Monthly rentals in the Serra de Tramuntana

Sóller is the largest town and the only one with urban daily life: a Saturday market, doctors, schools, shops. The port lies three kilometres away and is reached by the historic tram.

Fornalutx sits above Sóller and is counted among the most beautiful villages in Spain — very small, very steep, very quiet. For shopping you drive down to Sóller.

Deià is the village with the reputation: artists, musicians, a spectacular setting above the sea. Supply is correspondingly small and price levels correspondingly high.

Valldemossa, with its charterhouse, is the most visited place in the range. In summer that means many day visitors; in winter quiet returns.

Through the Sóller tunnel you are 30 minutes from Palma — the fastest link into the range. The old pass road over the Coll de Sóller is more beautiful and considerably slower.

Between Palma and Sóller there is also the historic narrow-gauge railway from 1912, and a tram from Sóller station down to the port. Charming, but no substitute for a car in daily life.

Deià and Valldemossa are reached by the winding Ma-10 and Ma-1110. Expect slow driving, and make sure the listing includes a parking space — in the village centres parking is the biggest practical problem.

It is cooler and damper here than on the coast, markedly so at altitude. Old stone houses are often poorly insulated, and a flat that is gloriously cool in August can be clammy in January.

Check the listing specifically for heating, a fireplace or air conditioning with a heat pump, and for double glazing. In the Tramuntana that is not a comfort detail — it decides how the stay goes.

Sóller stays alive year-round. In Deià and Valldemossa some venues close, but you get the hiking trails and viewpoints practically to yourself — the best walking season in Mallorca runs from October to April anyway.

The Tramuntana works if you walk, put landscape above convenience and take a car for granted. For a three- to six-month stay spent largely outdoors there is nothing comparable on the island.

It works less well for families with school-age children outside Sóller, for anyone without a car, and for anyone who needs warmth and dryness in winter.

Supply is small and goes fast. If nothing is free right now, send us your search profile for the Tramuntana — it pays off here more than in any other region.