White towns Spain
 

My husband and I want to do a day drive from Seville to see a white town or two. Any suggstions which ones are most quaint and pretty ? I love to photograph.

Well, Arcos de la Frontera is lovely, apparently there is bus service from Seville but with a car, it'll be much faster; also spectacular Ronda is to the east of Arcos, but all the further from Seville.

Carmona is very close.

http://www.sunshineandsiestas.com/20...-from-seville/

I think Ronda, Grazelena both look great. Had not noticed Carmona. Argos looks interesting ,, as does Serenity but I think it is in a different direction.

Oops I meant Sentenil

Are you going to Cordoba. Personally, I'd skip the White Towns (which we all found mildly interesting at best) and take a short train ride to Cordoba and go to the Mezquita, one of the most fascinating buildings I've ever visited. Get there when it opens and beat the crowds.

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chapter-thirteen-the-marvelous-mezquita/</B>

((H))

I agree with tom about Cordoba. Especially is you were going to rent a car for just a day for the white towns. I really enjoyed the ones I visited but Cordoba was even better and easily done by train - don't have to deal with parking ,etc.

Photos of several white towns: http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p424622511

Photos of Cordoba (and Seville and Granada) - http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p414429517

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...ite-hill-towns

Ronda is neat but though it may be called a white town it is less so IMO than say Arcos de la Frontera and smaller such towns. But Ronda is physically gorgeous, being bisected by a deep gorge but its key calling card is it looks - not that much to actually see and do so could by car hit a few more iconic white towns and see Ronda than go back to Seville.

Don't bother with the white towns. Only of marginal interest. Go to Carmona and Ronda and Grazelema, if you must.

In agreement with most of the above. I do not know why white villages have taken on a life of their own.

Thanks. We will consider all the great advice.

IMD - Because Rick Steves promotes them just as he did for Cinq Terre.

Although Cordoba is my favorite city in Spain, I would not discredit the charm of Ronda. We stayed at the Parador walked the ridge path in the evening (about 1 mile), admired the views while eating tapas and drinking wine at sunset, enjoyed a flamenco performance at the restaurant El Quinque.

You mentioned that you like to photograph. Would you prefer to photograph historical cities and great monuments or dramatic countryside?

Cordoba is, IMO, not to be missed. If you feel you MUST take another day trip, Ronda would be my choice – and I would consider taking public transportation rather than driving. JMO.

We didn't go to the white towns, but I agree with what posters say about Córdoba. We recently returned from our trip to southern Spain, and we agree (4 of us) that Córdoba was our favorite city for general overall ambience and fun. The Mezquita is amazing, not to be missed. We enjoyed the Alcazar and the Palacio de Vianos. (Palace with 12 patios.) Cordoba is beautiful with white-washed buildings, narrow lanes, colorful pots of flowers on the walls, artisan galleries, Roman Bridge, etc. It is smaller than Seville (which we loved too), and less crowded.

Jerez-de-la-Frontera is another nice day trip from Seville - tour sherry houses in home of sherry and practice sessions of the Andalusia Equestrian School, on many days. Very close to Seville by car or train.

Thanks everyone. We plan to visit a couple of white towns. Nice to know about Córdoba for another trip.

The white towns I've visited were meh at best, IME. I was eager to move on. I agree that Cordoba is inspirational and well worth a visit.

On our late September trip to Spain, we took two days to visit the white towns to relax from our sightseeing. If you want to visit white towns, we really liked Grazalema. Ronda was mobbed with tourists, and Setenil was disappointing—not nearly as dramatic as the pictures of it I had seen. We stopped in Zahara to hike up to the castle for a pretty view. I agree with the other posters, however, that the white towns are not overwhelming. The Mezquita and Alhambra were our two favorite sights in Spain.

We spent two nights in Ronda, it was just OK. The flamenco performance at El Quinque was most definitely a highlight. Four nights in Cordoba was nowhere near enough. But it sounds like you've made your plans, so enjoy.

Since you love to photograph, if you wind up in Ronda then hopefully do the walk down the hill to get the shot of the New Bridge from below. The bull ring and Arab baths are also good, wide angle lens useful in all cases, I think.