Banyalbufar clings to a slope above the sea on Mallorca's west coast, and the first thing you see is stairs. Thousands of stone terraces, built by the Moors and kept going ever since, step down from the road toward the water, holding up vines and tomatoes and a few lemon trees. The name is thought to come from Arabic, something like "little vineyard by the sea". The Malvasia wines grown here were once exported widely, and the village still makes a little. The terraces and the watchtower on the cliff, the Torre del Verger, give the place its character.
The Ma-10, the long road along the Serra de Tramuntana, is one of the finest motorcycle roads in the Balearics, and Banyalbufar is a highlight of it. Between Estellencs and Esporles, the road tracks the cliffs with a mix of long open bends and tight hairpins, the sea glittering below on one side and the mountain on the other. It is narrow in places, with stone walls close at the edge and tour buses that take up more than their share. Early mornings and late afternoons are quietest, and in spring the almond blossom and wild flowers lift the whole mountainside. In summer, the roads are busy with cyclists, so patience is needed.
The Serra de Tramuntana was made a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape in 2011, mostly for the way people have shaped the mountains over centuries, with terraces, dry-stone walls, water channels and mills. Holm oaks and pines fill the upper slopes and the air smells of resin and salt. Banyalbufar is small, with a population of a few hundred, but it has a good handful of restaurants and cafés with terraces looking out over the water, where you can stop for coffee and a pastry or a proper lunch.
For fuel, do not count on the village. Esporles, about six kilometres to the south-east, is bigger, and Calvià and Palma have the main services, so fill up before you tackle this stretch. The road continues north to Valldemossa and Deià, and every kilometre is scenery. If you are travelling in high season, expect parking to be tight and take it slowly through the village streets.