S'Agaro, Spain

If you're arriving by train at SÓLLER, the obvious option is to take the tram (7am–9pm, every 30min–1hr; 15min; € 3 each way) from outside the station down to the seashore at Port de Sóller, just 5km away. If you do pass straight through, however, you'll miss one of the most laid-back and enjoyable towns on Mallorca, though it's the general flavour of the place that appeals rather than any specific sight: the town's narrow, sloping lanes are cramped by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stone houses, whose fancy grilles and big wooden doors once housed the region's well-heeled fruit merchants.

All streets lead to the main square, Plaça Constitució, an informal, pint-sized affair of crowded cafés just down the hill from the train station. The square is dominated by the hulking mass of the church of Sant Bartomeu, a crude but still somehow rather engaging neo-Gothic remodelling of the medieval original, its main saving grace being the enormous rose window cut high in the main facade. Inside, the cavernous nave is suitably dark and gloomy, the penitential home of a string of gaudy Baroque altarpieces.

There's a reasonably good chance of finding a vacant room in Sóller during the high season. Options include the Hotel El Guía, c/Castanyer 2 (971 630 227, www.sollernet.com/elguia; closed Dec– April; € 71-100), a lovely, old-fashioned one-star place metres from the train station; and the much more upmarket Ca'l Bisbe, in an immaculately restored old mansion, also a short stroll from the station at c/Bisbe Nadal 10 (971 631 228, www.hotelcalbisbe.com; € 101-150). Easily the best place to eat in town is ADon Capriani, Gran Via 43 (t971 633 049; closed Mon), where the speciality is home-made pasta, and main courses average around € 16.