Anyone have travel advice for Seville, Cadiz, Ronda & Málaga?

[Espanolespie]

I’m travelling between these places soon and planning to get train from Seville to Cadiz, bus from Cadiz to Ronda and then either train or bus from Ronda to Malaga.

Anyone does these routes and have any tips? Do I need to book ahead of time? Is train or bus better? Which website is best to book on?

Thanks!

And if anyone has any recommendations of what to do the

Website Rome2Rio

I remember getting a bus to Ronda (can't remember if it was from Cadiz) and the road was very winding and someone was sick 🤢 such a hot day, I can still remember the smell!!!!!!

If you have time to go down the coast from
Cadiz I remember that being really lovely.

Also look out for motorcycle thieves in Sevilla. I nearly had my bag snatched off my shoulder. Luckily was holding on to it and managed to win it back in a weird tug of war!

I always see this but it seems automated and I didn’t know if it was actually legit! Have you used it?

It looks like the bus from Cadiz to Ronda is the only realistic option, I don’t often get travel sick but who knows…: cross fingers!

You have to book the train from Seville to Cadiz in advance. I think I ended up using the Renfe app, and it's pretty annoying. You cannot get on a train without a booked seat and we found the trains got booked up before they left. When we tried to travel from Seville to Jerez (different stop on the same line) not having realised this there were no seats on any train at all That Day :o I think that was exceptionally bad luck but it's not like the UK where you can just stand for an hour if it's busy.

Never had a problem with Rome2Rio -used it lots including in Spain trying to find alternative to a failed Madrid flight - it gives you links to transport providers including Spanish rail and bus services

That’s, that’s good to know. I’ll definitely buy a week in advance then and just plan around those times.

Whereabouts did you go down from the coast in Cadiz? I won’t have a car but would love to walk somewhere peaceful

look at this website www.blablacar.co.uk/

I used them for lots of journeys in both Spain and France. Cheaper than train or bus and less hassle. Recommend.

Seville to Cadiz is about 6-9 euros. Most journeys posted about a week ahead maximum.

is that carpooling? How do you know it’s safe?

Not got much advice on travelling from Seville to other cities, but the metro and trams in Seville are good and affordable.

Seville itself is a wonderful city to spend a few days in. The big tourist places are worth a visit - the Royal Alcazar and the Cathedral. I would also look out Las Setas and the Plaza de Espana is great - lots of beautiful Moorish inspired tiles.

Food is amazing in Seville so definitely take the time to go to any number of small informal bars for tapas - at the more formal end El Rinconcillo is amazing but can get busy.

You can use the Trainline app to book trains as well. As per pp trains in Spain get booked up and when the seats are gone they're gone. I've been caught out by this several times. You'd think I'd learn...

If you like walks and aren’t afraid of heights el Camino del rey is a great day out. You have to book in advance because they limit the numbers on the trail. And although it looks possible by train from Ronda as a stop between Ronda and Malaga it’s easier by bus from Ronda, or as a day trip from Malaga. I don’t know if there’s any left luggage facilities in el Chorro but you definitely can’t take lots of luggage with you on the hike.

You have to be organised about timings because when you get to el Chorro you need to get a shuttle bus and then walk to the trail head, but on the return you can just get the train from el Chorro directly back to Malaga but there can be a decent wait and there’s not much amenity in terms of food, drink etc in the village.

There’s a good bike hire in Ronda, cycleronda, where you can hire a bike and get some local knowledge on where to go, up into the white villages etc via quiet routes, if that’s your thing. Ronda gets super touristy busy and it can be nice to get away from the day trippers: bizarrely it’sa great place to stay for exactly that reason - it gets much quieter in the evenings.

Malaga is an awesome city break - lots of art galleries, historical stuff and a great prom to walk along in either direction. Food scene is vibrant and it really rocks from Friday lunchtime until Sunday morning.

We've got the local train from the coast up to Ronda before, it's a beautiful journey that goes up through the mountains. The train starts in Algeciras, but I think we got on at San Roque.

There's lots of lovely coastal options east of Cadiz - the Trafalgar lighthouse, Barbate/Zahara de los Atunes - very traditionally Spanish and quiet. There's some Roman ruins at Bologna that are interesting and then Tarifa, the southerly most point of Spain, a traditional Spanish town, massive sand dunes and 'the windiest place on earth' (possibly). I don't know if any of those are doable on public transport.

As for trains etc. Alsa is the Spanish equivalent of National Express and is fine. I think you can book trains on RailEurope, and there's a ticket where you can take a few journeys over a few days, but I don't know much about it. Have a look at seat61.com, that's a really good resource for train travel.

Have a lovely time, I love that part of Spain, it's a world away from the Benidorm/Marbella stereotype that a lot of people often can't see past.

Second El Camito del Rey, we did that as part of a Malaga to El Caminito to Granada to Seville (day trip to Cordoba) before back to Malaga to fly home trip and it was one of my favourite holidays ever.

I think it was Los Canos de Meca we went to. It was a small beach town accessible by public transport. Sorry it's a while ago now! X

Thank you this sounds really great, I’ll research this! Was it a hard hike/how long does it take?

Haven't been to Ronda, but I've done all the rest, mostly by train, but if there wasn't a train, I took the bus - I liked the route along the coast to La Linea.

I did book in advance because I tend to do that anyway, and I like the planning part, so i can't remember if you have to. Also, my Spanish is good enough to follow the websites without issue.

Malaga is brilliant, loved Cadiz and Seville, too.

It’s only 8km. They do guided tours and self guided. The internet says 3-4hrs. We did it with kids ages 13/14 with no issues but we walk a lot, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t take us more than 3hrs. It’s 10eur for self and 18 for guided.

There’s a lot of rules and it sometimes closes for bad weather or maintenance works (it’s currently doing a different route for repairs). This website is the official one and has all you need to know on it in English.

Oh, you have to pay now? It was free when we did it, just after it opened.
I do remember that it was very windy on the bridge that crosses a narrow bit of the gorge and I think there was talk about not being able to cross the bridge - I can't remember if this means you can't do the whole walk, or you can just stay on one side.

My other tip is that if it's very hot or you're not used to walking, you might not want to walk the 'uphill' way.

I didn't know which to pick when applying for passes but fortunately went the way where we drove to the top, did the walk down to the bottom, had lunch at a café (in the station I think?) and then got a bus back up to the car at the top.

We went in May a few years ago and it was already super summer hot, which wasn't great for a city break/walking holiday (we got off the bus in Seville from Granada and the temperature board said 46 C .

I'm in a town called El Puerto de Santa Maria, across the bay from Cádiz. DS was with us until a few days ago and he got the train from here up to Seville without booking (same line -- although he did book his onward train from Seville to Madrid) . But I don't suppose he would mind if he didn't get a seat.
The weather here is fabulous at the moment, highs of around 18C, although it was a bit showery in Cádiz yesterday.
El Puerto is lovely, one of the three 'sherry triangle' towns with Jerez and Sanlucar. You can get a hydrofoil ferry to it from Cádiz, it takes about 35 minutes and is a great way to see the city - and El Puerto - from the water. And it has more tapas bars than you can shake a stick at. (You can see our apartment at the Puerto Sherry marina from the ferry coming into El Puerto! )
In Cádiz I can recommend El Columela tapas bar, on the street of the same name, very near the flower market, and Manteca, an old fashioned tabanca (bar) www.facebook.com/tabernamanteca -- unless bullfighting and religious iconography freak you out too much!

Thanks this is really helpful info 😊