Southern Mallorca

Nineteen uninhabited islands and islets make up the only national park in the Balearic Islands, the Parc Nacional Marítim-Terrestre de l’Arxipèlag de Cabrera, an archipelago whose dry, hilly islands are known for their birdlife, rich marine environment and abundant lizard populations. The Illa de Cabrera, the largest of the archipelago and the only one you can visit, sits 16km off the coast of Colònia de Sant Jordi. Other islands are used for wildlife research. Only 200 people per day (300 in August) are allowed to visit this highly protected natural area, so reserve your place at least a day ahead. The main park authority is in Palma.

A twisting fissure in the coastal slab of southern Mallorca forms the impossibly picturesque harbour town of Cala Figuera. Steep scrubby escarpments rise up on all sides from the glassy water, leaving little space for the few houses, bars and restaurants to cling to. Despite its great charm, and proximity to some of Mallorca's busiest resorts, it remains the fishing village it has always been. While a few yachts line up beside the smaller working boats, local fishermen still make their way down the winding inlet before dawn, returning in the evening to mend their nets. Many of their houses have no street access, only private slipways for their launches.

Wedged between the Parc Natural de Mondragó and Ses Salines, Santanyí has been well and truly discovered. Travellers are flocking to this handsome inland town, where honey-coloured churches shelter a fine array of bars, boutiques, ceramic shops and restaurants. Such is its popularity with well-heeled German tourists in particular, that every second shop now seems to be an estate agent or art gallery.

Most of the action spirals around the church-dominated Plaça Major, especially on market days (Wednesdays and Saturdays) when stalls selling local produce, leathergoods and trinkets fill every available central street. Once they pack up, the square is given over anew to laid-back cafes and bars that subtly entice you to linger over tapas and drinks, long into the evening.

At this sprawling prehistoric village, you can wander along rocky pathways and beside rough stone structures that date to 1000 BCE. The site, which includes 28 dwellings and five talayots (square and round stone towers made with – in the case of Capocorb Vell – no mortar). First excavated in the early 1900s, it gives a great sense of the scope and layout of the mysterious settlement. There's a small bar at the entrance where you buy the tickets and beyond that, a place to park.

A natural park encompassing beaches, dunes, wetlands, coastal cliffs and inland agricultural land, the 766-hectare Parc Natural de Mondragó is a beautiful area for swimming or hiking, but is best known as a birdwatching destination. Only 95 hectares of the park are publicly owned: much of the remainder is still divided into small dry-stone-walled fields known as rotes, bearing almonds, figs, carob and olives.

If you’re travelling the coast road from Palma to Capocorb Vell and Cala Pi, take the short detour to this wind-torn, atmospheric headland. If you're on the Ma6014 highway south from S’Arenal, turn right at the sign pointing to ‘Cap Blanc’. You’ll soon come across a lighthouse and desolate-seeming military compound, where you can park.

You can’t get right up to the lighthouse, but can wander around its outbuildings to the sheer cliff it surmounts. From here, the views along the ruddy cliff-face, with Palma and the western mountains in one direction, the Illa de Cabrera in the other, and seabirds circling the Mediterranean sky overhead, are nothing short of breathtaking. If the wind isn't too fierce, this makes a fabulous picnic spot. But be careful with kids or dogs – there's no fence and the drop is abrupt, and almost certainly fatal.

Although the pretty cove beaches and calm, azure waters are still here, they can be hard to find amid the endless bustle of this flashy, overgrown resort. Cala d'Or's five small calas each have its own main drag, where pubs, restaurants and souvenir shops flourish, making it difficult to get a handle on the place.

Cala d’Or’s flashy apex is definitely its yacht marina, Port Petit, one of the most glamorous on Mallorca and the main reason why this corner of Cala d’Or is earning a reputation as a stylish, live-large kind of place.