Arta Holidays

Travel Agent's View

The town of Arta is not too touristy and offers lots of historical attractions with the main one being the Santuari de Sant Salvador which is a chapel situated on top of the hill and offers panoramic views of the town and the surrounding area.

The narrow streets are very interesting and well worth wandering round as is the main street which is pedestrianised and home to many of the town's shops, cafes, bars and restaurants.

Arta can become quite busy on a Tuesday when the weekly market takes places. There are also many festivals that take place throughout the year that are well worth seeing.

Insider's View

The picturesque and historic hill town of Arta is, for me, one of the jewels of the North East of the island. It's an affluent little town with señorial mansions and narrow, winding streets and leafy squares. Although inland, there are some wild and beautiful sandy beaches backed by pines and sweeping dunes only a short drive away, such as Cala Torta.

The town itself is a shopaholics paradise with a wonderful array of gift emporiums along the main drags such as on the pedestrianised Calle Ciutat. Every Tuesday there is a craft market which sells all manner of baskets, panama hats, trinkets and clothes and there's usually folk music and dancing displays. A favourite shop of mine is DOMUSart on Calle Ciutat which sells wooden crafted products and rather unusual gifts.

The town is full of fantastic cafés and restaurants such as Café Parisien, a stunning townhouse with a shady courtyard which serves up great soups and imaginative salads. The most stylish joint has to be La Calatrava Restaurant which feels more like a club, housed in the old school building and boasting an elegant tiled inner courtyard with fountain, and a library and pool room. It also has Wi-Fi.

For culture vultures, a ten minute walk up steep stone steps to the hilltop fortress and chapel of Santuari de Sant Salvador is a must. Cypress trees line the way and the views across the Central Plain are spectacular, even though the walk might leave you a little breathless. A charming café at the top is a good place to stop for a refreshing drink or robust coffee! This was once a popular route for pilgrimages and eons before was a Moorish fort before it was destroyed by Catalan soldiers of the Conquista.

A short walk from the town is the prehistoric Talayot village of Ses Paisses which has an impressive entry portal made of three huge stone boulders. The ruins set around carob and olive groves aren't in the best shape but still an interesting reminder of the island's history. Out of town hikers can head for Ermita de Betlem, 10 kilometres northwest of Artà, to enjoy spectacular panoramic coastal views across the Badía d'Alcúdia. It's a tough 5 hour round trip from the town so not for the faint hearted, especially in the sun. A much beloved local restaurant on the route is Finca Es Serral, offering delicious fare such as almond soup and its famous calorific buttery pudding, greixonera dulce. Insider Sig