The villages that are nestled in the Northwest part of the island are something not to be missed when visiting Mallorca. These two are located in the beautiful Serra de Tramuntana mountains and filled with traditional stone architecture, walkways, fruit trees and hiking trails. The day we were here we enjoyed a hike as well as walking around both towns.
Getting there:
To reach these small mountain towns requires a car. It took us 45 minutes to get to Biniaraix from Palma. Walking between the two villages in very popular and can be completed in a 4.5 mile loop but significant portions of the route are on the road.
Biniaraix
This small quiet hamlet is known for its orange production. Driving here we passed lots of stone houses and groves of lemon and orange trees. We found space to park our car right outside town and walked to the trailhead. The hike we decided to do was called The Barranc de Biniaraix which is a 3.1 mile roundtrip loop in a deep gorge that had an elevation gain of 1,314 feet. It's part of the well known GR221 route.
The Hike Up:
We had beautiful views looking back at the town and soon began gaining elevation as we made our way up into the gorge along the very rocky path past walled terraces filled with olive trees.
As we climbed there were great views of the Mediterranean on the horizon beyond the town. We were surprised to see lots of stone structures along the route as we continued further up the gorge. These would be quite a distance to reach by foot and we wondered if many of them were cottages to get out of the summer heat.
Although it was dry the day we were here it was fun to cross several bridges and see the system built to carry the water through the amazing rocks of the gorge to use for irrigation.
After we completed the hike we had fun walking through the couple of streets in the main area. Since it was January it was super quiet so we have no idea what it would be like during the busier times of the year.
The Drive between villages
It's only a little over a mile between these two beautiful towns but it's a gorgeous drive filled with narrow passages between stone walls and buildings, lots of fruit groves, homes and gardens along the way.
Fornalutx
This pretty small town is nestled in the Sóller Valley and has about 700 residents. It dates back to the 13th century and was originally an Arab farmstead. It's filled with narrow alleys, steep stone steps, and alleyway pots, which along with its beautiful high mountain setting made use feel like we were walking around a fairy tale town from a movie. The Christmas decorations were still up around town and we loved meandering our way around on foot. We stopped to have a yummy bowl of seafood stew on a sunny terrace at Restaurant Es turó.
This time of year made the entire area pretty idyllic to explore as the temperatures were perfect for hiking and we ran into very few other people. It just meant most of the businesses were closed for the off season.
January 2023
The landscape looks a bit like Northern Arizona!