Arcos or Ronda?

Frank, We were in that area in November a couple years ago. We enjoyed both Arcos and Ronda. Stayed in Ronda for a couple nights. I would do both towns and skip Gibraltar, but it's a personal choice. You could even see more white hill towns that Rick writes about. Sounds like a fun trip. Portugal is on our list!

I agree with Judy. Skip Gibraltar.

My wife is from English descent plus is a military history buff so she really wants to see Gibraltar. Wish we had time to do both towns but I think it may be one or the other.

Agree with the others about Gibraltar (interesting if you have time, but mostly one of those places you check off your list so you can say you been there done that...). But to answer your question...if you have to pick one from Arcos or Ronda, opinions will vary, but to me it's a no-brainer: we liked Ronda but we loved Arcos. Ronda seemed a lot more crowded, even at night, and it seemed packed with (how can I put this nicely?) cruise ship people and other day-trippers. Arcos certainly has its share of tourists, but (like other crowded day-trip places in Europe, eg Toledo and Mont St Michel) it seemed like they all left around 4 pm, and from late afternoon through mid morning the next day, the place was empty, charming, and delightful. Yes, Ronda has its charms, but the crowds seemed bigger and more persistent. I'd pick Arcos in a heartbeat. As far as a car is concerned: do not even think of driving up into Arcos' old town. Park in one of the free lots at the base of the hill, and take a taxi up to your hotel. When you're ready to move on, have your hotel call a taxi for you. Problem solved. Hope that helps.

My choice would be Ronda. We spent several nights there in a funky little hotel. It was one of our favorite places. The gorge is really beautiful and an enjoyable hike to the bottom. We loved the little town and the views are spectacular. Each evening the whole town comes out for their paseo, which we joined in.

I just rewatched the Rick Steves episode where he goes over the hill towns. It really seems like he spends a lot more time on Ronda than Arcos. We are going to be there in November during the low tourist season so we don' expect large tourist crowds.

As a landmark, Gibraltar is important, but as a day-trip, it turns out to be "missable". And we spent a lot of time (on excellent highways) behind slow-moving trucks there and back (to Ronda.) Ronda and Arcos are very different. We preferred Ronda. It's important to spend an evening walking around, with the day-trippers mostly departed, whichever you get to. I think Rick prefers Arcos because it's smaller-scale and you have a better chance of a "local" experience. But cliffside dinner at sunset and a paseggiata in Ronda is also magical!

We're rethinking our plan with a 2 night stay in Ronda and a day trip to Gibraltar from Ronda.