Having a car in Ronda during a festival?

Old Dec 9th, 2014, 03:36 PM
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Having a car in Ronda during a festival?

We are staying in Ronda on May 16-17 and it turns out that we'll be there during the Ronda Romantica. I had not heard of it until I read the post by Supermum (thanks!). We'll be staying at the Hotel Montelirio.

We will be coming from Granada, and my plan is to rent a car, explore the area on the way to Ronda, then do a half day drive to Grazalema & Zahara on our full day. We travel to Malaga after Ronda, so a car isn't essential.

Now I wonder if having a car at all will make any sense. How difficult will it be to drive through the town and park(even if arranged with the hotel)? I really would like to get a taste of the area by exploring the region, but now I'm not sure if we should deal with the headaches of a car in a normally-crowded town that is especially crowded because of a festival.

Feedback/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Paule
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Old Dec 9th, 2014, 03:40 PM
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PS -- we plan to rent a car from Granada, so will not have it otherwise on our trip.

I've also been looking at Ronda car rentals, but they are local agencies, so it's hard to figure out if they might be open on the Sunday (May 17) that we'd need a car. That might make the most sense, since we'd avoid the parking issues.

If anyone has any knowledge of local agencies, that would be super helpful!
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Old Dec 9th, 2014, 04:08 PM
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Your hotel is located across the bridge from the Parador, on Calle Tenorio. You shouldn't have any problem reaching your hotel, but I would arrive from the south (on the A-6300) since the fiesta is already underway and some of the streets will be blocked, especially in front of the Plaza de Toros. But you'll need to check where your hotel will be arranging parking before you decide on what to do. Hopefully it's south of the bridge.

None of the major rental car companies have locations in Ronda.
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Old Dec 9th, 2014, 04:23 PM
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Thanks, Robert, that gives me some hope that it's doable. I'm also going to ask the hotel what they would suggest.

Paule
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Old Dec 13th, 2014, 04:26 AM
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oh!! How wonderful!! You are going to love the romantica, it is a great experience!! no room for a car, people and horses everywhere and beer and food booths, just wander around this small town and soak up the atmosphere!!! We travelled Spain by train so no car parking dramas....I recommend it!!! Enjoy!!!
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Old Dec 13th, 2014, 06:31 AM
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Hi Paule, We were in Ronda with a car in September during the Feria de Pedro Romero (Ronda's largest festival). We arrived on the day of their big parade and had a little trouble getting to our hotel (Enfrente Arte) because some streets were closed, but it wasn't a big deal. (However, we are rarely fazed by any kind of traffic situation or driving challenge because we live in LA.)
Your hotel, which is right in the center of town, would have been easier to access.

Once we parked, we didn't use the car again while in Ronda, but we were happy to have it in general for our Andalucian road trip.
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Old Dec 14th, 2014, 03:30 AM
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Supermum- had it not been for your mention of it on a recent post, I would've never known, so thank you again!

crosscheck - I'm again back and forth between the Enfrente Arte & Montelirio. I have a reservation at both these places now because I'm really unsure which of the 2 would be easier to access and park at during the festival. I was under the impression that the EA is easier to access and to park as it's outside of the main part of town, but from your description, it sounds like we have to go through the town to get to it. We're NYers (with a car!) and we, too, are used to crowds, but would prefer to avoid them on vacation!

Here's my concern: we arrive from Granada on Saturday, the second day of a 3-day event. We will need to access the hotel and park. On Sunday, the 3rd day of the festival, we figured we'd take a half-day drive or so to explore the countryside (Grazalema, Zahara) and come back in the early evening. So which of these 2 will be easier for us to access and park?

I asked the Montelirio about parking, and their answer just confuses me more. I'm going to guess that public parking might be pretty difficult during the festival. If we take private parking, we need to get it by 12:00?

>

Later they wrote, >.

We would prefer to have a car, although one option would be to drop it altogether. We're planning to rent a car on our way to Ronda, but will not have it during the earlier part of our trip. I checked out local car agencies, but they aren't open on Sunday.

So any advice here as to which would be the better of the 2 hotels to stay at would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!
Paule
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Old Dec 14th, 2014, 08:51 AM
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Go with the private parking and let the hotel take care of it for you.
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Old Dec 14th, 2014, 10:07 AM
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I agree with Robert and would choose the valet service at Montelirio, but I would clarify the "12pm." I have a feeling he/she meant 12am. We had fun at Enfrente Arte (and there is a ton of street parking), but it is a longish uphill walk to town and super quirky - kind of a hostel for grownups, not for everyone. Montelirio is classier, has more wow factor because of the view and is in a much more central location.
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Old Dec 14th, 2014, 10:52 AM
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Thanks for the recommendation. I double checked with them and the private parking is simply the per day cost. We will be staying 2 days so we'll have to pay for 2 days of parking regardless. Should not be an issue.

Both hotels have been incredibly responsive and I suspect either one would work out fine.

I know, I get a little anal when it coes to planning; fortunately, I tend to let it go when we are actually on the road.
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Old Dec 14th, 2014, 05:17 PM
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I was very neurotic/anal about Ronda as well. I wasn't sure if we should go there at all, then decided to go because of the festival. Remember it is a very small city, so traffic there is probably not what you're imagining. Even with the street closures (and our GPS freakout) it probably took only an extra 10 minutes to get to our hotel.
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Old Dec 15th, 2014, 12:42 AM
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Thanks, crosscheck, that's very helpful to keep in mind.
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