We are traveling to Spain in early July. Should we rent a car to drive from Seville to Granada to be able to stop in Ronda along the way or should we take a train and leave out Ronda?
Posted by
Whittington
984 posts
Ronda is not really 'on the way' between the two.
There are only four indirect train journeys per day Seville to Ronda, the least taking about two and a half hours. I would guess the road time would be about an hour and three quarters to two hours.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
How much time do you have to travel between Sevilla and Granada? If you have a full day or more, then you could make a couple of stops and it might be worth it.
The two cities are about 3-4 hours apart by train, car and bus. Bus is most convenient and cheapest.
Posted by
FL USA
1560 posts
We enjoy having a car to tour andalusia for there is a wide variety of options to visit. From seville to ronda is less than two hours. From ronda to granada is at three hours. We do not advise driving into old town granada as this is a nightmare and a guaranteed to be ticketed. Be sure and obtain a IDP from AAA as it is required by law, cost is $20 and essentially a passport in a different format. Get stopped without one and you face a 200 euro CASH fine due on the spot.
Skip using toll roads as they are expensive and offer no time advantages.
Do your research on olive grove farms offering tours and other off beat stops reachable via car. These stops can make for great memories. Do buy a picnic lunch!
We use google earth to plot potential drives and then use street view to simulate the drive. This helps w familiarization of road directions and sometimes depicts interesting looking places to consider exploring.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7868 posts
We drove from Seville to Granada, with multiple nights in Ronda along the way, also stopping briefly at Rick's favorite, Arcos. We picked up the car a day early to go to Carmona and Italica, which was a great outing from Seville. Parked underground overnight with tight stalls and narrow corners. The day-trip from Ronda to Gibraltar wasn't worth the time on the (excellent) highways. In Granada, the Hertz (or was it Avis) guy told us to pull up onto the sidewalk in front of the office, to drop the car. He checked for our reflecto-vest (who knew ... ?) but didn't fine us for "losing" it (Ironica typeface) from the glove compartment. Very glad we drove, anyway.
Posted by
3 posts
My wife and a rented a small car and drove from Sevilla to Granada stopping in Arcos for a night and Ronda for a night. Ronda is a must in my opinion, while Arcos is not. The scenic drive from Ronda to Granada is breathtaking! The wildflowers grow right up to the edge of pavement and it's just gorgeous.
That being said, if you're not a patient person I would suggest the bus. There are zones surrounding the Al Hambra that are indeed off limits to regular cars that are quite easy to get into and even tougher to get out of.
All that being said, Sevilla to Grenada with with stops in Ronda and Arcos was the best part of my trip.
Happy travels!
-Jake