Drive route Ronda to Granada

WE drove both routes in 2010. The road from Granada to Ronda is a very pleasant highway and the easiest of the two. The road down to the Costa del Sol is scenic but it is also narrow and windy. Some areas have steep drop offs and there is not much extra room on the many curves. This road is single lane each way. Check both routes on Google Earth for YOUR decision. Hasta la Vista!

Can't comment on which route to take as I don't know which road we took but I would advise you to take Dramamine with you. Several people in our group
were queezy.

One bit of advise that I forgot: The highway along the Costa del Sol can be a lot busier than the 'upper' route to Granada.

We just did it in May 2011 - don't go down to the coast - take the highway east. We asked that question at our hotel and she laughed at us - "why would you go that way" she said of the southern route. Be careful in Granada that you don't drive in the restricted zones in the city center (unless that is where your hotel is). Our GPS wanted us to cut though to get to our hotel by the Alhambra. We took the highway all the way around the city even though the GPS wanted us to exit into the city in many places.

It just isn't mentioned much so we thought maybe it was illadvised. Going directly east seems to make so much sense. Speaking of your hotel in Granada, any recommendations?

We stayed at a place called Hotel Molinos in Granada. It is very near the Alhambra (we walked up to it from the hotel). It was only ok, not great. But it was cheap ($67) and they have a garage nearby that guests can use for parking (extra cost) so that is why we ed it. It is also a short walk to the main area of Granada (by the Cathedral - i forget what it is called). It is not in the area of Rick's listed hotels for Granada. On the recommendation of Ed - frequent poster here- we only stayed in Granada for about 26 hours. But we usually sightsee from dawn to dusk, so I feel like we saw everything in that time. Get your Alhambra tickets now. Our "palace entry" was 4:30, so we entered the grounds between 1 and 2 and saw everything else first. The other thing we did was we entered the palaces at the end of the line - and we gave the big mass of people a little bit of time to get ahead of us, so we didn't feel so crowded in every room. We then took the mini bus to St. Nick's square to see the Alhambra from the outside.
In Ronda we had really great tapas at El Grifo and the beer tap in the table was pretty fun. In the old town there is a little path you can walk down to see the bridge from a lower angle. It looks really cool from down there - we took some of our favorite pictures of the trip.

We stayed at the Caseria de Comares. Secured underground parking and nice grounds with a pool and gardens. The apartments/rooms & office are in 3 separate buildings and the entire property is enclosed by a wall. It's like a small, pleasant oasis. There is a grocery store and a few restaurants just around the corner. The Inn is close to the stadium and an easy 1/2 hour stroll to the center of Granada. Our room was a kitchenette (stove, fridge & Laundry machine) with a separate bedroom and bathroom. The owners/hosts are great and reserved our Alhambre tickets (for afternoon entry). Check out their web site.

Here's some potential stops if you drive directly from Ronda to Granada. I opted not to go the coast route here. Driving time (not including stops) is roughly 3 hours. These are in reverse order because we're going from Granada to Ronda: • Stop in Loja (Moorish castle/Alcazaba, 2 waterfalls Coles de Caballo + Los Infernos) • Stop in Archidona
• Stop in Antequera (Castle, Dolmen, Caves) • Stop in Ronda la Vieja These are only potential stops for my route. I generally research promising options, then decide which we're most interested in when we're there. Realistically, we won't stop in more than two of the four (only one if we end up staying several hours). Research them and see if they seem interesting to you.