Puente Nuevo, Ronda

The most photographed bridge in Spain. Ronda is the third most visited place in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. The best is to walk down under the bridge and look up. To get there you have to cross the bridge with the Parador behind you. Keep turning right in small streets till you find the walkway down.

All of a sudden I realized that I recognized the bridge from my Windows 10 startup screen. A dream come true! Beautiful structure and history. Too busy with silly tourists like myself! But hey, at least I didn't have a selfie stick and ventured out into the quiet streets of Ronda :-D

Ronda is a typical destination for who's visiting Andalusia, and of course you can't miss it, if you are in the nearby. I decided to visit this pueblo blanco in the way from Granada and Tarifa, staying here 1 night. After this experience, nevertheless, I would say that there are many other pueblos blancos worthy of a visit, and maybe as beautiful as Ronda, with the advantage of being less crowded in summer. Arcos de la Frontera, for example, or Grazalema. They are smaller but with the same charme. And if they have no such a huge bridge as the Puente Nuevo in Ronda, they've got a great view on the canyons as well as little pretty streets, withe houses with patios. So, maybe if you have time, have a look to Ronda but also compare it with another village :)

Very impressive. A must see in Ronda. Has also a good lookout

. Puente Nuevo – how to walk and see it from below” . The Puente Nuevo – the New Bridge – is the most famous of the bridges in Ronda. There are 3 main bridges in Ronda; the New Bridge Puente Nuevo, which is not new, the Old Bridge Puente Viejo, which is not the oldest bridge, and is also sometimes called the Arab Bridge Puente Arabe, although it’s not Arab either, and the Roman Bridge Puente Romano, which is not Roman but built by the Arabs. :-) To get a good view of the famous Puente Nuevo bridge, go along the little public path that goes beside and behind the Ronda Parador. There is no charge for this, although there is a charge if you go down and inside the part of the bridge where there is a small exhibition. Then cross the Puente Nuevo bridge to the observation platform on the other side of the road; from there you can get a view from the other side. But the best view, the one that you see on posters and postcards, is from down below by the Molinos, the old Mills. I am about to describe a walk which will take you away from the hordes of tourists milling around the Puente Nuevo bridge. For an averagely fit person (I am over 70 and most of my exercise is on the Tube in London), this walk takes 2 hours at a strolling pace. It is a circular route, and involves going down to the Vega, the plain of Ronda, the lovely countryside that you see from the various viewpoints up in the city. Admittedly, this also means that you then have to walk back up to the city towards the end of your circle, but on a winding country road with flowers by the wayside, what could be nicer than stopping occasionally to admire the view, look at the flora, and get your breath back? You do indeed walk along country roads – the ones that you can see from up above - where you may see only two or three vehicles in your whole time. Peace after the hustle and bustle of the town and its tourists. But you can only do this walk from October to early June; after that it will be too hot. And do wear a hat and take a large bottle of water, whatever the time of year. Start anywhere in town near the main road, Virgen de la Paz. If you are at the Puente Nuevo, start walking past the Parador and the Bullring, past the Alameda park and then bear right at the big church – La Iglesia de la Merced – with a flight of steps in front. You are now in the Calle Jerez, keep on up the road, past the Hotel Reina Victoria (built by the British to house the engineers working on the Ronda to Algeciras railway line), and you then come to your first photo opportunity: a viewpoint with a bronze statue of the Virgen del Rocío. Keep following the pavement with the white wall which then becomes railings and then nothing much. You are walking on a road along the edge of the cliff. There is now a wide track leading off to the left, you take this, and start going down through a pinewood. The track gets narrow. This is the only non-tarmacked part of the route, and lasts for 5 minutes. After a bit you come to a roughish bit (5 metres only) down to a T junction in the track; turn left, onto what is now a lane rather than a track. Then just keep on going down and always going round to your left if there is a junction. That’s it basically: keep on walking for an hour and a half! You’ll cross the Río Guadalavín as it winds among lush fields full of poppies in springtime. You’ll also get a beautiful view of the Puente Nuevo from below. And as you start the slow climb round towards the town again, you will see an interestingly shaped rock which is vulgarly (very vulgarly) named after an anatomical feature and ascribed to a Moor. :-) You’ll see what I mean when you spot it, and guess its name. The Moor's . . . . . On the last stretch of the climb up, near a riding school, there are some steps back to the town on the left; I prefer to continue to trudge slowly up the little road and then at the top enter the town through the Horseshoe Gate. And you are back in civilization – just continue walking back to Las Castañuelas for a well-earned and delicious lunch. .