The next stop on the Raffs’ adventure was Ronda, a small town in the white hills. We arrived in time to enjoy sunshine and warm weather, which was a much-welcomed treat after our days of rain in Sevilla and Tarifa.
Ronda is known for its cliffside perch with a deep gorge, spanned by a historic bridge, cutting through the middle of town. It has a great strategic location to protect itself from invaders. It is also a photographer’s paradise as the cliffs and bridge get perfect evening light!
It felt so great to be in a small country town. Street noise was non-existent, with plenty of fresh air and easy-to-pick restaurants as there are not as many options. It was the perfect location for us to spend a few days. Most people only spend 1 night, but we opted to throw in a full extra day to take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery.
Speaking of places to eat, one of my favorite restaurants in all of Spain was in this tiny town… Casa Maria. There is no menu; you eat whatever the chef feels like making that day. You get a few starters, main course and dessert. Sounded like fun, plus they do a wine pairing! We loved it, and the space was cozy and small.
The food was incredible. We started with asparagus, salmon with truffles, scallops, and toast with tomato puree. The main course was steak that came out on a hot rock so you could finish cooking to your own preference. Dessert was creme caramel. It was quite the unique experience, and I highly recommend it if you are ever in Ronda!
From town, we could see mountains in the distance, and they were calling our names. Public transportation between the white towns is very limited so we couldn’t quite get the bus schedule to work for us. We also didn’t feel like spending the money on a rental car. Luckily, the TI in town sells local maps of hiking trails that start from old town. You can basically hike in any direction from town on a variety of rural roads, paths and trails. They are well signed and have a varied of distances and difficulty.
The first day we opted to do 2 shorter hikes with a lunch break in town (luxurious for the Raffs). The first hike led us south out of town on a single lane road to an old Roman fountain. We decided to keep following the path to see if we could find the Roman aqueduct on our map, but no luck. Instead we just enjoyed the views.
Our second hike was to descend below town and walk along the cliffs. We got some great views of the towering cliffs and famous bridge. The cliffs looked fun to climb from a distance, but up close they were loose conglomerate (removable handholds, so no thanks)!
On our second day, we took advantage of the nice weather and set out for a full day ramble. We headed west toward the mountains that we had been admiring. We walked mostly on single lane roads through green rolling hills. We eventually came to a steeper hillside and a path that led to a summit with a tiny church and a via ferrata. Darn, no gear, so no via ferrata for the Raffs. As we descended toward the little village of Montejaque, we saw a group of 4 soldiers hiking uphill fully kitted out with big guns. It was a little strange, but we just thought they were out for a training hike.
From here, we still had a little more energy, so we continued toward another cliff band which we walked below for a while. On the top of the cliffs were huge vultures that at first, I thought were people! Once we wrapped around the cliff, we decided it was time to turn around.
We headed back towards the little church and saw close to 100 soldiers all taking a break at the base. It was a little strange to see, but we just kept on hiking. At the top of the viewpoint, we came across 4 soldiers dressed up like the Taliban with big guns. It just took a few seconds for it all to click that this was a training exercise for the group below. They gave us big friendly waves to put us at ease, but it did get our heartrates up!
The views hiking back were great. It was fun to see tiny Ronda from a distance on its cliff. It was such a great way to spend the day, just wish we had more time to explore the mountains and do some via ferrata!
We did do a little sightseeing in town itself including its historic bull ring. It was built in the 1700’s. It had a small museum displaying historic matador costumes and explaining their history. As part of the tour we were even allowed to walk through the middle of the actual bull ring. We had some fun imagining what it would be like to be a matador.
We both needed a few days outside the city. Ronda was perfect vacation from our vacation location. Exercise plus nature makes everything better!
