Ronda is a pretty old Spanish city and I don’t say that lightly either! The city dates back to Neolithic times (approximately 10,000 BC) so if ever you were looking for a place to explore Spanish history – this would be a pretty good place to start!
Thankfully, after our time in Malaga, we decided to head out to see more of Spain and Ronda was right ‘up there’ on my itinerary.
Lloyd had been years ago with family and I had yet to see this amazing place so I was understandably excited.
The drive over, especially in summer, is pretty scenic and definitely worth taking your time to enjoy.
The hotel, by the way, is one of the ‘quirkier’ hotels I’ve stayed in, in a while. It’s called Hotel Enfrente Arte and it’s something of an unexpected gem!
First off, there’s the price – at the time of booking, it was £60 per night. It’s also ranked number 2 out of 39 hotels in the area on TripAdvisor – at that price, I was initially sceptical but when I saw the rankings, I immediately relaxed about booking it.
Then there’s the fact that it has a pool… and all the beers and wines you can drink! You simply rock up to the bar and serve yourself.
The breakfast here’s pretty good too and the owners (who we met by chance as we were checking in) seemed really lovely too.
Once we checked in, I wasted no time at all and headed out in search of the sights, sounds and (as reminded by the rumbling in my tummy) the tastes of Ronda.
We started off with an uphill climb to the top of the city, in search of that famous bridge (Puente Nuevo), I’d seen in photos over and over again on Pinterest.
You come across beautiful view after beautiful view on this walk!
From the dramatically huge gorge to the surrounding landscape and even the white-washed city houses, a simple thing such an afternoon stroll in Ronda very quickly turns out to be quite the opportunity to appreciate some of the stunning natural and architectural beauty of Spain.
Soon enough though, we arrived at the top of Puente Nuevo – which, by the way, offers some of the best view of the gorge of Ronda and the countryside.
Totally worth the climb, right? 🙂
The best view of the bridge itself however is a mini-hike down the hill… and by mini-hike, I mean like a 5 to 10 minute walk downhill (I’m a lazy ‘hiker’ 🙂 ).
The view of the bridge when you get there though is absolutely incredible and makes a visit to the city totally worth it!
Urban legend has it that ages and ages ago, the city was just once place and due to a lot of in-fighting in the villages, the gods pulled the city apart (hence the gorge) to stop the city folk from fighting. 🙂 🙂 🙂
The downhill walk of course comes with a mandatory uphill walk back up (not my forte at all) but this time, the sheer pleasure at finally having seen that amazing sight is all the motivation you need to leave you skipping back to the top… well, that and the promise of lunch at the top.
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