Sóller to Deià

The only place in Mallorca 1,000 Places To See Before You Die mentions is a hotel in Deià, a small town on the north side of the island.  The book also mentions that 'an old mule track provides a delightful three-hour trek through mountainside lemon and olive groves to the nearby village of Sóller' and, although we have no interest in going out of our way to see a posh hotel, a 'delightful three-hour trek' has our names written all over it.

On Day Nine of our recent trip to Mallorca we awoke early to catch the morning bus to Sóller from Port d'Alcudia, an almost three-hour trek all of its own.  Weaving through the mountains and occasionally stopping in adorable little hamlet villages to drop off or pick up backpackers and/or locals, the drive provided us with amazing vistas of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Serra de Tramuntana mountains.  The drive was breathtaking.

We arrived in Sóller just before noon and were almost instantly smitten with our surroundings.  Situated gorgeously in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, Sóller is a delicious little town and, although it possesses a few tourist attractions (a scenic train to Palma (€10/€17), a trolley to the port area (€4), etc.), Sóller felt very authentic and we loved every bit of it.  If we ever go back to Mallorca, Sóller is where we'd like to stay.

Our plan upon arriving in Sóller was to promptly begin our hike to Deià and then grab the bus back to Sóller in time for the last scenic train to Palma at 6:30pm.  We did linger in Sóller for a bit longer than originally planned but, after getting our instructions from the tourist information outlet and finding the train station, we made our way to the trailhead without further delay.

The 'old mule track' was very well maintained and of moderate difficulty.  The picturesque tiered olive groves and occasional views of the Med beyond the jagged mountain peaks made the effort worthwhile by themselves and, accompanied by the sounds of bells around the necks of grazing sheep, this truly was an idyllic experience.

Although we highly recommend this hike we would not recommend it during peak season.  Our experience would've been vastly different had it been crowded and the trail, at times quite narrow, is not meant for high occupancy.

Due to our excessive picture taking, the walk took us almost four hours to complete, which meant we didn't have any time to spend in Deià before catching the bus back to Sóller.  But, from what little we saw of Deià and the posh hotel mentioned in my book we don't think we missed much and were happy to get back to Sóller.

Our excursion from Sóller to Deià, including the morning bus ride from Port d'Alcudia, had been a perfect way to spend the day and remains the highlight of our three weeks on Mallorca.