I'm planning a trip to Andalucia in March. After a few days in Granada, I will be renting a car and driving to Sevilla. My plan was to take a day to get out of Granada and make our way to Ronda where we would spend the night. The next day, I was thinking of heading to Sevilla. Hopefully, both drives will leave time to stop along the way. Can anyone give me an idea about the drive times? Or an alternate town to stop over in? If necessary, we could stop for 2 nights between Granada and Sevilla and shorten our stay in Sevilla. Also, any other ideas about what to stop and see along the route, that would be great! Thanks<BR>Chrissy

If you like nature I would do the following: on the way from Granada to Ronda I would stop at Antequera. There is an excellent place for hiking in the surroundings: El Torcal Natural Park, a surprisingly barren landscape overlooking central Andalucia. A good place to eat in Antequera is Restaurante Noelia, another Pizarro. Try delicious porra antequerana and bienmesabe for dessert. The following day you could spend the morning in Ronda and in the early afternoon drive to Grazalema then Zahara and you will see some of the most beautiful landscapes in Spain. From Zahara to Sevilla it will take you only one hour and fifteen minutes through Utrera. Another option would be going to Jerez to stay overnight stopping in Arcos and arriving next day at Sevilla after visiting some of Jerez in the morning and early afternoon.

My girlfried and I had a driving holiday in Andalucia last September. We arrived in Malaga, drove to Granarda spending a couple of days there. We then took a day to scratch the service of the Las Alpujaras staying in LanJaron over night and visiting a number of local markets. Then a leisurely drive to Cordoba, then on to Seville taking in the countyside. We stopped at Carmona before driving in to Seville in the morning. We then headed south to Grazalema and then on to Rhonda. Finaly to the coast and back to Malaga. This all took 10 days, stopping in very cheap but fantastic B&Bs. We just got lost, using the major cities as a guide and if daylight ran out we would stop as accommodation was very easy to find. I hope you realy enjoy yourself as I found it the most relaxing hoilday I have had (even though I drove about 1200Km).<BR>Gareth<BR>

Thanks, Pedro and Gareth. It sounds like I'll be able to stick to my original plan, stopping overnight in Ronda. It looks like there are 2 ways (at least) to get from Granada to Ronda, any advice on that? Or the difference in drive times? For now, at least I know where to reserve hotel rooms, and I can iron out more details as the trip gets closer. Thanks again!<BR>Chrissy

Chrissy,<BR>Since Pedro has explained the "high road" to Ronda, I'll describe how we do the "low road". From Granada, we take the "scenic" route down the Sierra Nevada mountain pass, past the "Suspiro del Moro" (where the last Moorish King, Boabdil, in retreat turned to sigh and weep over the beautiful city he had just lost to F. and Isabel). It's the N323/E902 currently being widened to make it a superhighway all the way down to Motril. Takes about 45 min. Then we go west on the coastal road N 320 along the Mediterranean (nice drive through Salobrena, Almunecar) and always make a stop at really pretty Nerja. We have drinks at an outdoor cafe at the Balcon de Europa,(you can also visit the pre- historic caves, if you can take the time), then we make a little 8 km detour off the N320 up to the picture-card perfect white Moorish village of Frigiliana to buy inexpensive ceramics, take pictures, soak up the atmosphere-still relatively unspoiled but won't stay that way for long, judging by the luxury condos they're building all around. Then we avoid Malaga and the ugly concrete sprawl around it by taking the superhighway (E 15) that goes above and around the ugly high rises and gets us down to Marbella in no time. From Frigiliana to Marbella should take 1 1/2 hrs. Outside Marbella we make another stop at the "jet-setter" yacht harbour of Puerto Banus (another rest stop-see how the super rich vacation), then on to San Pedro de Alcantara, where we take the A376 up to Ronda. This is a stunning drive, but as I explained in another post, it's one endless curve after another, but there are passing lanes, and it's not frightening at all, just breathtaking scenery. The stretch from San Pedro up to Ronda should take about 45 min.-1 hr. (see viamichelin.com), but the whole drive, Granada-Nerja-Frigiliana-Marbella/Puerto Banus-Ronda with the stops will take up a good part of a day. In the past we've broken up this drive with an overnight up in the Sierra, above Marbella in Ojen or Monda, (there are a couple of country hotels we like up there-one, a hunting lodge, and it's very peaceful, relaxing), but in your case, I wouldn't take a day away from Seville to do that, because I think you'll really love Seville. From Ronda we spend most of the next day poking around the "white towns", Grazalema, Zahara de la Sierra, Arcos before heading up to Seville. The drive Arcos-Seville (without a stop for sherry sipping in Jerez) should take no more than 1/12 hrs.<BR>Hope this helps.<BR>Maribel

I will send you a couple of folders which may help on what to see if you e-mail me - but nothing on driving: I am strictly public transport.