Everyone wants Mallorca in August. Try these four weeks instead.

Mallorca in August is not, contrary to its reputation, a Mediterranean idyll. It is 38°C, every restaurant in Palma is fully booked, the road to Sa Calobra is gridlocked at 11am, and the same Airbnb that costs €240 in May costs €640 in August.

You know this. Your group knows this. And yet, every spring, the WhatsApp poll lands on the second week of August because that is when everyone has time off.

Here are four weeks where Mallorca is genuinely, unambiguously better.

Week 1 — Last week of May

Sea is 19°C — cold for the first three minutes, fine after. Air is 24°C, evenings warm enough for dinner outside. Almond blossom is gone but bougainvillea is in. Cap de Formentor is open and empty. The cyclists have left.

This is the week when locals tell their friends to come.

Week 2 — Second week of June

Sea has warmed to 22°C. Tourists have not yet fully arrived. School holidays have not begun. Hotel rates are roughly 40% of what they will be in August.

The catch: a small risk of tramontana, the dry north wind that occasionally cancels boat days. We see this maybe once every three trips. Worth the gamble.

Week 3 — Third week of September

The local season has just ended. Restaurants that turned away walk-ins in August are now welcoming you. Sea is 24°C — warmer than at any point earlier in summer. Light is gentler, photographs better. The grape harvest in Binissalem is on.

This is the week that we go.

Week 4 — First week of October

Riskier. Some beach clubs have closed. The chance of a full day of rain is higher (about 1 in 6, statistically). But: the island feels like itself again. You can get a table at Mar de Nudos with a day's notice. Hiking in the Serra de Tramuntana is at its best — cool air, no crowds.

What we learned tracking groups

Groups who booked Mallorca in August and groups who booked in shoulder seasons rated their trips, in our post-trip survey, on a 5-point scale. The August groups averaged 3.7. The shoulder-season groups averaged 4.4.

The biggest delta was not weather. It was crowding — the experience of trying to do anything in the busiest week of the European summer.

If your group has flexibility, use it. If August is the only week that works, book early, stay inland, and rent a car. The good Mallorca is still in there. You just have to drive past Palma to find it.