We've just come back from a lovely holiday at the Finca la Nogaleda. The house is beautifully situated in the Tajo valley just below the main Tajo gorge which runs through Ronda. It's so relaxing that we spent most days at the house - reading on the shaded cobbled veranda, lying by the pool, and cooking using the excellent wood burning pizza stove. It's very hot at this time of year in this part of Spain but the house remained cool inside and we could always cool ourselves down by going for quick dip in the pool.
We spent a day in Ronda wandering around the old town ( including the three bridges - Roman, Arab and New - and the Arab baths), enjoying the views down from the New bridge to the gorge, looking across the Tajo valley from the esplanade (including down to Finca la Nogaleda), and trying to get in (but leaving it too late) to see the bull ring which is one of the oldest in Spain, and spotting the various places in Ronda where the 1984 Francesco Rosi film of Carmen was filmed.
We also walked up to Ronda on a number of evenings (when it was cooler) and enjoyed tapas at the Bodega San Francisco. The walk up is quite steep and takes about 25 minutes but certainly prepared us for the beer, Ronda wine and very good (and cheap) tapas.
The house has been beautifully restored, has lovely furniture and is very comfortable. The gardens are magnificent with lots of fruit trees and nicely laid out and tended lawns. A neighbour, Luis, comes in every day to ensure the gardens are watered and the pool is maintained.
The biggest challenge we had was finding La Finca. Our flight had arrived around midnight in Seville and it was about 2.30am by the time we got to Ronda. The steep road down to La Finca from the San Francisco Barrio was quite difficult to find and went down a long way before we got to La Finca. When we got there, it was perfect (including a fridge which had been well stocked by Luis) but we would advise anybody else who is going to be very clear in advance about how to get to the house from Ronda (we were provided with instructions but we should have looked it up on Google maps and been absolutely clear where the house was located)..
Overall though this is the perfect property in a perfect location and gave us a wonderful break.