Mallorca offers plenty of beautiful scenery with many villages, mountains and hidden bays rarely discovered by tourists. Palma being the capital has a beautiful historic centre which is over looked by a Gothic cathedral. Elsewhere, things are very different. Palma itself, the Balearic’s one real city, is a bustling, historic place whose grand mansions and magnificent Gothic cathedral defy the expectations of many visitors. And so does the northwest coast, where the rearing peaks of the rugged Serra de Tramuntana harbor beautiful cove beaches, a pair of intriguing monasteries at Valldemossa and Lluc, and a string of delightful old towns - Deià, Sóller and Pollença – as well as the picturesque villages of Valldemossa and Fornalutx. There’s a startling variety and physical beauty to the land, too, which, along with the mildness of the climate, has drawn tourists to visit and well-heeled expatriates to settle here since the nineteenth century, including artists and writers of many descriptions, from Robert Graves to Roger McGough.