The full natural drama of RONDA, rising amid a ring of dark, angular mountains, is best appreciated as you enter the town. Built on an isolated ridge of the sierra, it's split in half by a gaping river gorge, El Tajo, which drops sheer for 130m on three sides. Still more spectacular, the gorge is spanned by a stupendous eighteenth-century arched bridge, the Puente Nuevo, while tall, whitewashed houses lean from its precipitous edges.
While much of the attraction of Ronda lies in this extraordinary view, or in walking down by the Río Guadalévin, following the donkey tracks through the rich green valley, the town has a number of museums and, surprisingly, has sacrificed little of its character to the flow of day-trippers from the Costa del Sol.