Two weeks in Andalucia

I haven't been to Ronda or Malaga, but I did take trains (by myself) from Madrid to Granada, Seville and Cordoba. Train travel in Spain is easy and inexpensive. Tourist class tickets are perfectly fine. My trip was late Nov into early December, and I did splurge on the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville; they were offering a fantastic deal. Honestly, if this is your first trip to Europe, make it easy on yourself and take trains. You'll be right in the center of the towns you want to see; many towns have restrictions on vehicles in the old centers. Another plus is that you get to see the countryside instead of having to concentrate on the road. Whatever you do, enjoy your trip and happy anniversary!

Except for Ronda you have all cities. I think you would enjoy some of the smaller white towns. Spain is big and driving is relatively easy except for the really narrow streets that you can probably avoid. You might consider the train to connect some of the far apart cities, then rent a car for a few days for the white villages. You won’t need a car in the cities.

Thanks I was thinking of renting a car when I leave Sevilla and maybe driving through the hill towns on my way to Ronda and the returning it in cordoba. I would like to see some of the small towns and didn’t know if a one night stay was worth it or just to do a side trip on my drive would be better

I like the idea of getting a rental car in Sevilla and returning it in Córdoba and using trains the rest of the time. Just north of Ronda is Sentenil de las Bodegas. That would be an hour stop at most. Then, a short ways out of Córdoba is Castillo Almodovar del Rio. It would be a nice stop if you like castles. As a reminder, the roads in the white villages area are rural, so don’t expect to drive much faster than about 40mph/70kph; slower if going through mountains.

Remember that January 6th is Three Kings Day so many places will be closed. If you intend on visiting anyplace on the 5th or 6th, check to ensure it is open and what the hours are.

Thank you thar sounds like some places I would enjoy. Definitely will look into it

Be aware that in Spain our holiday season extends into January, with the main celebration being Dia de los Reyes Magos (three kings day) on January 6th. Know that on the night of Jan 5th most cities in Spain have a big parade of the Three Kings (Cabalgata De Los Reyes Magos), it will be a great festive experience in our local culture.

FYI most restaurants will be closed on New Years Day, and quite a few closed in New Years Eve too, so you may want to research ahead of time to see where to eat in Ronda during that time, as it is a smaller town. It's the same story with January 5th/6th festivities too, but you should have more dinning options in Granada, Try different cuisines, for example a Chinese restaurant or a Turkish restaurant. You will have a higher probability of finding those kinds of restaurants open. Definitely reserve a table in advance for these special days.

Also, be sure not to miss our Christmas markets in Spain! Our Christmas market tradition is a little know part of our culture (It's not just the Germans lol). Since we mainly celebrate the Three Kings Day (Jan 6), you will find most of our Christmas Markets are still up into early Jan. Both Sevilla and Granada have nice ones.

Here is a English language article about some of our amazing Christmas Markets in Spain: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/12-magical-christmas-markets-to-visit-in-spain/

Thank you I look forward to celebrating and seeing all the festivities

Driving Seville-Ronda-Cordoba makes sense, you'll see some beautiful countryside and villages. Train makes sense for the rest.

If you rent a car, it makes more sense to go from Seville to Cordoba by train, then pick up the car for the white hill towns and drop the car in Granada. it's much easier to get to Granada by car than by public transport.

Having just returned from the same area with a somewhat similar itinerary, we traveled solely by public transporation and found it ideal. We enjoyed letting others do the driving/training(?), never dealing with car parking problems, and able to enjoy (too much) wine at lunch for the few times we relocated in the afternoons.

Thanks that sounds good too I guess I need to decide if I wanna see any other white hill towns besides Ronda

For bagging multiple white villages it is certainly helpful to have a car. Public-bus service is limited and doesn't make for efficient sightseeing. If you want to see the maximum number of white villages in one day, you need a car of your own or a bus tour. In 2019 I uncovered a company doing bus tours (probably from Seville) to Ronda and at least two white villages. I opted not to do that because Ronda's pretty large and has enough sights that I wanted to spend at least two nights there. (I had a full month available for Andalucia.) If I could have found a white-village tour that didn't include Ronda (which is not a village), I'd have taken it, but I didn't find any such thing.

The best I could do was take individual day-trips to smaller towns:

• Seville to Arcos de la Frontera
• Ronda to Grazalema.
  

I also day-tripped from Seville to Carmona and from Granada to Priego de Cordoba and (separate trip) the Alpujarras. The buses are fine; they just don't run often enough to make it easy to string together multiple destinations on one day.

I don't think Zahara de la Sierra works as a day-trip from any of the larger places. Looking at a map, you'd think it would be a viable day-trip from Ronda, but as of 2019 the bus schedule required an overnight stay in Zahara.

Thank you for the information I think I just may rent a car on my last day in Seville and on my drive to Ronda stop at a couple of the white hill towns

That is an approach others have recommended and/or taken, and I think it is an excellent idea. However, I recommend using ViaMichelin to estimate driving times and then adding a fudge factor. Although village-to-village distances may be short, you won't be traveling at highway speeds. Keep in mind that the sun will be setting quite early, which might make some of the driving a bit challenging (though I've never driven there).

Driving the “white towns” will take up an entire day. Start your visit to that area with Arcos de la Frontera. The view from Its overlook is pretty, but the road up to it, and back down, is narrow so consider parking at the bottom of the hill taking the tram up. On the way down there are a couple 90 degree turns so larger cars might now fit, but the is a small parking lot by the overlook. From it, head east on the A-372 towards El Bosque and on to Grazalema. Then head north to Zahara de la Sierra. There’s a tower that affords a nice view of the reservoir. After Zahara, Ronda is a short drive away.. If you enjoy hiking, there are plenty of places to take hikes in that area.

The roads in that area are mostly rural, 2-lanes, with no shoulder or lane markings. Expect to drive no more than 40mph/70kph. The distance between Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema is only about 7 miles, but will take you about 30 minutes because of the twists and turns going over the foothills.

Thank you that sounds like an interesting route I got a Michelin map and I do enjoy hiking since we will be in Ronda New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day was looking to do more outdoor things like hiking figuring most things will be closed

Take a look at Wikiloc for ideas on trails you could walk from Ronda. There are hundreds to choose from. A few that we enjoyed include:

Ronda - Ermita de la Virgen de la Cabeza (SL-A 36)

Ronda - Cueva del Abanico - Alpandeire (GR 141)

Ronda - Asa de la Caldera - Los Molinos del Tajo - Parque Periurbano (SL-A 38)

Ronda - Pilar de Cartajima - Acueducto Romano (SL-A 39)

Thank you I will look into that, I really look forward to doing some hiking

Some of the hill towns are well worth visiting, others not as much. One of my joys is the beautiful vistas of white towns glistening in the sunlight on the scenic drives through the hills. There are a number of pull-outs where you can enjoy the views (and photo ops). Of course that requires a sunny day.

Don´t forget visit Jerez de la Frontera, a fantastic place if you like Vinos de Jerez. Andalucía is a fantastic place, enjoy! I will go on March

Greetings from Baja California

When Valente says Vinos de Jerez he’s mostly likely referring to Fino, i.e., sherry as that is what is made in Jerez de la Frontera. There are a number of bodegas one can visit and tour. The two I used to visit years ago are Osborne (the bull billboards can be seen around Spain) and Williams & Humbert, maker of Dry Sack. There are others.

Thanks I would like to try some fino wasn’t planning on visiting Jerez but maybe I could find time and do a day trip from Sevilla