Sierra de las Nieves

Almond blossom between Monda and Alozaina

Prologue: 

From middle of January until middle of February the Almond trees are in bloom. We had just had some rain but today it looked promising.  In the morning we noticed a sweet smell in the air, so we decided to take a drive to see the Almond blossom in the Sierra de las Nieves, an area between Monda and Ronda. This trip is always a special experience.

 Tolox

      Directions: 

• From Marbella on the A7 take turn off towards Coin A355. 
• Then drive past Ojen and take first turn off towards the village of Monda which takes about 20 minutes. 
• Drive through the village until you come to a crossroad, take a left turn towards Guaro/Ronda(N366). Guaro is about 10min. from Monda. 
• After about 20min. you come to a crossroad, where you turn left towards the village of Tolox MA-412, or you go straight on to wards the village of Alozaina which takes from Marbella 50 min. 34 km.                      

Mirador Real Ojen

Fife minutes from Marbella heading upwards we stopped at the Mirador Real where we had a good view towards the village Ojen nestling in the valley on the right side.

Ojen

Reaching the village of Monda the first almond trees with the pink and white blossom came into view. From there the road winds itself gently through the countryside.

Monda

                             Monda                        

Monda

At the Guaro we parked up and took a stroll through the village. It was disappointing because we had in our minds, the festival of La Luna Mora (celebrated in September) and where the whole village comes alive at night time. 

Museum and culture house (Al Andalus)

Interesting to see were some of the old facades which takes you back to the time of the Moors.

Guaro

The road takes you along the Valley of Rio Grande which is very lush with orange groves and olive trees.

We drove towards the village of Tolox as far as the Ermita and the Mirador were we had good views of the village with the Sierra de las Nieves behind.

Tolox

 Tolox is nestle in the foothills of Sierra de las Nieves. 
It is famos for its Spa (Fuente de Amargosa).

Bridge over Rio Grande

The road is in good condition and lot of dangerous curves have been removed.

Venta by bridge

Very busy and popular restaurant on Sundays. 
(Meals served only on Sundays).

Alozaina

The village of Alozaina is build along the top of a ridge.  

Archway built in 1951 as a tribute the Arab past

Leaving the car at the entrance of the village the archway invites you to discover the long stretched out and labyrinths  streets of Alozaina.

The village has many viewing points (Miradores) were you can see the many different shades of the countrysides.

After the clouds lifted we could see the snow capped Torrecilla (1909m) in the distant. 

Eventually we reached the church of St. Ana which was build on the highest point over looking the Valley of Rio Grande.

Sierra de las Nieve in the back round

From Parque Mirador near the church square the views were just stunning.

In the Bar Nuevo they serve  good and  cheap meals.

It was busy with local Spanish people.

Pork ragout with Jerez sauce 

View from the large  window in the restaurant

Map of the trip

Related links: Sierra de las Nieves

                             The villages of Sierra de las Nieves 

                             Alozaina 

                             Tolox 

                             Guaro