This April I will be using Ronda as a base for a few days for hiking and exploring hill towns. I will be using mass transportation and maybe a little hitch hiking to get around. I have read in various guidebooks that bus travel can be unpredictable. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with busses or hiking tours and might have some suggestions. Thanks.
' I have read in various guidebooks that bus travel can be unpredictable' - Is this specific to Ronda's vicinity? In what way?
Certainly I have been waiting for a bus which has never arrived and left the locals and me bemused a couple of times in other parts of Spain. This could happen in many a country if someone does not turn up for work or act of nature or traffic problems but not on a regular basis. If the bus company wishes to keep the franchise, it keeps it's act together.
'I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with busses' - Yes thanks, I have been using buses in Andalucia a few times a year, almost every year, for near forty years.
'suggestions'
I will be very surprised if you progress far with hitchhiking. How is your Spanish/Andaluz to ask for lifts to the next village?
Buses to and from Ronda - http://www.turismoderonda.es/informacion/pdf/horarioautobuses.pdf and do not forget the scenic train journey between Ronda and Algeciras which links with several villages and walks.
What do you intend with 'hiking tour'? Something you want to buy and be guided or manage on your own?
Nowadays, bus schedules are easier to find online than they used to be. But multiple bus companies and seasonal schedule updates could still be good reasons to check schedules locally as you travel, the old-fashioned way. Bus schedules are often reduced on weekends, especially on Sundays. Rick doesn't recommend trying to visit several hill towns without a car.