Ronda
Summary
Ronda is all about the dramatic gorge and how the pretty white old town, complete with one of Spain’s oldest bull rings and sensational bridge, is built impossibly around it. Certainly worth the day trip from the likes of Seville and Malaga as the surrounding scenery is just gorgeous and, despite it being really busy with fellow day tourists, has enough to see to not make it feel overly crowded
Top tip #1 – if have a car, focus instead on the drive through nearby Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema. Ronda is beautiful, for sure, but it is just one of many stunning white hilltop towns in this part of Andalucia. Instead of spending 1-2 days in Ronda, enjoy it as part of a driving route from Ronda to Arcos de la Fontera. The most beautiful part of Spain, one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in all of Europe and with far less tourists than in Ronda. See the full travel entry here –Driving through the White Towns of Parque Natural Sierra Grazalema
Tip #2 – walk through the valley to the west of Ronda as part of a circular route that gives you great views of the Bridge. Its a fairly simple route that you can start from anywhere, is around 6km / 3.75miles so takes only about 1.5 hours with only one moderately steep part, gives the best views of the gorge and allows you to wander through the vineyards for a very different feel. Use google maps – start at the bridge- then walk through the pretty Old Town to Mirador del Viento for amazing views – then to Mirador La Hoya del Tajo for further great views – then walk through the vineyards to Mirador de los Pinos – then all the way along the ridge to the views from Hotel Catalonia Reina – and then back to the central area with the bridge
Tip #3 – or something more unusual, try the Bodega Garcia Hidalgo vineyard. Only 5km from town, run by a local family and about as genuine a vineyard tour you can get
Tip #4 – where to stay. We stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Reina which has sensational views of the nearby mountains and valleys from its wide garden balcony, but is a bit overpriced for the rooms you get. I don’t think it really matters where you stay as everything is so close in Ronda
Tip #5 – where to eat. La Abaceria Ronda did great tapas. For drinks, give the Hotel Catalonia Reina’s outside area a go for great views and not rammed
highlights
#1 El Tajo de Ronda - the bridge that looks like something straight out of the mines of Lord of the Rings
#2 Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza - the atmospheric bull ring with its tour that gives you a great flavour of the deep history of this place
#3 Walking down the tunnels that are cut deep into the Gorge
#4 The walk through the vineyards in the nearby valley immediately to the west of Ronda
#5 The views from the Hotel Catalonia Reina and its glorious garden area
#6 Taking the walk down into the valley near the Bridge and passing the route that many travellers took on their way up to the town through the various guard posts
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Beautiful Hilltop Towns
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone