Fornalutx

A village of steps

The heart of Fornalutx is a small square below the parish church, with a few café tables and a view down the valley. From here, lanes of worn stone steps climb and drop between the houses, some barely wide enough for two people to pass. Doorways are framed in dressed stone, shutters are painted green, and pots of geraniums line every ledge. Look up at the eaves: on some older houses the undersides of the roof tiles are painted, an old local custom meant to protect the home.

Fornalutx belongs to the association of the most beautiful villages in Spain, and it wears the title lightly. It is a working village as much as a pretty one. People still tend the terraces, cats doze on the warm steps, and the lanes fall silent in the heat of the afternoon.

Terraces beneath Puig Major

Around the village the hillsides are carved into terraces held up by dry-stone walls, planted with oranges, lemons and olives and watered by old stone channels that carry water from mountain springs. This patient engineering is exactly what earned the Serra de Tramuntana its place as a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape in 2011. Above it all stands Puig Major. Its summit is a military zone closed to walkers, but its great grey bulk fills the view from almost every corner of the village.

The best views are from the upper lanes and from the road above the village, where Fornalutx appears as a single stepped mass of stone and terracotta against the valley. For more on the island’s citrus and oil, see our guide to oranges, olive oil and almonds.

The walk to Biniaraix and Sóller

An easy and lovely walk leaves Fornalutx along an old path between stone walls and groves to Biniaraix, a hamlet of stone houses further down the valley, in about half an hour. From there you can carry on down to Sóller for lunch and return by bus or taxi, or turn uphill into the Barranc de Biniaraix, a paved mule track that climbs a gorge in hundreds of steps towards the high plateau.

More ambitious walkers use Fornalutx as the start or finish of stages on the GR 221 through the high mountains. The paths are well marked but steep, and the terraces give little shade, so set off early in summer.

The mountain road to Cúber, Gorg Blau and Lluc

Fornalutx lies just below the Ma-10, the road that crosses the Tramuntana from Sóller towards Pollença. Climbing above the village, it passes the Mirador de Ses Barques with its view over Port de Sóller, then threads below the flanks of Puig Major to the reservoirs of Cúber and Gorg Blau, two lakes of green water in a bare, stony landscape that feels a world away from the orange groves.

Cúber is the starting point for some of the finest high walks on the island, including the descent past l’Ofre to the Barranc de Biniaraix. Beyond Gorg Blau the road continues to Lluc and its sanctuary. Allow plenty of time: the road is narrow in places and busy with cyclists. Stops worth making:

• Mirador de Ses Barques, high above Port de Sóller
• Cúber reservoir, for an easy stroll on the high plateau
• Gorg Blau, where the turning for Sa Calobra drops away towards the sea
• Lluc, for the sanctuary and the cool holm oak woods

Evenings and staying over

Most visitors arrive mid-morning and leave by late afternoon, and that is when Fornalutx is at its best. As the light turns amber on the stone, swifts scream over the rooftops in summer, neighbours sit out on their steps and the only sounds are church bells and water running in the channels. If you can, stay a night or two; choosing a base weighs the Tramuntana against other parts of the island.

The nearest weekly market is in Sóller on Saturday, a good place to stock up on fruit, cheese, olives and sobrassada. Eating in the village is simple and local: pa amb oli, grilled meat, and oranges from the terraces squeezed to order.

Arriving and parking

Fornalutx is about 45 minutes from Palma airport outside peak traffic, through the Sóller tunnel and up the valley; drive times gives other routes. Cars cannot enter the old lanes, and the small car parks at the edge of the village fill quickly in summer, so come early or late. Some buses link the village with Sóller; check the current timetable.

Fornalutx combines naturally with Sóller and its port on the same day, or with the mountain road to Lluc for a full crossing of the range.