Betlem

Betlem is a small, quiet estate at the end of the road from Colònia de Sant Pere, at the foot of the Serra de Llevant and facing the Bay of Alcúdia, with no hotels and no promenade. The shore is low rock with little gravel coves, better for a dip off the stones than a day on a towel: people mainly come here to walk. From Betlem the coast path runs, almost flat, towards Es Caló and Cap de Ferrutx, and from the Colònia road a trail climbs to the Ermita de Betlem in 40 to 50 minutes uphill over stone, not technical but needing proper shoes, passing a spring with a small shrine among trees. The hermitage was founded in 1805 by hermits who came from Valldemossa: it is plain and Carthusian in spirit, with an avenue of trees at the entrance and a grotto five minutes away. The reward is the view: the Bay of Alcúdia, Pollença and, if you climb a little above the hermitage, as far as Formentor. You can also drive up from Artà along some 9 kilometres of very narrow, twisting road, with cyclists and stretches where one of two cars has to reverse. There is nowhere to buy anything at the hermitage or along the coast path.

Reviewed in November 2026