The Bullring and the Walls of Ronda – Alluring Andalusia, Part 5

The following post is the continuation of a series documenting our travels to the Andalusian region in Spain in the European Autumn of 2025. We had started off in Cordoba and had enjoyed the pretty Old Town around the Mezquita for a couple of days. (Wandering through the streets, walls, churches & bridges of Old Town Cordoba – Alluring Andalusia, Part 3 )Before moving on to the beautiful hilltop town of Ronda where we had spent the first half a day exploring the whitewashed towns’ Moorish Quarter and going down the hillside to admire its New Bridge from below ( The Moorish Quarter/ Old town of Ronda – Alluring Andalusia, Part 4 ).

We woke up early the next morning to enjoy our only early morning walk in Ronda. We don’t do day trips & stay at these small towns because  it gives us these early morning walks which allow us to enjoy these beautiful towns without any other tourists around.  Since we had only 1 night in Ronda we wanted to do as much as possible on this morning walk.

We started from our Hotel San Gabriel and immediately made our way down to the Puente Viejo or the Old Bridge where we had gone late in the evening the previous day.

The whitewashed buildings of the Moorish Quarter

Empty lanes as we make our way down to the Puete Viejo

We. enjoy these early morning walks as they are peaceful beyond imagination

No Tourist in sight as we approach the Palacio de Salvatierra

The Puente Viejo from above and the Mercantile Quarter beyond

We went out of the historical Old town through the Arc of Philip V that we had seen last night and realised that we still hadn’t gone across the oldest bridge of Ronda – The Arab Bridge or the Bridge of San Miguel. So we decided to go there after we had our fill of the Old Bridge.

The Bridge of San Miguel or Arab Bridge from above

Another beautiful Sunrise in Andalusia – This time in Ronda

Approaching the Old Bridge with no one else in sight

The Arch of Phillip V – The historical gate of Ronda

We reached the El Tajo (gorge in between the 2 parts of Town) and spent the next few minutes appreciating the natural wonder and the unique geography of Ronda.

The El Tajo ( Gorge) separating the 2 parts of Ronda from the Old Bridge

Happy us with the El Tajo from the Old Bridge

Looking back at the only way Ronda could be approached in the medieval times

Since we had limited time before we had to return back to the hotel for breakfast and make it for our timed tickets to the Bullring, we didn’t linger a lot on the Old Bridge. We went straight down to the valley and further back into history as we made our way to the oldest bridge of Ronda.

Going down history filled paths down to the oldest bridge in Ronda

We reached the Bridge of San Miguel or the Arab Bridge, it is often also called the Roman Bridge but was built long after the Roman Empire was gone. There were great views of the Puente Viejo ( These bridges can get confusing for the reader!) from the Arab bridge which showed how far down we had come.

The Puente Viejo from the Arab Bridge

The better half poses on the Oldest bridge of Ronda with the Puente Viejo high above

Crossing the Bridge of San Miguel – The Oldest Bridge of Ronda

A selfie with the oldest bridge of Ronda – The Bridge of San Miguel

We reached the Arab Baths ruins which are just near the Arab Bridge where the Moorish people would clean themselves and pray before entering the town itself. Sadly the baths weren’t open that early in the morning and we wouldn’t have time to come back here later. So we took a photo of the ruins from outside before resuming our walk.

The ruins of the Arab Baths near the Bridge of San Miguel

We then decided to walk along the historical Walls of Ronda before entering the Old town through yet another of the walled city’s gates – The Puerta de la Cijara. We stopped just before the gate to set up the mini tripod and take photos of ourselves with the walls and the whitewashed houses in the background.

The Puerta de la Cijara – Another of Walled Ronda’s Gates

Using the mini tripod to take photos of ourselves with the walls and the town

The better half poses with the walls and the town of Ronda in the background

With the Puerta de la Cijara – Another gate of the walled Old town of Ronda

We then walked inside the historic walls which had intermittent amazing views from the battlements and the tower at the end. We were very careful while walking along these battlements as they had no safety railings and were quite narrow at places. We clicked away to glory as the views from the walls were unparalleled and we were glad we had chosen this path for our only morning walk in Ronda.

Walking along the old battlements of Ronda

The better half poses at the battlements with the town in the background

The view from the tower at the end of the walls of Ronda from the Cijara Gate

The best way to spend a morning in Ronda – Walking along the Walls

The better half poses with the Tower at the end of this section of the walls

The ultra wide captures the unique setting of Ronda perfectly with the countryside below

A selfie from the walls of Ronda

Asked for a photo of myself with this great backdrop

From the top of the tallest tower along the walls

Getting the mini tripod out for a selfie

With that it was time to end our morning walk and we walked back to the hotel passing the Town Hall and the Church of St Mary that we had visited the previous day.

The Town Hall of Ronda early in the morning

The better half poses with the door to the Church of St Mary

We then returned to our Hotel San Gabriel where we kept our camera gear and freshened up before going down to their breakfast hall to enjoy our luxurious breakfast.

The beautiful staircase of the Hotel San Gabriel

The better half poses on the stairs of the Hotel San Gabriel

As expected the breakfast was great with a variety of stuff ranging from fresh fruits to fresh pastries, breads, cold cuts, cheeses, the mandatory Spanish omelette and eggs done to order. We filled up our tummies which were already primed after the vigorous morning walk. With the delicious breakfast and a great morning cup of coffee we were ready to resume our sightseeing.

Enjoying our sumptuous breakfast at the Hotel San Gabriel

We were about to set off for the bullring when the better half noticed a beautiful inner courtyard of the hotel. We went there and sat in the pretty little courtyard for a few minutes wondering how we had missed it the previous day.

The pretty little inner courtyard at the Hotel San Gabriel

With that done we set off for the Bullring of Ronda for which we had booked tickets online at opening time. We rushed past the New Bridge because we wanted to see the Bullring before it gets super crowded.

A rushed shot at the New Bridge as we make our way to the Bullring

Bullfighting is a huge tradition and sport in Spain and Ronda is where the sport of modern bullfighting began. The Bullring of Ronda or the Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Ronda is the first great Spanish Bullring and since we were not visiting Sevilla it was the only Bullring we would be visiting. We reached the square outside the Bullring, the Plaza de Toros and took photos of the Bull statue with beautiful skies overhead.

The Bull statue on the Plaza de Toros outside the Bullring of Ronda

Buying tickets online turned out to be a great idea as we could skip that line and collect our audio guides and go straight in. We first visited the Equestrian School which is still functional and saw the horses in their stables before moving on.

The still active equestrian school at the Bullring of Ronda

The horses in their stables at the Bullring

We then saw the elaborate hand operated mechanism that works the gates where the bulls are kept before they are released into the arena. Everything was hand operated no electric pulleys here! We then walk into the grand arena itself from the path the bullfighters take before the fights.

The elaborate hand operated pulley system to the gates of the bullpen

Entering the arena floor of the Grand Bullring of Ronda

There were some group tours going on in the arena so we decided to go up into the stands which seat 5000 people. This two tiered arena was built in 1785 and has Tuscan columns making it look like a big 18th century Italian Theatre. We sat in the first tier seats for some time before finding our way to the top tier which had the best views of the arena.

In the first tier of the arena

Selfies from the seats of the famous Bullring of Ronda

The architecture of the seats mimics a 18th century Italian Theatre

The stairs leading to the top tier decorated with bullfighting themes art – What else!

The best view of the arena from the top tier of the stand of the Bullring

We then noticed that the arena floor had emptied out of the groups so we made our way back to the arena floor to click some more photos. After we had our fill of the arena floor we walked through the small but elaborate museum dedicated to Bullfighters, which had gear worn by bullfighters and riders from the days gone by.

Getting the arena floor relatively empty for some photos

Elaborate gear on display at the museum of the bullring of Ronda

With that we said goodbye to the Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Ronda and walked out to the small square on the other side which had statues of the famous Bullfighters of Ronda.

The square on the other side of the bullring with statues of famous bullfighters

That ended our sightseeing of Ronda and we started our walk back to the Moorish Quarter. We made our way back across the New Bridge stopping again at the view point called the Mirador de Aldehuela for yet more photos with the bridge and the surrounding valley.

The main square on the New Town side just before the New Bridge

The New Bridge from the Mirador de Aldehuela

Selfies with the New bridge and the Old bridge from the Mirador de Aldehuela

We then made our way down to the Old bridge because we wanted to see the gorge side gardens that we had visited the previous night, “Jardines de Cuenca”. So we retraced our steps from earlier in the morning and made our way down to the Old bridge which had way more people on it than on our early morning walk.

One last view of the Arab bridge of Ronda

The Old bridge of Ronda at lunch time

There was a storm warning for that evening which we had known since I have a habit of checking the daily weather on vacation. But sadly that meant that the gorge side gardens were closed for safety reasons. We were disappointed but glad that we had stumbled on these gardens and visited them the previous night.

We were going back up to the Moorish Quarter when we saw a gorge side restaurant that was open and we decided to step in and have a lunch with a view. The place served smoothies which are a favourite of the better half, so we ordered a berry smoothie for her and a small beer for myself.

Enjoying our drinks with a view at the Terrazza del ray Moro

We were still quite full from the heavy breakfast so we ordered a Spanish Omelette for the better half and a pork curry with fries for myself. The view was excellent and the food was decent which made it the perfect last meal we would have in Ronda.

The better half’s Spanish Omlette

My Pork Curry with fries

The perfect place for a relaxed meal in Ronda along the El Tajo

We enjoyed our meal at leisure as there was no better place at that time of the day in Ronda – Table with Gorge views, good food & drinks and no crowds. When we were finally done we reluctantly left our table and started our walk back to the Moorish Quarter.

Happy us after a great meal at the Terrazza Del Rey Moro

We still had a bit of time before we had to go to the train station for our train back to Cordoba so we went to the Plaza de Maria Auxiliadora to sit in the garden and enjoy the views for some time more.

Enjoying the views of Ronda from the Plaza de Maria Auxiliadora

Enjoying some time in this little plaza with a view and as an added bonus a  guy playing guitar

We enjoyed the live music and views for some time more till it was time for us to return to the hotel. We had checked out of our room after breakfast and kept our luggage in the luggage storage of the hotel.  We returned to the hotel and sat in the tastefully decorated common area of the hotel and recharged our devices for some time.

Enjoying the common areas of the Hotel San Gabriel

Soon it was time for us to say goodbye to the hotel San Gabriel. We took our minimal luggage and walked back to the station stopping at the Ronda Mural near the New Bridge which we had not taken photos of.

The Ronda Mural near the New Bridge

We then rushed to the train station not because we were getting late for the train, but because we wanted to get there before the heavens opened up. We reached the train station in the nick of time as the first rain drops started to fall. It turned into pouring rain in no time and we thanked our lucky stars and took a seat on a bench in the small waiting area and waited for our train to come.

Our luck continued as the storm raged on for the entire duration of our train journey but had stopped entirely when we reached Cordoba. We counted our blessings and made the long walk on wet streets back to our hotel in Cordoba. We would be staying there just for the night before proceeding to the next destination on our itinerary – Granada.

Whether Granada would be as good as Ronda and Cordoba is topic for another post some other time, some other day.

Till then,

Adios!