Sóller lies in a basin of orange and lemon trees, enclosed by the highest peaks of the Serra de Tramuntana, and it is the nearest thing in Mallorca to a green bowl. For centuries the only way in or out was a mountain pass or a boat, and the isolation made the valley rich and strange. Local merchants sold oranges to France and returned with money and ideas, and some of the town's buildings show it, including a modernista church front and a bank in a style borrowed from Barcelona. The old wooden train from Palma, which opened in 1912, still runs through tunnels and viaducts to the station in the middle of town, and a small tram carries passengers down to the harbour at Port de Sóller.
For motorcyclists, the road to Sóller is one of the great pleasures of the island. The old road over the pass, the Coll de Sóller, climbs in a long series of hairpins through olives and pines, with views down to the sea, and it is a lovely, demanding ride. Since the late 1990s, a toll tunnel has offered a quicker route under the mountain, and traffic has thinned on the old road accordingly. From Sóller, the Ma-10 runs north-east along the spine of the range, through Fornalutx, a village of stone and green shutters that is often called one of the prettiest in Spain, and on towards Lluc and the northern coast.
The Tramuntana was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 as a cultural landscape, because of the centuries of terracing and water management that shaped the slopes. You can see the stone terraces from the road, rising in steps above the town. Spring is the most beautiful time, with almond blossom early and wild flowers later, though cyclists crowd the roads then, so ride with care. Summer brings heavy tourist traffic, particularly on the coast road, and the best hours are early morning and evening.
With almost fourteen thousand people, Sóller has fuel and every kind of food. Order the freshly squeezed orange juice, which is made from the local fruit, and a sweet ensaïmada, the spiral pastry that is the island's emblem. A leisurely coffee on the square, beneath the church, is a good place to rest between passes.