Ronda Road & Andalusian White Villages

The road from Marbella to Ronda is one of Spain's great driving roads — a 60-kilometre climb from the Mediterranean coast through the Serrania de Ronda mountains to one of Andalusia's most dramatic towns. The A397 rises 750 metres through a landscape of cork oaks, olive groves, and limestone gorges, with views stretching to Gibraltar and the coast of Morocco on a clear day.

Ronda itself is built on a cliff edge, split by the 120-metre-deep El Tajo gorge spanned by the Puente Nuevo — a bridge that took 42 years to build and remains one of Spain's most photographed monuments. The town is the birthplace of modern bullfighting, and the Plaza de Toros (1785) is the oldest and most beautiful bullring in Spain.

Beyond Ronda, the Pueblos Blancos — the White Villages — are scattered across the mountains like sugar cubes on a green tablecloth. Zahara de la Sierra, Grazalema, Setenil de las Bodegas, and Olvera are the standouts, each perched on a hilltop or carved into a cliff face, connected by winding mountain roads that are a joy to drive. The villages are quiet, authentic, and largely untouched by mass tourism.

The route can be extended to the Ascari Race Resort near Ronda — a private circuit where you can drive your own car or rent one of theirs on a beautifully designed track set in the Andalusian hills.

This is a route best driven in spring (March-May) or autumn (September-November), when the temperatures are comfortable and the light is golden.