Ronda

Ronda is a town in Malaga in Spain. Set in and around a deep gorge spanned by an impressive bridge, the relaxing atmosphere here is a great break from some of the more tourist-ridden places on the south coast of Spain, however it can still be packed with day-trippers from the Costa del Sol, especially during the peak Summer months.

Get in

Ronda is easy to get to by train from Madrid or regional trains and is a good day trip from the Costa del Sol resorts. The main train station, located just just five minutes walk from the central bus station, is just a few blocks from the centre of town.

Get around

Ronda is a small town, easily navigable on foot.

See

• New bridge. A big bridge built over the gorge. The height from top to bottom is about 100m, like a 30 floor building. Inside the bridge, downstairs in underground rooms there is a museum and a restaurant.

• La Bola street. Also known as Espinel street, is the main street of the town. Full of expensive and exclusive shops. Not allowed for cars transit.

• Bull Ring. This is one of the oldest and most highly regarded of Spain's bull rings. You can visit the museum inside (€5).

• Alameda. Is a big park with big trees and fresh shadows zones. It's near the gorge, and you can see wonderful panoramas from the balconies. You can find water sources to drink.

• La picha del moro. Can be translated as "the penis of the African guy". It's a big rock placed in the gorge that has the characteristic phallic shape. Can be viewed from the "Alameda" gardens.

• La Ciudad. Is the old district of Ronda, beyond the new bridge. You can walk trought small streets and see a lot of church, museums, small hotels, the city hall and other monuments.

• Barrio de San Fancisco. Is a district of Ronda with old houses like a old mountain town. No big buildings or skyscrapers. Interesting to see the "Almocabar Fences", arabic gates placed near the big square of the district.

Do

• Gorge. A must is to walk to the bottom of the gorge where you'll get the best photo shots.

Buy

There are plenty of ATMs dotted about the main commercial district.

Eat

In the restaurants of the centre of town you can eat lots of different "Mediterranean food" like paella (rice), cocido (soap with pig meat), huevos fritos con chorizo (eggs with garlics) or salmorejo (potatoe salad). The prices are very expensive, take care. Also you can buy typical sweets as "Las yemas del tajo", a sweet made of eggs.

Drink

Near Ronda, high quality wines are produced in small wineries. Also you can find "Anis del Tajo".

Sleep

• Parador de turismo
• Hotel Maestranza
• Hotel Victoria
• Hotel Montelirio

• Hotel Don miguel
• Hotel El Tajo
• Hotel Royal

• Hotel Goyesca
• Hotel Acinipo I and II
• Hotel Berlanga

• Hotel RondaSol. A family-run place; the mother of the family at least speaks fluent French as well as Spanish. €20 (double room with sink).

Get out

Ronda is a district hub for the bus services to other pueblo blanca towns and villages such as Montejaque, Benaojan and Zahara la Sierra. Most of these villages have at least one weekday service, while others have up to three services a day.

External links

• The Council of Ronda maintains a highly informative website for tourists to the city. Includes history, sights, accommodation options and restaurant listings.

• Andalucia's tourist office also maintains an informative sight about Ronda and its history.

This text of this article is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0. It has been slightly modified to fit the general design of this website. The authors of this document are Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel, Evan Prodromou and the following WikiTravel users: Allyak, Cjensen, InterLangBot, Nzpcmad. The original version of this article can be seen at http://wikitravel.org/en/Ronda.