Ronda

What a hidden gem in the world here. This town is as enchanting as it is beautiful. It slowed us right down, and allowed us to breathe.

This town wasn’t part of our original plan. We had originally booked accommodations in Portugal for this time along the Algarve, until our AirBnB’s host’s daughter had to have leg surgery during this time. We can only hope it went well. So one recommendation from Cam’s cousin later we ended up here, and Trevor, if you have any more recommendations, we are all ears. He knocked it out of the park.

We got off the bus somewhat disoriented. The drive wove through the Andalusian mountain valleys. We wandered halfway across town (10 minutes of walking) to find our little hotel room, tucked above a restaurant. We then realized how small this town was. There are essentially two sections, a small old town situated on one clifftop. A larger, more modern expansion located on a second. A small river gorge runs between the two, with an iconic bridge you have likely seen before in your Windows stock images between them. We were located two minutes from the bridge on the new side of town.

It doesn’t take long to explore the entire town. There is one shaded shopping lane, catering to the many day-trippers from Seville, Malaga and beyond. Some small winding stairs and streets make up the old area, and that has some nice plazas. But the best bit is walking along the prominades that encircle the town, right along the cliff edges. Seeing the rolling hill farms in the foreground, the mountains in the back is just fantastic.

On the second day, we took a small hike into the countryside, to see the town and bridge from below. We followed a cobbled street towards some marked lookout points, where there’s always a few cars parked. Watching the sunset there was lovely.

The town just became a place for us to relax, recharge and take stock of what we have done right and wrong over the trip so far. It was a place of reflection for us, as all that was there was an absolutely fantastic landscape, and time. And that is exactly what we needed.

The days were very hot so much of the day was spent inside in the nice AC. The food was okay. All the tapas we got were deep fried with cheese or potato. However, we did stop by one joint and had some lamb skewer and couscous and it was delicious. It finally had some good flavour, it was light and fresh. One of the best meals of the trip. We also enjoyed some cheesecake gelato after our long walk back from the gorge.

Please enjoy all of our photos of the area below. We’re now off the Algarve in Portugal! See you there!