Ronda – a picture postcard destination in southern Spain
Ronda, in southern Spain, is my sort of town.
There I’ve said it. I love the place. As one of our stopover destinations on the 2014 Spanish road trip. It was the smallest of the stop-overs, and that may have been part of its charm, but I think it was its history.
An ideal stopover location
We stayed at the Parador de Ronda, located next to the Puente Nuevo where it spans the gorge, and the river Guadalevín flowing through it.
A superb location with a decent secure parking facility, great if you’re travelling with your own car.
Although not central in geographical terms, nothing is that far away.
The bullring is just a minutes walk, and on the way you’ll pass the Alameda del Tajo park, with the beautiful Mirador de Ronda with its views over the plains to the west.
Jump onboard
One of favourites ways to kick off our trips is to let Brittany Ferries take the strain, sit back, relax and go with the flow. Enjoy a little bit of France onboard as you sail directly into Bilbao or Santander in northern Spain.
You are going to earn your lunch
After a hike down to the Arab Baths; a fascinating place to visit, and a way to get out of the midday heat.
it’s going to be an uphill climb back to the town. You will get to cross the 3 significant bridges in the town, from the lower Arab bridge, to the Old Bridge – aka Puente Viejo. However, before you cross the final bridge, the picture postcard Puente Nuevo, take a slight detour to the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent. This beautiful park, with the orange trees lining the plaza, gives you the opportunity to take the weight off you feet at either Meson Carmen la de Ronda or Mesón El Coto Alto for a refreshing lunch. Great local dishes on the menus to tempt you.
When the sun goes down
Of an evening we headed to the Plaza del Socorro, where on more than one occasion we settled into a fine meal at the Casa Ortega. Certainly worth a visit if your in the area.
Wherever you go you will find signs of Hemmingway, who was a reporter covering the Spanish civil war, and it’s widely considered that the events in Ronda made it into the fiction “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.
But enough of my ramblings, I guess it’s the pictures you’ll want to see.
And now the gallery
The technical bits
All the images were shot on my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, partnered with the 24-105mm F/4L lens. As always, imported into Adobe Lightroom.
Then I tried a slightly different workflow. Initial corrections are made in Lightroom, before editing in Adobe Photoshop. I have recently added the Nik collection of filters, by way of a plugin, to Photoshop. So some images are just sharpened, and some have had the HDR filter applied with differing settings.
Have You?
Visited Ronda, what was your highlight? Share you experiences - we'd love to hear your story.
Inspired to visit Ronda?
And why wounldn't you. It's fabulous - honest, trust us,
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Comments
these photos are fab and Rhonda is definitely somewhere I will now think of going next time we’re in Spain
Thanks Nic, you’ll love it, and it’s a really family friendly place – sitting in the Plaza del Socorro late in the evening watching families at play. Send us your pictures when you go.
Stunning Photographs Gary, absolutely magical looking place. Really enjoyed reading this one. XX
Thanks Paula, glad you enjoyed it.