Artà

Artà is what the rest of Mallorca looked like before the coast was discovered. A hilltop town of seven thousand in the island's rugged, under-visited northeast, it is crowned by a fortress-church reached up a cypress-lined stair, ringed by the wild Llevant mountains, and almost entirely untouched by mass tourism. It has quietly become a haven for a certain kind of traveller — the one who wants the real island rather than the resort version.

The town climbs a hill toward the Santuari de Sant Salvador, a fourteenth-century pilgrimage church built on the foundations of a Moorish fortress, its ramparts giving views across the plain and out to Menorca on a clear day. Below it, a medieval tangle of stone streets, green-shuttered houses, galleries and good cafes spreads around the Plaça del Conqueridor. Artà's history runs deep — the nearby Bronze-Age Talayotic settlement of Ses Païsses is four thousand years old — and the town wears it lightly.

The town, the market, the mountains

Climb the stair to Sant Salvador for the view; it is the thing to do, and the walk up through the old town is half the pleasure. Time your visit for Tuesday morning, when one of the most authentic weekly markets on the island fills the main square — produce, crafts, and a genuinely local crowd rather than a tourist one. Beyond the town, the Parc Natural de Llevant offers some of the island's least-trodden hiking, the old railway Via Verde gives an easy cycling route, and wild beaches like Cala Torta lie a short drive over the hills.

Where to stay

Artà and its surrounding countryside hold some of the island's most characterful rural luxury — the reason discerning travellers base here. Restored fincas and country-house hotels sit in the Llevant hills with pools, gardens and sea-and-mountain views: Cases de Son Barbassa, the hillside Carrossa with its sweep of bays from Alcúdia to Cala Millor, and intimate boutique stays like Forn Nou inside the historic centre. This is agroturismo country at its best — the staffed-finca, slow-mornings, real-Mallorca experience that the coast cannot offer. We know these estates well.

Where to eat

The dining here is authentic rather than showy — traditional Mallorcan kitchens in the old town, the panoramic restaurant up at Sant Salvador, and the accomplished tables of the country hotels for a more refined dinner. This is the part of the island where you eat what the land and the nearby sea produce, simply and well. As ever, the better tables — especially at the finca hotels — reward a booking ahead.

When to come

Spring and autumn are Artà at its finest — the hiking weather ideal, the countryside green, the harvest festivals in autumn, the town calm and authentic year-round. Summer pairs the town with the wild northeastern beaches a short drive away. This is a base for the traveller who wants culture, countryside and quiet over coast and crowd — give it several nights and let the rest of the island come to you.