Rent a Car in Mallorca

Mallorca (Majorca to many British visitors) is far more than the resort strips. The dramatic Serra de Tramuntana in the northwest — Valldemossa, Deià, the hairpins down to Sa Calobra — feels worlds away from the flat farmland of Es Pla or the quiet sandy coves of the east around Cala Mondragó and Cala Varques. Trains and buses link Palma with bigger towns like Sóller, Inca and Manacor, but the prettiest stretches of coast and the inland villages sit well off the regular routes.

With your own car you skip the timetables and reach the calas before the tour coaches do, then double back for a long lunch in a mountain village. For a week's holiday, car hire almost always works out cheaper and freer than stringing together day trips by bus — and it lets you decide, that morning, whether you fancy the mountains, the wine country or a remote beach.