We're hiring a car to travel from Granada to Seville and are planning to stop in Ronda enroute arriving sometime before 11am and leaving around 3 so we can get to Seville by 5ish.
Is 4 hours a sufficient amount of time to have lunch and take in a couple sights?
What are top highlights to see in that amount of time?
Thanks for suggestions.
Short answer, yes. Ronda isn’t that large. The main sight is the 1700’s “new bridge” and that’s what most tourists go to see. Ronda has one main street that runs through town, so 4 hours is sufficient to have lunch and see the bridge. You can also walk down into the gorge to get better views of the bridge. There is a parking lot “parking el Castillo” by the town hall/ayuntamiento de Ronda. Other sites include the Old Bridge, Arab baths and the bull ring, but they are not essential to visit. If you could squeeze another hour into the visit you wouldn’t be rushed at all. Although it’s only 64 miles to Sevilla’s you’ll need every bit of the two hours you allotted to get there because most of the drive is rural roads. If visiting during the summer months it will stay light until 9pm or so.
The bullring and museum are good if that's your thing. Also the church and plaza in the old town, several blocks down the main drag after the bridge and then right. I think you can go up the tower (I didn't). Four hours would be about right if you don't take too long with lunch.
We visited Ronda for about 4 hours also. It will be enough time to see the beauty of the gorge and the charm of the old town. The owners at our nearby countryside hotel gave us great advice. They encouraged us to continue our walk after reaching the Puente Nuevo (the bridge over the gorge). Keep walking ahead and all the way down to the old town - past the Santa Maria catholic church (which is worth a short stop in my opinion). The restaurants they suggested were in that lower town area. We loved wandering down to that area and then back winding through the charming, quiet streets. It is quite a different scene than on the other side of the bridge.
I've been to Ronda on several occasions, 4 hours is good enough, we've returned simply to revisit our favourite parts rather than explore bits that we didn't have time for (we covered what we wanted in the initial visit). I haven't been to the bullring, I have no interest in the barbaric practice, historical or otherwise but others have a different opinion.
I have zero interest in seeing a bullfight. The bullring is still worth seeing and visiting the museum is well worth it just for the cultural aspect.
I would not want to rush through the drive though. It is very scenic. I would also be a tad concerned about traffic in and around Sevilla.
