11 May 2022
Picked up car at Enterprise in Cadiz to begin our road trip. We started our journey 3 hours later than scheduled as Enterprise didn't have our reserved automatic car ready when we showed up.
Itinerary
Cadiz -> Zahara de la Sierra (126KMs) - > Olvera (28Kms) -> Setenil de la Bodegas (16.5KMs) -> Ronda (20 KMs)
1st stop - Zahara de la Sierra
Google Map
Beautiful sunny day, not too hot. Nice pleasant drive with no traffic through the mountains, roads in very good condition. Enjoying the scenery and the views of the white villages revealing themselves in the distance, brimming in the sun.
Zahara de la Sierra village can be seen from any roads in the area. Best photo are taken from the road down the hill leading to the village.
Parking - on the main road at the bottom of the village, plenty of spaces - free parking.
The walk up the village is easy, sloped streets and charming squares. Strolled around the village at leisure, no crowds.
Alameda de Lepanto viewpoint offers breathtaking views and very unique opportunities to take outstanding pictures.
Climb to the castle for another chance of spectacular views and pictures.
Eat
Although there are a few restaurants which were opened, we brought our sandwiches and drinks while feasting our eyes on the beautiful scenery sitting comfortably under the trees of the promenade on a beautiful sunny day.
2nd stop - Olvera
Google Map
30 mins drive from Zahara de la Sierra, relaxing drive - no traffic and nice countryside.
Olvera is one of the most beautiful "pueblos blancos" in Andalucia. The Castillo de Olvera and Iglesia dominating the skyline high up on the cliff as we get nearer.
Parking - at the bottom of the village on Calle Bellavista - free parking.
Calle Calzada is the most photographed street in the white village. It has a lot of charm and is very picturesque as we climbed up through the village. The street begins at the lower half of the village, and continues up the hill where we came across all of the main attractions in Olvera. From where we parked on Calle Bellavista, it took less than 10 minutes to arrive at this street which was ideal.
At the top of Calle Calzada is Plaza de la Iglesia, which is home to Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación, the tourism office, the entrance to Castillo de Olvera 2€ p/p, and some incredible views of the surrounding landscape. Grab a photo of the 3D Olvera sign which really stands out among the white washed buildings and the pale yellow church sitting next to it.
3rd stop - Setenil de las Bodegas
Google Map
30 mins drive from Olvera
While this uniquely bizarre cave town of Setenil de las Bodegas is quite a destination in itself to enjoy a cold beer under the rocks. Make it a must to enjoy the drive on meandering road of the mountains, and the many aromatic olive groves. It is one of the many awesome places in the Andalusian highlands where it pays to take your time driving.
Parking - at Setenil Parking Campo Futbol, free parking and only 15 mins walk to the Calle Cuevas del Sol. Google Map made me take a smaller road and it was pretty tight considering I was driving an SUV. The car made it under some overhanging rocks with just inches to spare and thankfully escape unscathed.
This is not a big village and we spent roughly a couple of hours walking around and immersing ourselves under the overhanging cooling rocks including a beer stop.
Calle Cuevas del Sol - This is the main street of Setenil, right at the entrance. Here are the restaurants with terraces built under the rocks. The street runs along the river so you can really see the overhang of the rocks and the houses built under. It is quite impressive and unique to the eyes to enjoy the views. The streets were very quiet when we visited and it was a joy to sip a cold beer under the rocks on a hot sunny afternoon before driving to our final destination of the day.
Calle Cuevas de la Sombra - Before venturing further into the village, make sure to cross the bridge over Rio Tajo to discover this most impressive street. There are houses on both sides and giant rocks above us.
Calle Herreria - This old and narrow street with houses on the slope leads towards the fortress. We didn't have time to do this as it was already late for us and had to leave for Ronda to avoid driving in the dark. But if you have time, it is worth the climb.
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