Possible to drive through Ronda on the way to Seville from Granada?
 

On our drive (rental car) from Granada to Sevilla, would it be possible to pass through white villages and/or Ronda. We don't have time to spend the night, so the trip would have to be from early morning through late afternoon. If so, which places are doable?

There is a main road that leads from the Malaga area to Seville and runs thru or very near several of the villages. Ronda was ok - we really liked Zahara the best! we did the drive from seville to malaga.

Ronda, Zahara, or Arcos de la Frontera are all really neat. Ronda not a pueblo blanco but very interesting, lovely, and historic. Timewise going to any one of those towns for lunch is doable. Note: Jerez (the sherry town) is okay but not as nice so don't be fooled by tourist write-ups about it. Pick one of the others.

Answering your question:
leave Granada on the A-92 highway, towards Seville. After passing by Antequera, take exit to Campillos. Granada to Campillos takes 90min. Before arriving Campillos take a road to the left (A-357) that will take you to Ronda. It is a bit tricky, so get yourself a good map, and go to www.guiacampsa.co to plan your route (available in english).
From Ronda to Seville you can either use a faster road to Algodonales, Puerto Serrano and A-376 to Utrera (beautiful baroque architecture) and Seville, or you can take slower roads with beautiful smaller towns : Grazalema, El Bosque and Arcos (really worthy) and then go back to Bornos, Villamartin and Puerto Serrano, or carry on to Jerez (good road) and before arriving in Jerez taking the toll highway to Seville.
Of course, and depending of time available, you can mix these two possibilities.

We are going to take your advice by driving to Ronda and taking the scenic route (Grazelema, etc.) I will be picking up a map at the local bookstore - and will try to squeeze Zahara into the drive. Thanks to all of you!

Grazalema to Zahara is 17 km, a 35 min drive. The road is OK and half way there is a mirador with great sights.
You can reach Zahara as well from Algodonales, 9km, 15 min. the road is over the dam, with a beautiful view of the town.

The drive to Ronda is not for the "faint at heart" - at least that's what I keep reading. Josele, can you describe the drive in some detail. In other words, are there lots of cliff-hanging turns, etc. ? Thanks again for your invaluable info.

fontmn,
While we're waiting for josele to respond, I can personally assure you that both the road down from Campillos and also the road from San Pedro de Alcántara up to Ronda are not the white knuckle roads that some (out of date) guidebooks have described.

Yes, the raod from San Pedro on the coast up to Ronda seems like a serious of never ending curves, yet it is managable for trucks and the many tour busses that ply that route from the coast to Ronda.
We've also taken the road from Campillos that josele suggests to you, down (rather than up through the mountains) to Ronda, the A 367 to A 367, which is, in fact, not very serpentine-quite pretty, but far less dramatic than the road up from the coast. It's fine.

The smallest roads are well paved and two lanes, fit for buses all of them. Have in mind that the roads around Grazalema have little traffic, so you can drive slow and easy. The Ronda to San Pedro I always quit if I can. It is very good and wide, but I have done it many times and lately sometimes I meet people going very fast. You have to make it at least once, as it has spectacular views.

fontmn, if you want I can e-mail you some photos.

That would be terrific. My email address is [email protected]. We're getting pretty geared up about our upcoming trip next month which includes Barcelona, Santa Pola (this stop is for a visit), Granada, and Sevilla - AND thanks to you all- a brief drive through Ronda & vicinity (an area that I really hated missing, even if for a brief moment, but couldn't fit into our plan due to a stop in Santa Pola).
The information provided from all fodorites has been invaluable for our trip planning. I'll be finishing up some aspects of the itinerary within the next week. Excluding detailed info, this is what we have so far:
Monday, Sept. 18 Overnight flight and arrive in Madrid in the morning, bus to Toledo, relax/recover from jetlag.
Hotel Santa Isabel
Wed., Sept. 20 midday flight to BCN
Hotel Montecarlo
Sat., Sept. 23 Depart BCN @ 10 am, pick up rental car
Arrive Santa Pola – Possibly Hotel Polamar?
Monday, Sept. 25 Depart Santa Pola, arrive Granada
Hotel Casa Morisca
Wed., Sept. 27 Depart Granada early, drive through Ronda, Grazelema, arrive Sevilla
Hosteria Del Laurel
Friday, Sept. 29 Depart Sevilla, two hours in Cordoba, arrive Madrid
Hotel Ateneo Puerta del Sol
Sat., Sept. 30 Return rental car
Sunday, Oct. 1 Depart Madrid, midday
We booked the hotels a few weeks ago and were quite surprised that many of our first choices were already filled to capacity!