• The mines and tunnels that lead down to the garrison at the bottom of the gorge
• The luxurious Parador accommodations
• Walking through the old town
• The Andalusian gardens with their tall myrtle trees
• The old (plaza del torros) bullring

• Quick Tips:

• Stay overnight in Ronda
• Get a map from the tourist information office adjacent to the bridge
• They will give you a good driving map of Andalusia if you need one
• Peek in a the antique shops - they have interesting iron tools, and wooden furniture
• There is more to the town than the bridge - the alleys and old homes are the real attraction

• Best Way To Get Around:

  p>Drive carefully on the road from the coast up to Ronda - the road is so narrow and windy that the lane-painter gave up and it's all marked as one lane for most of the road. I was lucky to drive it at night the first time - at night you can't see how scary it is - how close you are to falling into a 200-meter pit. Take into account that slow driving trucks can turn double this drive if you're unlucky.

  Once in Ronda park your car somewhere near the center - you won't need it in Ronda.
  Wear good shoes and prepare to do some climbing and hiking.

  Read Less

The Parador of Ronda sits above the famous Ronda gorge. Originally built in the 1700''s as the town hall building, the interior is modern and beautiful. This was probably our favorite hotel in Spain.

We got a room at the last minute due to a cancellation (this is a good way to get a room last minute) and it ended up being a deluxe suite. The suite is two stories with a downstairs lounge and bathroom (where our kids slept) -We had the master bedroom upstairs with a big king-size bed wooden floors and pretty furniture. We also had a nice Jacuzzi bath! Our room also had a huge balcony overlooking the old city of Ronda, the Parador''s pool, and the gorge below.

Some Tips:

• You park in underground parking and they have an unusual system of elevators that requires you to change elevators in the lobby. I discovered that if you take the service elevator from the garage you can get directly to your floor without changing elevators.
• You can leave your car in the Parador''s parking while you tour the city, even if you have already checked out of the hotel.
• The gardens near the pool have the most beautiful pomegranate bushes I have ever seen, unfortunately our picture of them didn''t come out.

In my entry about the Ronda Bullring I mentioned that Ronda has a few attractions that seem to be made up as a way to make a few pesetas off of us tourists. I was sure that the Moorish Mines were an example of this.

In order to reach the Moorish Mines from the Plaza de España (the main town square) cross the new bridge and then turn right up the steep road past the  16th century Palace de Marques de Salvatierre until you get to the Casa del Rey Moro. Casa del Rey Moro and its gardens are now converted into an attraction. You pay an entrance fee and immediately after entering you start to descend levels after levels of stairs hewn in the rock. (If you can't handle the stairs there is an exit to pretty gardens - where you'll end up after the climb anyway) Every so often there is a landing where you can enter into little cave rooms, some with views into the gorge. These mines were apparently used as a  hiding place for the Moors while the city was under siege, the stairs lead to the city's main water source. This water source turned out to be the city's Achilles heal, in the 15th century the city was conquered when the water source was cut off - climbing up to the super-fortified city to actually fight wasn't necessary.

We didn't realize how many stairs there were going to be, apparently there are about 300 stairs - so figure you are going down at least 20 stories! When you get to the bottom there's a doorway leading out to a platform where you can stand a few feet above the water at the bottom of the gorge. There is no food or drink on the way - it's a good idea to bring some with you!

My kids thought this was the best attraction in Ronda - so much so, that when we finally reached the top I asked my five-year-old if he wanted to do it again - and he excitedly replied - yes! My pregnant wife did not share his enthusiasm... In any case - there's a pretty garden to stroll through when you reach the top again. There's a Coke machine at the end of the garden. The garden includes at least one impressive fragrant myrtle tree from which I trimmed a few branches. I plan to plant them in my garden, though I think they may take a few hundred years to reach full size.

A few years ago my wife and I went on a trip to Bodrum, Turkey, a picturesque town on the Aegean with a lot of hotels and too few tourist attractions. Of course tourists need tourists attractions so the locals had taken the liberty of creating a few. My favorite made-up attraction was camel beach, touted as a magical beach on which camels live. Further investigation revealed that someone bought a few camels and stuck them on a particular beach, voila - camel beach.

Since then, whenever we come across an attraction that is clearly made up, I call it camel beach (or sometimes camel island).

Ronda is beautiful, but someone decided it needed more attractions. So they created, the Hunting Museum, the Bandit Museum, the Carriage Museum, etc. I think most people can do without these, but I have to say we gave in to the urge and paid to see the bullring and bullfighting museum, a room little larger than our walk-in closet at home.

The Ronda Bullring is the oldest in Spain and the rules for bullfighting were apparently set down in Ronda.

Unfortunately, while a national pastime in Spain, bullfighting seems completely disgusting to me. It is basically a long and drawn-out torture and killing of a bull in front of crowds of people. Incidentally, I was told that on days when the bull wins it is not recommended to order the meatballs - something about small portions...

In any case - it is part of the culture so we decided to take a look around the bullring - see the pictures below.

Ronda has a way of communicating peace and beauty through its simple old buildings, whitewashed homes gardens, beautifully adorned wooden doors, and windy narrow, lanes and alleys. From what we saw and read this typifies the Andalusian vision of space and beauty.

Before going to Spain a friend leant me a book about Jewish Medieval Andalusian poetry (Wine, Women, and Death) whose introduction shed some light on this simple beauty and the place it held in medieval Andalusia. (For more information click here.)

During the golden age men would gather on warm evenings and have wine parties in these geometrically-shaped courtyard or backyard gardens. Unlike the parties we are used to, the participants would listen to soft music from string and simple wind instruments, drink fine homemade wines, and participate in poetry contests. Like the gardens which are naturally beautiful but are contained by the geometrically shaped garden, the rhythm and meter of the poems was very set, while the content was up to the improviser. 

The poems were often of love, and pleasure, as well as beauty of the natural world. Muslims and Jews would celebrate together. The revelers would often drink enough to elevate their spirits, but these parties are not described as rowdy - instead, tired partygoers would lead back on the garden's cushioned benches and take a nap for awhile. Later they would be awakened for another round of festivities.

Wandering through the streets and alleys of Ronda you get a sense of the natural and simple beauty that inspired Spaniards a millennium ago to celebrate life the way they did.

Some of  the most beautiful scenes are the ones you see peering into private courtyards or between anonymous buildings - the pictures below represent some typical views, but to really experience it you need to breathe the clean mountain air and walk the quiet streets.

A few lines by the Jewish poet Shmuel HaNagid

...Send the lass who plays the lute
To fill the cup with coral drink,
Put up in kegs in Adam's time,
Or else just after Noah's flood,
A pungent wine, like frankincense,
A glittering wine, like gold and gems,
Such wine as concubines and queens
Would bring King David long ago...

Quotation taken from: Raymond P. Scheindlin. Wine, Women, and Death. Copyright © 1986 by JPS (Philadelphia, PA).