast of llonguet (local bread) with tomato and olive oil at the market bar (€3.50).

Walk through Santa Catalina district, stopping at Rialto Living (former cinema turned design store) and Federal Café for what might be Palma’s best flat white (€3.20).

Afternoon (12:30pm-6:00pm) Castell de Bellver requires a 15-minute uphill drive but rewards you with 360-degree views of Palma Bay. The circular design is unique in Europe, and the €4 entrance includes access to the city history museum. The pine-scented grounds are perfect for a picnic.

Explore the Poble Espanyol (€9 entrance) – a faithful reproduction of Spanish architectural styles. It sounds touristy, but the crafts workshops are authentic, and the flamingo shows at 5pm are unexpectedly charming.

Evening Book dinner at Adrián Quetglas (€85 tasting menu) if you want Michelin-starred innovation, or go local at Ca’n Pere Antoni Blanc in Portixol for seafood paella (€16) while watching fishing boats return at sunset.

Day 3: The Mountain Heart – Valldemossa & Deià

The MA-10: Mallorca’s Most Beautiful (and Terrifying) Road

Start Time: 8:00am departure from Palma End Time: 9:00pm return to accommodation Driving Distance: 110km (allow 4 hours total driving time)

Today you tackle the MA-10 coastal road, a serpentine ribbon of asphalt that clings to limestone cliffs 400 meters above the Mediterranean. This road has 112 hairpin turns, and each one reveals another postcard-perfect vista. But it’s also where rental car companies make their money – the guardrails are littered with scrape marks from overconfident tourists.

Valldemossa: Where Chopin Fell in Love (and You Will Too)

Arrival: 9:30am (1-hour drive from Palma) Duration: 2.5 hours

Valldemossa perches 400 meters above sea level, its honey-colored stone houses cascading down terraced slopes. This is where Frédéric Chopin and George Sand spent the winter of 1838-39, and where you’ll understand why they chose exile here. The 14th-century Carthusian Monastery (€9.50 entrance) preserves their cells exactly as they left them – Chopin’s piano still sits by the window where he composed his “Raindrop Prelude.”

Don’t Miss The monastery’s pharmacy, with ceramic jars containing medieval remedies. The guided tour includes a piano recital at 11:30am (worth the extra €3). Outside, Carrer de la Rosa is lined with traditional pottery shops selling siurells (clay figurines) that whistle when you blow through them.

Coffee Break Ca’n Molinas (Carrer Blanquerna 15) serves coca de patata (sweet potato pastry) that’s been made the same way since 1920. €2.80, and Maria behind the counter remembers every customer.

Deià: The Village That Seduced Nobel Prize Winners

Arrival: 1:00pm (30-minute scenic drive from Valldemossa) Duration: 3 hours including beach visit

Robert Graves made Deià famous when he moved here in 1929, but the village had been seducing artists for centuries before him. Today it seduces millionaires instead – a typical stone house costs €2.5 million, and the Hotel La Residencia charges €850/night for the privilege of breakfast with hedge fund managers.

But the beauty remains undeniable. Stone terraces carved by Moorish hands 800 years ago still cascade toward the sea. Ancient olive trees twist into sculptures that would make Henry Moore weep. And from Cala Deià, a hidden pebble cove 30 minutes downhill, the view back up to the village looks like a Renaissance painting come to life.

The Walk to Cala Deià Follow the signposts from the village center. The path descends through olive groves and carob trees, with glimpses of the sea growing larger with each turn. The beach itself is stones, not sand, but the water is crystalline and the mountain backdrop is incomparable. Restaurant Ca’s Patro March (on the beach) serves grilled fish that’s been caught that morning – expect €25-35 per person.

Back in the Village Browse Ca’n Xoroi gallery (Carrer Es Clot) for local ceramics, then have coffee at Café Sa Fonda where the tables overlook terraces that plunge toward the sea.

Port de Sóller’s horseshoe bay, where the mountains meet the sea and time seems to slow to Mediterranean pace.

Day 4: Sóller and Sa Calobra – The Golden Valley and the Snake Road

Sóller: More Than Just a Pretty Train Ride

Start Time: 8:30am departure End Time: 8:00pm return Driving Distance: 95km total

Sóller sits in a valley so lush it’s called the “Golden Bowl,” surrounded by the Tramuntana’s highest peaks. The town made its fortune from oranges and almonds, and you’ll smell the citrus groves long before you see them. This is also terminus of the famous wooden train from Palma, but arriving by car means you can explore the surrounding valleys that train passengers never see.

Morning in Sóller (9:30am-12:00pm) Park in Plaça Constitució (free for 2 hours) and admire the Church of Sant Bartomeu, designed by a disciple of Antoni Gaudí. The iron and stone facade looks like something from Barcelona’s Eixample district. Next door, Can Prunera (€5 entrance) houses an impressive collection of modernist and contemporary art in a restored 1911 mansion.

The vintage tram to Port de Sóller (€7 return) rattles through orange groves for 20 minutes – it’s touristy but charming, especially when the conductor rings the bell at every corner (which is often).

Port de Sóller (12:30pm-2:00pm) The horseshoe bay is protected by pine-covered hills, creating a microclimate perfect for swimming even in October. The promenade, lined with Belle Époque hotels and seafood restaurants, has barely changed since the 1920s. Restaurant Es Passeig serves the island’s best paella marinera (€16) with prawns caught that morning.

Sa Calobra: The Most Beautiful Traffic Jam in Europe

Departure from Port de Sóller: 2:30pm Arrival at Sa Calobra: 3:30pm (13km, but allow 1 hour) Duration: 2.5 hours including return drive

The SA-2141 road to Sa Calobra is famous for all the right reasons and infamous for several others. Built in the 1930s as a feat of engineering ambition, it descends 800 meters to sea level through a series of hairpins so tight the road literally ties itself in a knot – there’s a section where you drive under yourself.

The destination is Cala Sa Calobra, a pebble beach at the mouth of the Torrent de Pareis canyon. In summer, this tiny cove hosts 2,000 visitors daily, creating a surreal scene of crowds in paradise. But the journey is the point – every turn reveals another impossible vista of cliffs, sea, and sky.

The Reality Parking costs €6 and fills by 11am in summer. The beach is pebbles, not sand. The walk through the canyon to reach the sea takes 10 minutes through a tunnel carved in the 1950s. But when you emerge and see the limestone walls soaring 200 meters above a patch of turquoise water, you’ll understand why people make the pilgrimage.

Timing Strategy Arrive after 3pm when the tour buses start leaving, or come at 7am when only locals are around. The light at sunset, when the canyon walls glow orange, is magical – but the drive back in darkness requires steady nerves.

Return Options The boat back to Port de Sóller (€15, 1.5 hours, operates April-October) lets you see the coast from sea level while someone else navigates the hairpins. Worth it if your knuckles are still white from the drive down.

Day 5: Northern Wonders – Pollensa & Cap de Formentor

Pollensa: Where Romans Built and Artists Still Paint

Start Time: 9:00am departure from accommodation End Time: 9:30pm return Driving Distance: 140km total

Pollensa is where Mallorca shows its cultured side without trying too hard. Romans founded it, Arabs refined it, and centuries of artists have painted it. Unlike tourist magnets like Deià, Pollensa retains the rhythm of a working Spanish town – locals gather for evening paseo, children play football in ancient squares, and the weekly market (Sundays) sells vegetables, not souvenirs.

Morning in Pollensa (10:00am-1:00pm) Park near the Church of Our Lady of Angels and climb the Calvari Steps all 365 of them, each representing a day of the year. The cypress-lined stairway was built in 1799 as a pilgrimage route, and locals still climb it every Good Friday. The chapel at the top is simple, but the views across red-tile rooftops to the Tramuntana peaks are sublime.

In town, Plaça Major hosts a Sunday market that’s been running since 1337. Even on other days, the square buzzes with café life. Hotel Juma (on the square) serves excellent coffee and croissants while you watch the world wake up.

The Museu Municipal (€3 entrance, Carrer Guillem Cifre de Colonya) houses surprising treasures, including Roman mosaics found during house renovations and paintings by local artists who’ve documented the town’s evolution over decades.

Cap de Formentor: The Meeting Point of Wind and Stone

Departure from Pollensa: 1:30pm Arrival at Lighthouse: 2:45pm (13km drive, allow 1 hour 15 minutes) Duration: 3.5 hours including return

Cap de Formentor is Mallorca’s dramatic finale – a 20km peninsula that juts into the Mediterranean like a stone finger pointing toward Menorca. The drive alone justifies the trip: the road clings to cliff edges 300 meters above crashing waves, revealing new vistas around each bend.

The peninsula has three distinct stops:

Mirador Es Colomer (Kilometer 5) The most photographed viewpoint in Mallorca, overlooking needle-sharp rocks that pierce the sea. Tour buses stop here, so expect crowds, but the views are genuinely spectacular. The stone viewing platform was built in the 1960s and offers 180-degree panoramas.

Playa de Formentor (Kilometer 12) A pine-backed beach where the Hotel Formentor has hosted celebrities since 1929 (Winston Churchill honeymooned here). The beach is public, but parking costs €8 and fills early. The water is deep and brilliantly clear – perfect for swimming.

Formentor Lighthouse (Kilometer 20) The road ends at the lighthouse, built in 1863 at the peninsula’s tip. This is where Mallorca runs out of land and the open Mediterranean begins. On clear days, you can see Menorca 40km away. Sunset from here is legendary, but the return drive in darkness is challenging.

Timing is Everything Summer brings traffic jams on the narrow coastal road. Private cars are restricted 10am-6pm June-September (residents and hotel guests only), but you can take the shuttle bus from Port de Pollença (€12 return). Best months for driving are April-May and October-November.

The Formentor lighthouse stands sentinel at Mallorca’s northernmost point, where limestone cliffs meet endless Mediterranean blue.

Wildlife Watching Cap de Formentor is a migration bottleneck. In spring and autumn, thousands of birds funnel through this narrow peninsula. Bring binoculars to spot peregrine falcons, Eleonora’s falcons, and during migration, everything from flamingos to Egyptian vultures.

Day 6: Eastern Coves & Sineu Market Day

Sineu Market: The Real Mallorca

Market Day: Wednesdays only, 8:00am-2:00pm Drive Time: 45 minutes from northern accommodations Duration: 2 hours (market ends at 2pm sharp)

If today is Wednesday, drop everything and drive to Sineu for the island’s most authentic market. This isn’t a tourist show – it’s a working livestock and produce market that’s operated continuously since 1318. Yes, you can still buy goats, pigs, and chickens alongside tomatoes and almonds.

The Livestock Section Behind the church, farmers gather with trailers full of sheep, goats, and the occasional donkey. Bidding happens in rapid-fire Mallorquí, and handshake deals seal purchases that have fed families for generations. It’s surreal and wonderful.

The Produce Vendors Local farmers sell vegetables, herbs, and fruit that was growing yesterday. Look for ramallet tomatoes (string tomatoes that keep for months), Mallorcan capers, and honey from mountain hives. Prices are a fraction of what you’ll pay in Palma.

Where to Eat Restaurant Celler es Grop (Carrer Major 18) serves traditional Mallorcan lunch in a 15th-century cellar. The fixed menu (€22) includes soup, roast lamb, vegetables, and local wine. Book ahead – it’s popular with Spanish families.

Southeast Coves: Paradise with a Parking Problem

Afternoon Base: Santanyí area Beach Time: 2:00pm-7:00pm Drive Time: 30 minutes from Sineu to Santanyí

The southeast coast hides Mallorca’s most photographed beaches in a series of coves carved by millennia of waves. These calas (coves) feature impossibly blue water, white sand beaches, and limestone cliffs that glow golden at sunset. They’re also victim to their own Instagram fame – expect crowds, expensive parking, and early morning queues in summer.

Cala Llombards A perfectly formed horseshoe cove surrounded by low cliffs and pine trees. The beach is small (100 meters long) but the sand is pristine and the water is shallow enough for children. Reality Check Parking costs €5 and the 40 spaces fill by 10am in summer. The 10-minute walk from the parking area keeps away some crowds.

Cala s’Almunia Technically not a beach but a natural swimming pool carved into the rocks. No sand, no facilities, just crystal-clear water and limestone platforms perfect for sunbathing. The approach requires a 15-minute hike over rough ground, but the reward is a secret swimming spot that looks like a magazine cover.

Local Secret Cala des Burgit, 500 meters south of s’Almunia. Even smaller, even less accessible, but even more beautiful. Follow the coastal path and look for a tiny gap in the cliffs. Only locals and persistent explorers find this one.

Where to Stay Hotel Villa Sirena in Santanyí (€120-180/night) puts you within 15 minutes of six different coves. Family-run, pool, parking, and Maria at reception knows which beaches will be least crowded each day.

Day 7: Es Trenc & Farewell to Paradise

Es Trenc: The Beach That Time Forgot

Start Time: 9:00am departure for Es Trenc End Time: 6:00pm departure to airport Duration: Full morning at beach, afternoon departure prep

Your final morning deserves Es Trenc, often called Mallorca’s most beautiful beach and one of the few that lives up to the hype. This 3-kilometer stretch of white sand and turquoise water looks like the Caribbean but sits just 30 minutes from Palma Airport – making it perfect for your final dose of Mallorcan paradise.

What Makes Es Trenc Special This is one of the last undeveloped beaches on the island. No hotels, no apartment blocks, just sand dunes, salt flats, and the occasional beach bar that serves grilled fish under pine trees. The water is shallow for 50 meters offshore, warming quickly in spring and staying comfortable until November.

The Northern End Wilder and less crowded, popular with naturists and those seeking space. The dunes here are protected habitat – stick to marked paths to avoid disturbing nesting sites.

The Central Section Where most visitors congregate, with the main beach bars and sun lounger rentals (€12/day). Restaurante Salobrar serves excellent paella (€16) and cold beer while you watch kite surfers take advantage of the afternoon breeze.

The Southern End Near the salt flats (Salines de Llevant), where pink-tinged water and mounds of white salt create an otherworldly landscape. The salt has been harvested here since Roman times, and the flats attract flamingos in spring and autumn.

Es Trenc’s 3km of pristine white sand and Caribbean-blue water – your perfect farewell to Mallorca’s natural beauty.

Colònia de Sant Jordi: A Fishing Village That Stayed Real

Lunch Stop: 1:00pm-3:00pm Drive Time: 10 minutes from Es Trenc

Colònia de Sant Jordi remains authentically Mallorcan despite being surrounded by tourist developments. This working fishing village has a small harbor where boats return with the morning catch, waterfront restaurants serving what they caught, and a pace of life that hasn’t changed in decades.

Where to Eat Restaurante Salicornia (Carrer Gabriel Roca 85) specializes in rice dishes cooked over wood fires. Their arròs de peix (fish rice, €18) uses whatever the boats brought in that morning. The terrace overlooks the harbor, and owner Miguel explains each ingredient while you eat.

Alternative: Sa Roqueta (Avinguda Primavera 24) for tapas and local wine. The gamba de Mallorca (local prawns, €16) are caught in traps just offshore and served simply grilled with lemon.

The Salt Flats Walk A 20-minute stroll around the Salines de Llevant reveals an industrial landscape that’s accidentally beautiful. Mountains of white salt, pink-tinged water, and specialized plants that thrive in salt create an otherworldly scene. Free to explore, and the sunset light here is spectacular.

Airport Departure: Saying Goodbye

Departure from Colònia: 3:30pm Airport Arrival: 4:15pm (45-minute drive) Flight Check-in: Allow 2.5 hours for international flights

The drive back to Palma Airport (PMI) takes you past the Tramuntana foothills one last time, offering final glimpses of the landscape that’s probably stolen your heart. Return your rental car at least 1.5 hours before departure – the airport rental returns can be chaotic, especially in summer.

Final Tip Don’t buy souvenirs at the airport unless you enjoy paying €8 for olive oil you can get for €3 in town. Instead, stock up on ensaimadas (traditional pastries) from any bakery – they travel well and taste like Mallorca long after you’ve returned home.

The Complete Week: What You’ll Remember

After seven days and 415 kilometers, you’ll have experienced Mallorca’s incredible diversity – from Palma’s Gothic majesty to the Tramuntana’s vertigo-inducing heights, from artist villages clinging to cliffs to fishing ports where time moves to the rhythm of tides.

Your Camera Roll Will Be Full Of La Seu’s soaring buttresses, the hair-raising curves of the MA-10, Deià’s stone terraces cascading toward the sea, Cap de Formentor’s lighthouse standing guard over infinite blue, and Es Trenc’s Caribbean-perfect waters.

Your Taste Buds Will Remember That first cortado in Palma’s old town, coca de patata warm from Valldemossa’s ovens, paella by the sea in Port de Sóller, fresh fish at Sa Calobra, and the final lunch of rice cooked over wood fires while watching fishing boats return to harbor.

Your Heart Will Ache For Those first-light moments when you had beaches to yourself, the scent of orange blossoms in Sóller’s valleys, sunset painting the Formentor cliffs gold, and the realization that one week is never enough to truly know an island this complex and beautiful.

What This Itinerary Teaches You

Mallorca isn’t just beaches and nightlife – it’s an island of incredible cultural depth and natural beauty that rewards those willing to drive its challenging roads and wake up for its magical light. You’ll learn that the journey between destinations is often as beautiful as the destinations themselves, that timing matters more than guidebooks suggest, and that the best discoveries happen when you’re willing to walk a little further or arrive a little earlier than everyone else.

The Most Important Lesson Seven days gives you just enough time to fall in love with Mallorca and nowhere near enough time to understand it fully. But that’s okay – islands worth loving are islands worth returning to, again and again, until their secrets slowly reveal themselves.

This itinerary was crafted from 15 years of exploring Mallorca’s back roads, testing its mountain drives, and learning which beaches reward early risers and which restaurants serve locals instead of tourists. Every detail has been verified as of August 2025, but islands change with the seasons – always confirm current conditions before setting out.