Pollenca Mallorca

At the eastern end of the Serra de Tramuntana and tucked between two hills, each topped by a sacred site, Pollenca is the perfect Mallorcan town. Large enough to avoid being twee but small enough to wander round in a morning, it has none of the feel of other towns which have succumbed under the sheer weight of tourism. Foreigners have long been attracted here, but Pollenca has learned to accept and adapt to tourism without losing its soul. Cafe life is still the rule; if you want to join in, come on a Sunday morning when the Placa Major is filled with market stalls and the locals congregate after church to relax in the Cafe Espanyol.

The Pont Romi (Roman bridge) on the edge of town gives a clue to Pollenca's long history. The name Pollena dates from the 14th century, when settlers from Alcudia named the town after their former Roman capital. Among many historic buildings is a former Jesuit convent, now the town hall. From here you climb 365 steps, lined with cypress trees, to reach the Calvari church, with its ancient wooden cross and views of Puig de Maria . The Calvari steps are the scene of a moving procession each Good Friday, when a figure of Christ is removed from a cross and carried down the steps by torchlight.

The municipal museum in the former Dominican convent contains the remains of prehistoric sculptures shaped like bulls, as well as a mandala (Tibetan sand painting given by the Dalai Lama in 1990 The cloisters of the convent are the venue for Pollena's celebrated classical music festival.)