We checked out of the wonderful Marriott resort in Marbella and headed toward our next accommodation in Seville. On our way, we stopped at the beautiful city of Ronda.
Marbella to Ronda was just over an hour away and the drive up was gorgeous. Ronda is situated up in the mountains and overlooks the steep El Tajo canyon. The city itself is divided into two sections by the canyon (and river below). This creates some stunning views from the Puente Nuevo bridge.
Unfortunately, we were a bit rushed for time in Ronda and only saw some of the main sights. After eating lunch, we took a carriage ride around the city. This was a great way to quickly see Ronda and our kids loved the horses.
We then stopped into the Plaza del Toros bullring and museum. We were able to walk through and see where the bulls are kept and then at the end, walked into the bullring itself.
For me personally, it was a little tough learning about bullfights and touring the bullring. It’s so sad to think of the poor bulls and their horrible deaths. At the same time, I also understand that while it’s not something I agree with, it is a big part of Spanish culture so I was still interested in learning and touring the bullring (I’ll never go to an actual bullfight though. It would just be too hard). The ring itself is very magnificent and at least our girls had a lot of fun running around it.
From there, we enjoyed walking around the city. We watched a local artist sing and enjoyed the magnificent views around the edge of the city. There are many lookout points into the valleys below that are definitely worth stopping at.
Eventually, we made our way over to the Puente Nuevo bridge, one of Ronda’s most famous sites. Construction on the bridge started in 1751 and took 42 years to complete. It spans the El Tajo gorge and was very impressive to see.
After crossing the bridge, we looked into a few local stores and did some shopping. Ronda was a wonderful place to stop on our way to Seville and I would love to visit again someday!
Final Thoughts
- While we did our own little walk through the city, there are many guided tours available that would take you through the city or gorge below.
- I would have loved to have hiked down to the gorge below, but we just didn’t have time. It looked beautiful though and I would definitely want to look into that if we were to visit again!
- We really only had a few hours to explore Ronda before needing to check into our place in Seville (which was great, by the way), but there is a ton more to see than what we did. Here’s a great site with more ideas on what to visit in Ronda.
Daley Family Travels 