Efficient Use of Time in Ronda and Granada
 

I am wanting to book a train from Ronda to Granada in late September. The choice for us is to arrive in Granada at 10.55am or 15.57pm. Am I right in thinking it would be better to catch the later train so that we are travelling during siesta time when things will be closed in Granada? This would give us a full morning in Ronda before catching the train. We are staying two nights in Ronda and two in Granada where we have tickets booked for the Alhambra the morning after we arrive. Our appointed time at the Palacio Nazaries is 12 noon. We are considering booking an additional visit to the Palacio for the night before (the day of our arrival).
How long are places in Granada closed in the afternoons? We need to catch the train from Granada to Madrid the morning after our second night there.
I am trying to make efficient use of our time. Any advice gratefully received.

Many stores are now open all day in Spain, but the tradtional siesta closing time for shops would be 2-5pm. Means that all shops would normally be open from 9am-2pm and then 5-8pm. Restaurants open for lunch during the siesta (normally you would be able to get a lunch from about 1.30pm, this is when most Spanish would have their main meal of the day, and most local restaurants serve bargain three course Menu del Día with drinks included for some 8-12€). The restaurants then open again at 8-9pm when the shops are closing. In other words, when the shops are closed the restaurants are serving meals, a perfect syclus.

I also very much recommend to have breakfast in a local bar/restaurant. Ten times more interesting (and much more affordable) than a hotel breakfast. Nothing beats the atmosphere in a genuine Spanish breakfast place. Many places would be serving tapas almost all day, also when most of the restaurants don't serve full meals.

"two nights in Ronda", you may find you have loads of time to kill, it is just a ravine and a bridge. Why not spend time at glorious Seville, Cordoba, Malaga of Jerez even. (actually even though I like horses and sherry two nights in Jerez is one too many) but two in Ronda....

"it is just a ravine and a bridge" I guess they are a good enough attraction to draw a few visitors every year, but it is somewhat downplaying one of Spain's oldest cities and the surrounding villages of the Serrania de Ronda (www.turismoderonda.es).

Robert you are right, it is just in comparison to Seville, Cordoba, Malaga it is such a little thing, but hey I understand that for some people this is the place to visit.

I agree with bilboburgler, the view from the gorge is nice though.

We stayed two nights in Ronda. We were driving, so the first night we just had dinner and slept, and the second day we visited a museum and wandered around town a bit. It was a nice relaxed time.

Thank you kimhe for your detailed and valuable information. Thank you to everyone else for your opinions and advice.
I only told you the time we will spend in Ronda and Granada and neglected to say we will have had 3 nights in Cordoba and 4 in Seville prior to arriving in Ronda.
We don't like one-nighters and prefer a minimum of 3 nights in a place so Ronda and Granada are exceptions to our usual plans. I realise 2 nights in Granada is lean but will give us time for a good look at the Alhambra rather than a glimpse of many things.
Thank you to all you helpful and experienced people.

My choice would be to take the earlier train to Granada. I was ready to leave Ronda after 1 full day. In addition to the Alhambra, I enjoyed a number of things in Granada, including just walking around the Albaicín, Bib-Rambla, Cartuja, and elsewhere. And even if a number of places are closed, I would think there would be times when you could enter the Cathedral and maybe a few other sites.

Definitely book a night visit to the Alhambra if you can. (I was glad my night tour was after the daytime one, but I suspect people have different preferences about that.)

Hope that helps!

If you like horseback riding, there's a great 3-hour sunrise ride in Ronda! Takes you down into the gorge from where you have splendid views of the bridge.

kja, thank you for your suggestions. After consideration, we have decided to leave Ronda on the early train arriving at Granada at 10.55am. We have booked the night tour of the Palacio Nazaries for the same day as our day tour. It makes sense to see it in daylight first and as we have booked the daytime visit for the morning there is plenty of time to have a break in between visits.
Joannyc, the sunrise ride sounds wonderful - a pity we are not horse riders.
You have all been very helpful - thank you again.