After much debating we decided to head inland and up into the mountains to Ronda, a place we have wanted to come to for a long time but never made it.

Concerned about the forecasted snow, we researched all the routes into Ronda – all of them are apparently stunning, none of them an easy drive – finally we opted for a smaller road which turned out to mean that it wasn’t very well kept, dissolving slightly at the edges (a bit disconcerting when you are nearly 800m up the side of a mountain) and rather bouncy in parts, but beautiful all the same.  We were heading for an Aire which was supposed to be 12 euros a night, but ended up at the campsite ‘Camping el Sur’ (18 euros 52 per night exc elect with 5% disc.).  The Aire is owned by the campsite, but currently closed due to it flooding, so we had no choice except to opt for the slightly more costly option.

After a quick wander into Ronda to stretch the legs, take in the beautiful views and get a map we settled in for the evening in a cold, but very tranquil location.

We had been keeping our eye on the weather forecast and knew that there were chances of snow on Saturday night however, we woke at about 6am to rain…. which turned into snow and looked like it was going to hang around for a while.

Having waited a couple of hours until it slowed (and plugged Mika into electricity as the solar panel was covered in snow), we set off into town to explore and were not disappointed by the added ‘charm’ the snow added …. although, like the locals, we were a little nervous as to what may be coming later in the afternoon as it looked like we were in for a good few days here ….

That said, despite the weather forecast and the colour of the sky, it didn’t snow or rain on Saturday, nor Sunday – so, although not beautiful bright blue skies, we were still able to enjoy some of the walks and sights.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Ronda you can read up on it here – it is a beautiful old town built around a canyon with three bridges joining the two sides and a lovely walk through the valley below enabling you to look up and admire the main bridge on one side and the mountains on the other.

the views from the bridge down into the other side of the canyon weren’t too bad either ….

Ronda is set in the most beautiful location, every direction you look in leads you to a mountain encrusted with snow in the distance with beautiful old buildings balancing on the edge of a cliff looking like they are about to fall over – it is stunning.  The area not only has lots of walking and mountain biking but it also has its fair share of good bars, restaurants, a decent market and lots of patisseries …..so we will definitely be back when the weather is a little warmer.