We were planning to rent a car and go to Rhonda on Dec 25, but all the car rentals are closed for Christmas. Is there a White Villages or Rhonda Day Trip tour from Seville that anyone can recommend? Thank you!
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7167 posts
I looked into day tours to Ronda last year
Have this bookmarked, no experience with it though
https://exprilo.com/tour/seville-to-ronda-day-trip/
Posted by
Washington DC
28082 posts
Honestly, I'm not sure much of anything will be running on Christmas Day (which also happens to be a Sunday), but these are options to explore:
Train. There's an 8 AM departure next Sunday (November 13); the trip takes a bit over 3 hours. That train might not run on Christmas, but I think the late-December train schedules may not be loaded yet. I don't see a same-day return from Ronda even for November 13. https://www.renfe.com/es/en
Bus. I think the bus might actually be faster than the train, but it seems to me that buses are even less likely than trains to run on Sundays and holidays, so I'm not optimistic about this. The companies Damas and InterBus seem to serve the Seville-Ronda route. https://damas-sa.es/ https://www.interbus.es/
Bus Tours. When I researched my 2019 trip to Andalucia, I came across a bus tour from Seville to Ronda and at least two smaller places. I didn't take the tour because I was planning to spend at least two nights in Ronda myself, and I don't remember the name of the company. Again, I'm doubtful about a tour running on Christmas Day, but some Googling (or look on the Viator website) should turn up the name(s) of companies offering such tours. There are a couple of possibilities listed on the GetYourGuide website.
DayTrip is a third-party company that connects travelers with local transportation providers to facilitate side trips and transfers. I haven't used the company, but other posters here have, and the reports have been positive. This would not be cheap, but since there are obviously at least two of you, maybe it wouldn't be unreasonable--except there might be quite an upcharge for a December 25 booking. https://mydaytrip.com/
I like Ronda; I've been there three times. But there's a lot more to see in Seville. Does your itinerary already cover Seville well? If not, the simple solution would be to spend the day seeing more of Seville. I imagine you're already planning to go to Cordoba. What about Cadiz? There's normally rather frequent train service from Seville to Cadiz (a lot more trains than to Ronda) taking less than 2 hours. I don't know what the schedule will be like on Christmas Day.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thank you for the suggestions. We are already planning to see Seville and go to Cordoba. We do have some flexibility to swap dates and could do Rhonda on Dec 23. There are 6 of us and so looking for a tour that can take us and show us around Rhonda and maybe a couple of the other smaller White Villages, although we’d be happy to just see Rhonda well.
Posted by
Washington DC
28082 posts
With that many people, I bet a private driver wouldn't cost much more than a tour--maybe less. Perhaps someone will come along with the name of a driver they have used. Or perhaps Rick has a recommendation in his guidebook. If not, the MyDayTrip folks should be able to hook you up with a driver with a vehicle of the appropriate size. You'd then be able to work with the driver on an itinerary that fits your preferences. I would say that you can spend a good bit of time walking around Ronda; it would be smart to consult a guidebook and look at a map to figure out a reasonable time allowance there. (You could spend the entire day there.) Of the smaller places, I think Arcos is more interesting than Zahara and Grazalema, but the latter two are cute and take less time to see. I haven't looked at ViaMichelin.com to figure out what would be easiest to do on the way to or from Seville.
Posted by
TN, USA
2158 posts
I would suggest contacting Emily at South Ole Spain Tours. Several years ago, she provided a private driver for a long day from Granada with a stop in Rhonda, then Gibraltar (a personal tour) then on to Old Town Marbella. She was able to arrange exactly what we wanted, and it was executed beautifully. Be very candid about what you want, or ask her for suggestions...or both. You can also talk with her about suggestions for wiggling the days, if needed, around Christmas....my guess (but what do I know?) is that Christmas will be a hard day for touring with most focusing on family, etc.
She can plan multi-day trips, one-day tours (group or private) or transfers, and then full multi-day vacations and special experiences along the way.
She continues, still years later, to get extremely positive reviews.