One More Day · Experiences

Scenic road trips in Mallorca

The roads that made this island famous. Sa Calobra, Valldemossa, the lighthouse at Formentor — driven in the right order, at the hours when the road is still yours. Car and driver, or just the route and the timings if you'd rather do it alone.

Driving difficulty

One to five, judged on hairpins, road width and what happens if you meet a coach coming the other way. Four or five means confident mountain driving, not a first go in a hire car.

Best time

When to actually be on the road or at the viewpoint — before the tour buses, before the heat, or for the light. Mallorca's mountain roads are a different experience at 8am than at 1pm.

Distance from Palma

Drive time from the city centre to that exact spot, road distance not straight-line. Everything here is doable in a day; some of it is better split across two.

Don't want to drive it yourself? We do these routes with a private driver, no rental car, no wrong turns. Plan a road trip →

Two different days

The routes, leg by leg

The west coast and the Formentor peninsula don't belong in the same day — they're on opposite ends of the island. Pick one, or spread them across a two-day stay.

An aerial view of a road curving through the hills

Route one · West coast

Valldemossa → Deià → Sóller → Sa Calobra

Total drive

~95 km round trip

Time needed

Full day, 7–8 hrs

Difficulty

Moderate to hard

Start by

8:00–8:30am

Palma → Valldemossa17 km, ~25 min. The road climbs almost immediately — first hairpins inside 20 minutes. Arrive by 8:30 and you'll have the village to yourself for half an hour before the coaches land.
Valldemossa → Deià10 km, ~20 min on the coast road, with pull-offs for the view down to Cala de Deià. Park at the top of the village — the lanes into the centre are one-car-wide.
Deià → Sóller10 km, ~20 min through Llucalcari and past Mirador de ses Barques — stop here for lunch with the whole bay of Port de Sóller below you.
Sóller → Sa Calobra32 km, ~50 min. Over the Coll de Sóller or through the toll tunnel, then the Ma-2141 — 12 km and roughly 30 hairpins down to sea level, including the famous 270° turn at Nus de sa Corbata.
At Sa CalobraWalk through the tunnel to Torrent de Pareis, or straight to the pebble cove. Budget 90 minutes. The road back up is the same road, so leave by 5pm to beat the evening coach traffic.

An empty road curving away between the hills

Route two · Formentor peninsula

Pollença → Mirador des Colomer → the lighthouse

Total drive

~120 km round trip

Time needed

Half to full day

Difficulty

Moderate

Start by

7:30–8:00am

Palma → Pollença52 km, ~50 min on the fast Ma-13, mostly straight. This leg is just transport — the road doesn't get interesting until Pollença.
Pollença → Mirador des Colomer7 km, ~15 min of proper switchbacks climbing onto the peninsula. Stop here regardless of what's ahead — genuinely one of the best views on the island.
Colomer → the lighthouse10 km, ~20 min along a narrow ridge road with sea on both sides. In peak season cars are barred past the beach checkpoint after 10am — you either arrive early or park and take the shuttle bus.
At the lighthouseShort walk from the car park to the viewpoint. Bring water — there's nothing to buy at the end, and it's exposed with no shade.

Stop by stop

The hotspots on their own

Same places, broken out individually with their own difficulty score, timing and map link — useful if you're building your own day rather than following ours exactly.

Showing all eight.

A quiet road running between green trees toward a village

Village · 22 km / ≈25 min from Palma

Valldemossa

Stone lanes, potted geraniums, and the monastery where Chopin spent one miserable rainy winter with George Sand. The road up is fast and well-surfaced — the difficulty here is entirely about parking and crowds, not driving.

2 / 5Fast road, tight village parking

Best time: Before 9amCoach tours land by 10
Road type: Wide, pavedSome hairpins near the top
Park at: Public lotsOutside the old town

Comfortable shoes, cobbles
Cash for parking
Cafés open by 9

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A narrow lane winding down through olive terraces

Village · 28 km / ≈30 min from Palma

Deià

A cluster of honey-stone houses stacked up a hill full of artists, writers and now a fair number of very expensive rental cars. The coast road in from Valldemossa is one of the prettiest short drives on the island — easy, well-maintained, mostly two lanes.

2 / 5Easy road, narrow village lanes

Best time: Mid-morningFor village + viewpoint
Road type: Two-lane coast roadWell surfaced
Park at: Top of the villageDon't drive into the centre

Walking shoes for the lanes
Cala de Deià below is a separate, harder drive
Good lunch spots

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A rocky cove of clear blue water below a cliff

Cove · 30 km / ≈35 min from Palma

Cala de Deià

A beautiful rocky cove undone by its own access road — two kilometres of single-track lane with passing places, switchbacks, and a real risk of meeting another car with nowhere to go. Reviewers who've driven it in the rain specifically warn people off. Worth it, but only if you're a confident, patient driver.

4 / 5Single-track lane, nowhere to pass

Best time: Early, dry weatherAvoid rain entirely
Road type: Single track2 km, passing places only
Park at: Limited lotFills by 10am

Confident, patient driving
Skip it if it's raining
Two restaurants, reserve ahead
A taxi down is genuinely the easier option for many people

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A high view over the bay and the port far below

Viewpoint · 36 km / ≈40 min from Palma

Mirador de ses Barques

A viewpoint-slash-restaurant on the road between Sóller and the Lluc monastery, looking straight down over the whole bay of Port de Sóller. Reservations get you the terrace edge tables for sunset — book ahead, since it's popular with locals as well as visitors.

2 / 5Easy pull-off on a main road

Best time: SunsetBook a terrace table
Road type: Main road, wideMa-10
Park at: On-siteSmall lot, arrive early

Reserve for sunset
Closed Mondays
Good rest stop either direction

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A road switchbacking steeply down a bare valley

Mountain pass · 45 km / ≈50 min from Palma

Nus de sa Corbata → Sa Calobra

The single most famous stretch of road on the island — 12 kilometres and roughly 30 hairpins dropping the Tramuntana range straight into the sea, engineered so tightly that one section loops fully back on itself, the "tie knot" the road is named for. Spectacular, and genuinely demanding: narrow, no barriers in places, and shared with coaches, cyclists and camper vans in peak season.

5 / 5Narrow hairpins, shared with coaches

Best time: Before 10amOr after 5pm down
Road type: Ma-2141~30 hairpins, no barriers
Park at: Sa Calobra lotCash for the meter

Confident mountain driving
Watch for cyclists on blind bends
Not for a first day in a hire car
Car break-ins reported at the parking lot — leave nothing visible

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A viewpoint over cliffs dropping into the sea

Viewpoint · 27 km / ≈30 min from Palma

Mirador d'en Ricardo Roca

A clifftop terrace near Estellencs, on the quieter southern stretch of the Tramuntana road — fewer coaches than the Valldemossa side, and one of the best sunset spots on the island, with the mountains and sea folding into the same frame. Wild donkeys sometimes wander through.

2 / 5Easy pull-off, small car park

Best time: SunsetArrive 45 min before
Road type: Ma-10, two-laneA few tight bends
Park at: Roadside lotNear the tunnel

Get there early for parking
Bar nearby for a drink
Pairs well with Banyalbufar

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A dramatic clifftop above breaking water

Viewpoint · 79 km / ≈1 h 10 from Palma

Mirador des Colomer

The best view on the Formentor peninsula, arguably better than the lighthouse itself — a clifftop platform over the jagged north coast, usually with a few resident goats for company. Reachable by the 334 bus if you don't want to drive it. Get there for sunrise and you'll likely have it to yourself.

3 / 5Narrow switchbacks, manageable

Best time: SunriseBefore tour buses arrive
Road type: Ma-2210Climbing switchbacks
Park at: Small lotFills fast after 9am

Don't feed the goats
Bus 334 as an alternative
Bring layers — windy up top

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A lighthouse on a rocky headland above the sea

Lighthouse · 91 km / ≈1 h 20 from Palma

Cap de Formentor lighthouse

The end of the road, literally — a 19th-century lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula with cliffs falling straight into the Mediterranean. The catch is timing: in peak season cars are barred past the beach checkpoint from around 10am, and you're left relying on the shuttle bus for the final stretch.

3 / 5Narrow ridge road, easy if timed right

Best time: Before 9:30amCars barred after ~10
Road type: Ma-2210Narrow, sea on both sides
Park at: Lighthouse lotIf arriving early enough

Arrive before the closure
No shade, bring water
Shuttle bus as backup
Check current closure hours seasonally — they shift year to year

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Or let someone else drive

Every hairpin, none of the tension.

Sa Calobra and Cala de Deià are genuinely difficult roads — not exaggerated for the page. A private driver means you watch the view instead of the wing mirror, and we time the route around the light and the crowds rather than a rental return deadline.

Book a driver →

Takes about two minutes. Nothing to pay — you get options and prices back, then decide.

Driving in Mallorca — the questions we get

The things people email us about most.

What is the best scenic drive in Mallorca?

The Ma-10 through the Serra de Tramuntana is the one people come for, with the Sa Calobra descent and its Nus de sa Corbata tie-knot bridge as the highlight. The Formentor peninsula road is the shorter, more dramatic alternative.

How long does the Sa Calobra road take?

Allow around 40 minutes each way from the Ma-10 turn-off — it is 12 km of continuous hairpins and there is nowhere to hurry. Going early avoids both the coaches and the cyclists.

Do you need a car to see the Tramuntana?

A car or a driver. Public transport reaches Sóller and Valldemossa but not the viewpoints, and the best hours for the light are early morning and late afternoon when buses are thin.