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With its artificial lake, section of city walls and great views, this is a lovely place to stroll at any time. At night, the sparkling city lights and warm glow of the nearby cathedral and palaces add a magical quality (see Palma’s Walls (Walk).

Gentle jets of water and bowl-shaped fonts characterize this long and lovely Arab-influenced garden. As the name suggests, it was once the king’s private garden. Today, it is open to all, and the home of eccentric modern sculpture.

To the Moors, who came from an arid land where the oasis was the symbol of life, water was the very essence of a garden. The cloistered gardens at the Banys Àrabs baths evoke that ideal – it was here that the wealthy owner would relax after his bath, and breathe in the fragrant, tranquil air.

These gardens start where Avinguda Argentina meets the Passeig Marìtim, and run up to Plaça La Faixina alongside the old moat. There are terraced lawns, trees and flowers, and a few fountains and odd columns providing a welcome respite from all the stone and asphalt of the newer sections of Palma.

The famous Archduke Salvador (see Archduke Luis Salvador of Hapsburg-Lorena and Bourbon) had many homes on Mallorca, but Son Marroig was his favourite. The gardens, though terraced in the ancient Arabic fashion, are deliberately left a bit wild in keeping with the slightly rough look of the natural island flora. All this vibrant nature neatly contrasts with the high Renaissance refinement of the architecture, especially the gazebo that offers coastal views of such exquisite perfection.

The botanical garden was founded in 1985 as a centre for the conservation and study of Mediterranean flora, especially that of the Balearics. The plants, many of which are endangered, include wild flora, medicinal herbs and flowers, fruit trees and vegetables.

The island’s finest example of a profoundly Arabic garden dates back 1,000 years. Naturally, in all those centuries the lucky owners (Mallorca’s most illustrious families among them) have added their own touches, resulting in Renaissance and Baroque elements in the landscape design and building features.

Squarely of the late Italian Baroque or early Rococo style of the 1700s, Raixa gardens belonged to a wealthy cardinal, who liberally indulged his taste for collecting Classical statuary. However, only a fraction of his collection remains in the gardens; the rest now adorns the Castell de Bellver in Palma.

Joan March was a native-born magnate who allegedly made his fortune from illegal tobacco and arms trafficking. His old mansion near Cala Rajada, built in 1916, has lavish grounds incorporating water gardens, pine woods and fruit groves. Over 40 works of modern sculpture in the gardens include a bronze by Rodin and a piece by Henry Moore.

Europe’s largest botanical garden has an amazing 12,000 cacti to admire, including a 300-year-old giant from Arizona. There are also the Balearics’ largest navigable lake, palms and bamboo groves. Mallorcan flora is showcased through olives, pomegranates, almonds, pines, oranges, carobs and cypresses.