A cliffside town in Andalusia, Spain with breath-taking views and famous bridges.
DINK Details
Deets: - Population: about 3500 - Vibe: picturesque, few tourists | Train: - 4 hours 15 minutes Madrid - 3 hours Seville |
Plan Ahead: - for any restaurant with a view of the bridge, make a reservation. | Town Highlights: the iconic Puente Nuevo bridge, restaurants, shopping, views, views, views! |
1. Most shops and cafes close by early afternoon.
We don't deserve this! It's too much!
Why Rhonda
Things to Do
Stay
Bites & Sips
Map
Why Rhonda
The Bridge
Seriously! This town if beautiful from EVERY angle. If take a look a Google Map of the town it's littered with view points (Mirador). It's worth staying until sunset and waking up early for sunrise. But don't take my word for it, just look at the pictures! The bridges, the views of the countryside from the mountain, the gorge. You can't get enough.
The "main event" is the Puente Nuevo (new bridge). That's the big one in all the pictures. It's just a spectacular in person day or night. However, there are two other bridges worth wandering to. We did a loop around all of them.
Things to Do
Little Bridges
Puente Viejo & Puente Romano are two smaller bridges you can find if you follow the chasm to the west. The cross over the Guadalevin river and hav a small park and multiple view points.
Bath Houses and Water Mines
A few meters past Puente Romano you'll find the ruins of a 13th century bathhouse. Take the road north and there is a palace with mines that lead down to the bottom of the gorge.
A few minutes up the road on the other side of the ravine is the La Casa del Rey Moro. Tickets were cheap and its a cool mine. It lets out at the bottom of the ravine.
The Rest of Town
Explore the perimeter of the town for more great views and glimpses of the ancient city wall. Alameda del Tajo is a small park and garden worth strolling through.
Morning Run
A couple of pictures from the morning. There were a lot of trails. The one from the bridge going directly down was under construction but is probably done now.
Stay
Place: Airbnb
There are several hotels in the area, but we chose an Airbnb because of the view. We scored a little apartment on Calle Virgen de los Remedio with a balcony that had a direct view of the bridge.
The pictures did it no justice, we had no idea how lucky we got until we walked in. We stayed for two nights.
There is some cursing.... https://youtu.be/aXPCDMCPjC4
Bites and Sips
Restaurants with view of the bridge
We had lunch at restaurant with a view of the bridge. Like many restaurants at major tourist landmarks, it suffered from the inevitable trifecta of mediocre food, expensive prices, very busy. We still enjoyed it because we didn't have anywhere to be, but it led us to the decision that we'd be happier cooking in our Airbnb and getting the most out of our little balcony. So, we have no restaurant recommendations but it's Spain, so I am sure there are probably some great ones. The only piece of advice I would give is that reservations are necessary if you want a romantic dinner with a view.
Shopping like a local
After some quick wandering and checking Google maps we found a butcher and a grocery less than 15 minutes from our Airbnb. We bought the essentials: wine, bread, and meats as well as salad ingredients and some random butcher finds. My favorite thing with premade stuffed peppers we go from the butcher. They were very tasty! We made up some snacky plates and had dinner on our little baloney both nights!
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