After a couple of days in sunny Palma we headed out of town, having been picked up by good friends to drive across the island and over the mountains to the magical hilltop village of Deiá where they’ve been living on and off for some 10 years. We’ve been looking forward to coming to Deiá for so long as its reputation is legendary – home to the rich, fabulous and famous ‘where stars go to get away’. 

The poet and novelist Robert Graves who once lived in Deiá, from 1929 until his death in 1985 wrote that “Perfect tranquillity reigns; or you can call it vacancy… the Majorcan countryside is not at all a place to go in search of inspiration; but admirable for people whose minds already teem with ideas that need recording in absolute quiet.” 

No wonder then that so many creative types – writers, artists, musicians and poets, flock here. Sadly, these days, so does everyone else – for the narrow hilltop lanes and winding passageways are thronging with day-trippers and the infamous, loathed-by-locals  Instagram brigade. There are so many rental cars on the switch-back mountain and village roads that in some places it’s bumper to bumper, and that’s on a weekday. Still, turn your back on this mayhem and there are quiet corners in this magical village that are intoxicatingly beautiful. 

Deiá sits snugly in a beautiful ravine at the foot of the rugged Serra de Tramuntana, the impressive limestone mountain range that stretches 90 kilometres from Andrax in the south to Cap de Formentor in the far northern corner. Deiá is considered to be one of the prettiest villages on the island – hence the ‘insta’ hordes that invade the town. Perched high up it sits facing the Mediterranean below, the tiny sandstone houses bathed in glorious light that positively radiate in a gold hue come sunset. Wild and ancient olive trees dot the landscape along with pines, rosemary, oranges and lemons, and bougainvillea exploding over old sandstone walls and breathtaking views at every turn. 

J&R, our dear friends in Deiá have one of these gorgeous sandstone houses at the very top of the village, reached by impossibly narrow laneways. The little square at the top sits beneath the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, the final resting place of Robert Graves in its churchyard. From this stone-walled garden cemetery, there are further breathtaking views over rolling green hills dotted with impossibly charming stone houses and, to the other side, again the dazzling blue Mediterranean. 

Early one morning, for that’s pretty much the only time you can get a car space, we headed down to Cala Deiá, a tiny pebbly cove where, in the baking summer sun, people throng to bake like lizards on the rocks. There’s a famous waterfront restaurant here, Ca’s Patro March, that’s perched on the rocks above the cove. The restaurant became even more famous when scenes from the TV series ‘The Night Manager’ were shot here, so yep, it’s now an ‘Insta-fav’ spot, so getting a park here – even for locals, is nigh on impossible in summer (and that’s with designated parking for residents). It was slightly overcast and threatening to rain on the morning we came down,  and therefore practically empty of bodies, but I can see just how packed this idyllic little cove would become on a hot sunny day. 

Sadly for us, the moody skies eventually gave way to rain, but that didn’t prevent us from enjoying this supremely picturesque village, its walks and hostelries. We’ll be back to Deiá someday and hopefully tap into the perfect tranquillity that Robert Graves found so intoxicating here.