Ronda is a town of natural beauty and wonder. It’s famous for its dramatic views and has managed to maintain much of its historic charm even as more and more tourists flood each year.
Have you seen Ronda's impressive and majestic Puente Nuevo? Share on X
Puente Nuevo
Ronda was built over the Guadalevín River, which has since mostly dried up. The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge, built in 1793) spans the riverbed and connects the two halves of the town. You can hike down to the bottom of the valley for more amazing pictures and videos. Houses and hotels are built right along the cliff’s edge so when you look down, all you see is empty space until the bottom of the river. There are also outside restaurants built onto the edge of the cliffs.
Plaza de Toros
Ronda is also known for being the birthplace of modern bullfighting. The Plaza de Toros is one of the oldest bullrings in Spain (if not THE oldest bullring in Spain, which is up for debate against Seville’s bullring). It also has the largest rueda (large round circle of sand) of any bullring in Spain, although it only holds 5000 people. It is now a museum, although once a year during Ronda’s feria (in September) it is opened back up to the public for a show. Celebrities and royals have been known to attend, sometimes helicoptered in.
Shopping
Ronda has a great downtown area with a main street, perfect for walking, shopping, and eating. There are street vendors and outdoor cafes, and even a McDonald’s and Burger King. You can get souvenirs or nice clothes/shoes/etc. For me, this is perfect; it saves a lot of time and gas than driving to a big city, and I get to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Ronda!
Getting there
Ronda is a small town in Andalucía, about an hour drive northwest of Málaga. There is a scenic train from Málaga to Ronda, and public buses also go directly there. From my town of Olvera, it’s an easy road around the mountains, about 40 minutes.
What else?
If visiting Ronda, consider staying for a weekend and taking day trips north about 20 minutes to the beautiful and unique Setenil de las Bodegas, and about 15 minutes south to the interesting blue smurf town of Júzcar. There are plenty of natural and man-made wonders all within just a few miles of this amazing town!
Have you been to Ronda? Have you even heard of it? Would a place like this sway your travel plans? Let me know in the comments below!
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P.S. You might also enjoy Some of My More Interesting Travel Stories or 11 Things in Spain That Aren’t Common in the U.S.
We offer private, exclusive day trips to Ronda and Mijas Pueblo. Hotel pick up and drop off. Your group only (no wasting your day picking up at other Hotels) Air Conditioned Mini Bus. Full walking tour with English Guide plus time on your own for lunch / shopping. The day tailored totally to you – http://www.daytrip4u.eu
I loved Ronda when I was there a few years back. We stayed in a little villa right outside of town. So very peaceful and pretty in that area. I much preferred it to the coastal towns.
Agreed! I love the coastal towns but they’re close enough for a day trip and don’t offer the incredible unique scenery Spain really has to offer. I would recommend to anyone looking to move to Spain to go deeper into Andalucia!
Not sure I’d feel that comfortable drinking in some of those bars and restaurants!
Right?! Some of those bars/restaurants were literally right on the edge! I’d be afraid that the architectural stability wasn’t updated…I stayed safely away!
Would love to visit Andalucia <3 Thank you for the interesting information!
Seems like you had a great time ! I enjoyed reading 🙂
With Love, Emi
Wow ,that looks beautiful! I should’ve ventured around Spain just a little bit more than I did. I hope to go back and if I do Ronda is on the list!
Andalucia is amazing because there’s so much in a drive-able area. I hope you get to visit again! I hope I get to visit again too haha 🙂
Thanks for the history lesson on the town. I drove through and stopped by the bridge but didn’t know much about the history. Thanks!
That’s incredible that you’ve been there…I feel like it’s such an underrated area in Spain that most people don’t get to. So glad you got to see it!
That rugged stonework looks incredible! I must admit I had never heard of Ronda prior to this.
Great, my family have a house in Spain so I will definitely have to use that as a base and explore more of the country soon. Great post 🙂
Wow, what an awesome place. Love the pictures.I will pin this for future reference.
OMG WOW! Very impressive! and how exciting! Spain is so big and its hard to know where to go and what to see. Definitely adding to my destination list!
I like that you structure your post well 🙂
Thank you! It’s actually something I picked up after a few months so I went back and tried to restructure my earlier posts, like this one. I hope it reads well and makes sense!
CLIFFFFFFFFFFS! I love anything involving cliffs. These pictures are BEAUTIFUL! 🙂
Thank you!! Yes, the cliffs are AMAZINGGG…on one of my trips to Ronda I saw people climbing the cliffs! It looked great and I wish I had the gear to give it a try too!
So so beautiful! Thank you for sharing, sounds like an amazing journey! Malibu Mama Loves Xx
Im heading back to spain this summer and I think I need to include this in my plans! Lovely post!