Things to Do in Ronda: Visit One of Spain’s Most Romantic Towns
If you're heading to southern Spain, Ronda is one of the most romantic places you can visit. Robin and Arlene Karpan share the most unforgettable things to do in Ronda, capturing its charm that has inspired writers, poets and lovers for centuries.
The view of Puente Nuevo from a hike in the Tajo Gorge. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Ronda is one of the most romantic towns in Spain. But don’t just take our word for it. Writers like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and Orson Welles, among others, have waxed poetic about this gorgeous spot in Andalucia.
Hemingway said, “Ronda is the place to go if you are planning to travel to Spain for a honeymoon or for being with a girlfriend. The whole city and its surroundings are a romantic set.” It owes its nickname “City of Dreams” to an influential early 20th-century European poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, who coined the phrase when describing how enraptured he was with Ronda.
Ronda’s jaw-dropping setting immediately stands out compared to other pueblos blancos (white towns) in the region. It’s perched atop soaring cliffs next to Tajo Gorge, and surrounded by green fields and mountains. Early occupants chose the site not for aesthetic appeal but for defence, as its sheer cliffs and deep gorge are ideal for deterring attack.
A succession of cultures occupied the site, back to the Romans and beyond. Ronda’s heyday began in the 8th century with the Moorish conquest of much of southern Spain. The Reconquest by Christian kings in the late 1400s further fortified the city walls to defend the settlement securely. Fortunately, Ronda today is much more welcoming, making it one of the most visited spots in Andalucia.
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How to Get to Ronda: Scenic Routes and Travel Tips
Pueblos Blancos and Tajo Gorge. Photo credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Ronda is about 130 kilometres southeast of Seville or 100 kilometres west of Malaga. A bus from Seville takes about 2-2.5 hours. The train takes longer because you have to change in Cordoba. From Malaga, the bus takes a bit over 2 hours. The beach resort of Marbella is just 1-1.5 hours away by bus. A lot of visitors come to Ronda on organized day excursions from the beach towns.
We arrived in Ronda by one of the more unusual routes. We had been visiting Jerez de la Frontera, where the only direct transport to Ronda is a once-per-day bus taking four hours. We were the only ones who stayed on for the entire trip. The bus serves more as a commuter service for students and others along the way, pulling into every town on the route.
While it might not sound like the ideal way to travel, it turned out to be an enjoyable and exceptionally scenic trip, passing next to the impressive hillside town of Arcos de la Frontera and then climbing into the mountains of Sierra de Grazalema, home to a natural park and a series of tiny picturesque white towns. We spent much of our trip noting spots to return to on future visits.
Where to Stay and Eat in Ronda
With a relatively compact population of around 35,000, Ronda is a small enough town that you’re never far from anywhere. We stayed in an Airbnb in the new town that was less than a 10-minute walk from the bus station, Puente Nuevo, the best lookout point over the gorge, and a wide selection of places to eat. As a general rule, accommodation in the old city tends to be pricier.
You can use the map below to help you find the right accommodation in Ronda during your stay.
Places to eat are everywhere—take your pick from basic to five-star splurges. Restaurants close to the Puente Nuevo cater to the day-tripper tour bus crowd and tend to be over-priced. Walk back only a couple of blocks, and things change dramatically. Like almost anywhere in Spain, the lunchtime “menu del dia,” or set complete lunch, offers exceptional value even in a tourist town like Ronda.
The Heart of Ronda: Explore the Iconic Puente Nuevo Bridge
Puente Nuevo Bridge. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Ronda’s iconic attraction is the Puente Nuevo or New Bridge. Ronda has two parts: the original old city, which is home to most historic sites, and the newer commercial area. They are divided by the gaping Tajo Gorge and the Guadalevin River more than 100 metres below. For many years, "crossing" meant descending part way into the gorge and taking what is now known as the Old Bridge.
The New Bridge (well, it was new at the time), built at the top of the gorge, provides easy access to link the city's two parts. Opened in the late 18th century, it took 34 years to build by painstakingly hauling quarried stones from the bottom of the gorge. An earlier attempt at building the bridge collapsed, killing 50 people. For many years, the 98-metre structure remained the tallest bridge in the world.
The precipitous drops from the bridge and cliffs were handy spots to dispatch your enemies in times of conflict. Hemingway’s novel about the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls, describes how townsfolk in Ronda rebelled against the fascists and tossed them into the gorge.
Visit Ronda’s Historic Bullring and Panoramic Viewpoint
The Bullring. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Much of the new side of town isn’t especially new. The most prominent landmark is the bullring, steps away from the Puente Nuevo. This is the oldest bullring in Spain, dating to 1794, plus it’s the birthplace of modern bullfighting. Bullfighters originally rode horses but one day a local matador, Pedro Romero, got off his horse and confronted the bull on foot, changing the sport. Hemingway named one of his bullfighting characters after Romero in his novel The Sun Also Rises.
The town’s tourist office is directly across the square from the bullring. While here, buying a Bono Turistico Ronda is worthwhile. This voucher gives you admission to a few historic attractions and museums at a considerable saving over paying individually. It’s a good deal (€ 12 at the time of our visit), and costs even less for students and seniors.
Just steps away from here, Paseo Blas Infante Park on the rim of the cliffs offers spectacular views over the edge and to the surrounding countryside. The walkway to the park is marked by monuments to two of Ronda’s most ardent admirers—Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles—whose ashes are buried on a nearby ranch. The plaque quotes Welles, who said, “A man does not belong to the place he was born in, but to the place he chooses to die.”
Discover the Old Bridge and Ronda’s Ancient Arab Baths
Ronda’s Ancient Arab Baths. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Getting to the old part of the city is as simple as walking across the Puente Nuevo. Yet another option is to take the Old Bridge.
We begin walking along the edge of the gorge to the Cuenca Garden, which is a bit lower and provides excellent views over the gorge and Puente Nuevo. This was our go-to spot at night to photograph the lights on the bridge.
The pathway continues descending along the cliff side to the Puente Viejo or Old Bridge, dating to 1616. There is also a third bridge lower down, known as the Arab Bridge, which is thought to have been built on the ruins of a Roman bridge. This area used to be the original entrance to the city. We stopped many times along this scenic section, where the views change around every corner. Another feature is the impressive City Gate or Arch of Felipe V, built in 1742 to replace a smaller defensive gate dating to Moorish times.
Nearby, we wanted to see one of the best surviving examples of Arab Baths in Spain going back to the 13th and 14th centuries. During the Moorish occupation, visitors to the city were required to bathe before they entered. A sophisticated water system using aqueducts and waterwheels moved water through a cold, warm, and hot room.
Step Back in Time in Ronda’s Old City
Mondragon Palace. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
This fairly compact area brims with historic sites. One highlight is the Mondragon Palace, a 13th-century palace that was home first to a Moorish king, followed later by Christian kings. It now houses Ronda’s municipal museum. Built against the cliffs, the outdoor area offers even more views over the countryside.
Santa Maria Church, formerly a mosque but converted to a church after the Reconquest, dominates the central plaza. The former mosque minaret was converted into a bell tower. The remains of the defensive walls are worth a visit, the most imposing being the Almocabar Gate, dating back to the 1200s. It was through this that King Ferdinand finally defeated the Moors in 1485.
Numerous other churches, historic buildings, and museums are scattered throughout the city. But in our opinion, experiencing the essence of Ronda is less about what’s inside buildings and more about what lies outside. This isn’t the kind of place where you need a checklist of must-see attractions. The beautiful town as a whole becomes the attraction, wandering the maze of narrow cobblestone streets and taking in incomparable views.
Take a Hike for the Best Views of Ronda’s Cliffs and Bridge
Puente Nuevo at Night. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
The best way to get a feel for the imposing nature of the cliffs and Puente Nuevo is to see them from below. A path starts near the Almocabar Gate and winds down into the valley, connecting to some of the roads far below. Follow these for straight-on views of the bridge to more fully appreciate what an engineering feat this was hundreds of years ago. To return, another way that gives you more of a hike is to keep following the path along the valley floor, which will eventually climb back up to the city on the other side of the bullring.
Why Ronda Deserves More Than a Day Trip
Romantic Sunset. Photo Credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
Our main advice to first-time visitors to the City of Dreams would be to spend long enough, at least overnight and preferably more. We spent three nights and could have easily stayed a lot longer.
While Ronda is extremely popular, many (perhaps most) visitors come on organized day trips from nearby coastal resorts. The central area around the Puente Nuevo and parts of the old town are chock-a-block with people from late morning to mid-afternoon. But early mornings, late afternoons and evenings provide a dramatically different experience. We would wander to the main lookout point near the bullring to take in the sunset, coming across only a few other people.
While you can see Ronda in a day, that’s not the point of visiting a romantic city. It’s a place for leisurely strolls through timeless streets, lingering over sunsets, and gazing over drop-dead gorgeous scenes. We couldn’t agree more with Hemingway, who summarized Ronda, “Nice promenades, good wine, excellent food, nothing to do.”
Robin and Arlene Karpan
Robin and Arlene Karpan are award-winning writers, photographers, bloggers, and authors of several bestselling travel books. Their work has appeared in over 100 publications around the world. Robin and Arlene’s travels have taken them to all seven continents, where they have a special interest in the natural world and outdoor photography. Robin and Arlene publish the popular travel blog Photo Journeys, which looks at travel through a photographer’s lens, and is rated by Feedspot as among the Top 100 Travel Photography Sites.