Pollença & El Calvari

Pollença is the town many people confuse with Port de Pollença, but it sits a few kilometers inland and is the exact opposite of the harbor. No beach, no promenade, just a quiet old town of honey-colored stone on the slope. The landmark is the Calvari staircase, three hundred and sixty-five steps running dead straight up to a small chapel, cypresses left and right. Walking up takes ten minutes and a bit of breath, at the top you have the whole town below you. Wednesday mornings the weekly market fills the Plaça Major, not a souvenir market but vegetables, olives, cheese. Around it cafes under plane trees, a few galleries, the old Roman bridge at the edge of town. Being early pays off, from late morning the tour buses come for an hour, after that it goes quiet again. If you are staying in the Pollença area, don't just treat the town as a drive-through.