Sevilla to Ronda/Arcos de la Frontera

We drove to Ronda via Arcos, where we only spent a couple of hours. Not saying Arcos isn't worth more, but the two places are not very much "alike". We also tried to make a flying visit to Zahara, but it was too far off the highway, on too slow a curvy road. My point is that Arcos is more of a "Rick Steves" destination, but I wouldn't want to spend multiple nights there. Ronda is more of an American Tourist destination, with lots to do.

If you post again, give the month and year of your trip. Crowding, air-conditioning, and scenic farmlands vary over the year. It's unclear whether you mean "daytrip to Arcos from Seville" or "daytrip to Arcos from Ronda", or what. Another nice place, not like Arcos or Ronda is Carmona, easy daytrip from Seville.

Have you bought or libraried Ricks book? It's helpful to understand about parking lots and "Bogus Parking Wardens." Remember that visible luggage in the car can be a problem.

Thanks Tim! I'll check out Carmona.
We are going next month, in October. My husband is keen to go places that you need a car, more off the beaten path.
We are open to suggestions, day trip from Sevilla to Ronda or Arcos, or spending a night in Ronda and day trip to Acros. Availability of hotels in Sevilla might be the factor which makes us spend a night in Ronda or somewhere else.

My wife and I just returned from Spain, including 3 nights Seville, 2 nights Ronda, and 2 nights Granada.
For this Seville - Ronda - Granada segment we rented a car. We made stops both during the drive from Seville to Ronda, and from Ronda to Granada. In addition to the Rick Steves guidebook, a source we found useful was Tony Galvez's YouTube videos.

Sep 3 (Sun): Seville to Ronda. Picked up rental car (Budget) from the Santa Justa Train Station in Seville and drove to Ronda, with three stops in-between. First stop was the Oleum Viride olive farm with a gorgeous view of the village of Zahara. We were the only two visitors for a tour of the olive oil production facility followed by olive oil tastings and ending with glasses of the farm's wine. We especially enjoyed learning about the production process.

From there we drove to Setenil de las Bodegas for late lunch, a unique village with buildings built into and under cliffs. Though mildly interesting, the restaurants were very crowded with visitors.

Our last stop before entering the walls of Ronda was the Mirador La Hoya Del Tajo viewpoint facing Ronda’s famous Puente Nuevo bridge. It is accessed by a small lane branching off from a roundabout just before the city walls, and we ended up taking two wrong exits from the roundabout before finally getting the right one. One of the wrong exits ended in a virtual dead end on a downhill narrow lane. I and Google Maps had missed that cars are not allowed on this lane, but several older concerned Spanish ladies and an upset Spanish gentleman made it clear to us in gestures. I was able to back up the narrow lane (fortunately we rented an automatic) and weave between the very closely parked local cars at the top of the slope to extricate ourselves. The women smiled and cheered our success.

After visiting the viewpoint we checked into our view room (#103) at Hotel Montelirio, and then (thanks to someone who cancelled) had a solid dinner at the edge of the terrace in the hotel’s restaurant, with a breathtaking view of the sunset over the gorge. Afterwards we walked over to the Puente Nuevo bridge.

Sep 4 (Mon): Walking about Ronda. We visited the Bullring and its museum (renting its useful audioguide); the museum was about much more than bullfighting. After lunch we followed the scenic cliff edge walkway from the Alameda del Tajo park back to the bridge. Next was a walk down to the ruins of the Arab Baths with its good explanatory video. At 7pm we attended an intimate 50 min Flamenco/Spanish guitar concert by Emilio Caracafé at Casa Museo Don Bosco with its scenic views.

Sep 5 (Tue): Ronda to Granada. We drove to Granada with a stop at the village of Montefrio and its National Geographic Mirador del Paseo Viewpoint. There were very few tourists and no public WCs, though (as the TI told us) one can use the bathroom in the City Hall. We visited the cute Iglesia de la Encarnacion, reputed to be the only round church in Spain. NOTE: at the right side when facing the altar from the entry, there is a Spanish-labelled 1€ coin-operated switch that illuminates the interior in a pleasing glow. We drove out of Montefrio after having a picnic lunch on a bench at the small park at the entry to the ruins of the Moorish castle.

Thank you Geoff, this is beyond wonderful!!