Cruising to Mallorca and Menorca
In the golden, pre-jetliner days of travel, Mallorca was a remote winter getaway for artists and writers. Remote no longer, this Spanish island is now comes alive, especially during the summer, with visitors eager to see the the main city of Palma and beyond. The island's east coast has quieter beaches. On its northwest coast, rock cliffs meet the sea, and the view includes tile-roofed villages, narrow roads, and quiet coves (some accessible only from the endlessly blue sea).

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Sharing paella on the sunny patio of a small restaurant overlooking the sea near Deia is a Mediterranean memorable moment. In the evening you can always drift back to Palma, where the old quarter remains a sophisticated center of fine food, café society as well as nightlife. ISLANDS contributing editor Mary Heebner recently went on a Tauck cruise to Mallorca and its little-sister island, Menorca, for the feature "Two By Sea." She and her photographer husband, Macduff Everton, found the vibrant to-do list of Mallorca balanced well with the quieter, simpler Menorca. Read the full story.

Fly nonstop on American Airlines from New York (JFK) to Barcelona (BCN). aa.com

Cruise on the Tauck Mediterranean Discovery itinerary aboard Le Ponant, a sleek, three-masted sailing ship, for this 12-day journey. Le Ponant has 32 staterooms with ocean views and a capacity for 60 guests, with a crew ratio of about two to one. The route includes Mallorca and Menorca as well as stops on Spain's Costa Brava, France's southern coast and the island of Porquerolles. The tour ends in Monaco. tauck.com

Stay in Barcelona, right off Las ­Ramblas, at Le Méridien in the heart of the city, ­lemeridien.com. On Mallorca, the Palacio Ca Sa Galesa is a beautiful manor house converted into a small, 12-room, five-star hotel in the Gothic district of Palma. The owner's art collection, which includes Miró and contemporary Spanish artists, decorates the walls, palaciocasagalesa.com. In Menorca, stay at the Biniarroca on the outskirts of St. Luis in a 200-year-old farm- house converted into a charming 18-room hotel. biniarroca.com

Eat French cuisine in Le Ponant's formal dining room, called Karu- Kera. Guests can also dine in the outdoor Terrace Restaurant, tauck.com. On land, try Mallorca's oranges, almond ice cream and wine, and Menorca's hallmark queso and mayonnaise. In Palma, La Taberna del Caracol offers grilled seafood, fried goat cheese and a wine of the month, taberna.name. In the foothills of northwest Mallorca, Es Vergeret features outdoor seating with a view of the sea. esvergeret.com

Listen to summer plein-air concerts in several outdoor venues in and around Palma. Also on Mallorca, visit Valldemosa, where composer Frederic Chopin wintered. The annual Chopin Festival will be held there this August. festivalchopin.com

Explore another island on this Tauck itinerary: Porquerolles, just off the French coast. On this carefree and car-free island, find panoramic vistas of the harbor from 12th-century Fort Sainte Agathe. In the Plaza des Armes, enjoy a game of petanque, similar to bocce ball, while beating the heat with local licorice-flavored pastis and chilled rosé.

Learn more at illesbalears.es.