Setenil and Ronda 
Another road trip from Fuengirola that we did was to drive the short drive to the scenic country towns of Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda. On this occasion, Mum decided to come with us to explore what these destinations have to offer.
Our journey began mid morning with an easy drive along the highways before we turned off onto smaller scenic roads that wind through the Andalusian countryside, offering beautiful views of white washed villages and rolling hills, driving past large wind turbines along the way.
Our first stop of the day was the town of Setenil de las Bodegas and here we ran across a slight problem, where do we park the car? As the town winds its way across cliffs and rock formations, there are only very small sections where you can actually park. After driving through the entire town I made the decision to made a u-turn (easier said that done) and went back to the start of town where I managed to find some parking near the local public school.
And so, we eventually got to explore this unique country town with its homes and business built into the rock formations. We wandered the small streets (avoiding the electrical tuk-tuk taxis and other vehicles driving along the narrow streets) and marvelled at this unique way of using the landscape to create natural shelter.
We stopped at a restaurant that was built into one of these rock formations where we sampled some local Andalusian cuisine and drinks (on this occasion Suz had to settle for a Tinto de Verano as they didn’t have Sangria but it’s almost the same so she was happy).
After lunch I climbed to the to of the village which provided some great views of the town nestled inside the rock formations, before returning to our vehicle and driving the short, but very scenic, route to Ronda.
Ronda is a bigger town and it was a lot easier to find proper parking here in a parking garage at the very top of “Calle La Bola”, the main pedestrian shopping street in town. We wandered the street, walking past Plaza del Socorro and even found a store with the name ‘Medina’ that we of course had to get a photo in front of.
At the end of the street we came across Plaza de Toros, one of the oldest bullrings in Spain before we made our way onto Mirador de Ronda, a viewpoint that provides panoramic vistas over the gorge that the town sits upon and also looks over the historic old town and the surrounding countryside.
We walked along the cliffside until we came across the famous Puente Nuevo, a stunning bridge which spans the deep chasm of the gorge and allows you to cross onto the old town. We crossed this bridge shortly thereafter and found a nice place right next to the gorge where we could sit and have a cold drink whilst enjoying the stunning views of the old bridge and the white-washed buildings that cling to the cliffs.
As the afternoon approached, we started to make our way back towards the car (I tried finding a local brewery that was supposed to be in town however was unsuccessful and not sure if they’ve closed shop or never been at that location) and made a quick stop at a sports shop where Xander and Eloise got some new small backpacks that suited them better than the ones they already had.
We made our way to Fuengirola shortly thereafter, happy with the day trip that provided us with some beautiful sights and showcasing some of what the Andalusian region of Spain has to offer.
