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Arcos de la Frontera: We drove to Ronda along the A369 road.
Took the A367 Seville road and then a little further on, headed onto the Jerez road.
We visited Villamartin and Bornos before arriving in Arcos de la Frontera around 14:00h.
This was our first visit to what is a fairly large town. We weren't sure where to park. We carried on along the main road and ended up in a Plus supermarket car park. There's a good view from here of the castle and church.
As you can see we were quite away from the castle which we intended to visit. We'd driven passed the town without seeing any parking spots.
So we decided to head down a road opposite Plus which looked as if it took us nearer. (A left turn opposite Plus if your coming from Bornos).
We drove down a few hundred metres and parked near this roundabout.
The views of the castle were excellent from here.
We walked along a fairly recently built area planted with a long avenue of trees. A beautiful walk in the evenings. I guess this is also where they have the pueblos ferias and fiestas.
A little closer. We passed the fire station. The ground was covered in hairy caterpillars. Not the dangerous processionary type but there were millions of them.
At the end of the avenue we walked up some steep steps through a rocky garden.
We were now in a large open plaza.
This is looking down to where we had walked. The avenue of bare trees can be seen below.
When visiting castles in white villages you can always expect a steep climb. Arcos de la Frontera was no exception.
Great views back over Arcos. The population is around 28,000 mainly in a newly built area in the distance. It is still rapidly expanding there was a lot of construction going on.
Poor Jane, not far now pet!
We got to the top off the hill. For a few seconds we thought it was a dead end. Which wouldn't have been good for the future of our marriage. I found a small alley that took us to the next wider street.
There is a mix of whitewashed houses and sandstone churches, convents and of course the castle. Some are crumbling and in poor repair. It looks and feels very old and tired.
It was a nice sunny day. These thin alleys were cold and dark.
Finally we made it. This is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) there were official buildings all down one side of the Plaza de Cabildo.
The facade of the church of Santa Maria.
Great views of the cliff and the River Guadalete.
There is a balcony in the plaza with some great views. This is looking back into the plaza ad the church of Santa Maria.
There is a web cam linked to the town hall website that focuses on this balcony, so watch what your doing!
The flat plain below the old town.
The official buildings mentioned earlier.
Jane on the mirador balcony.
There were some grand houses. I couldn't help feeling it was a bit depressing in the dark streets with the tired old buildings. Some of them crumbling away after years of neglect.
There is certainly a lot to see and Arcos is well worth visiting.
200 years ago this place must have been so beautiful.
There are lots of churches and convents in Arcos.
The view from the other side of the old town looks over the embalse Lago de Arcos.
We retraced our steps back to the car. It's a lot easier going down!
Arcos de la Frontera is well worth a visit.
It is an ancient town with a strategic position and an important place in Spanish history. The streets are narrow and the high walled buildings create a strange atmosphere and certainly give you a sense of history as you walk around.
Plus lots of wonderful churches, convents and the castle, also plenty of fantastic views out over the surrounding countryside.