North of Ronda, and feasible as a day-trip from the town, are Setenil and Olvera. SETENIL , on a very minor road to Olvera, is the strangest of all the White Towns, its cave-like streets formed from the overhanging ledge of a gorge. Many of the houses - sometimes two or three storeys high - have natural roofs in the rock. There are a couple of bars, and a reasonably priced hotel with a good restaurant, El Almendral (tel 956 134 029, fax 956 134 444; ¬36-48), on the road just outside town. Four buses a day run from Ronda, or it's a possible walk from Ronda la Vieja. The train station is a good 8km from the village itself.

OLVERA: , 15km beyond, tumbles down a hill topped by its church and a fine Moorish castle. There's just one bus a day from Ronda, but there are a couple of pensiones if you want to stay and explore the region: the excellent-value Maqueda , c/Calvario 35 (tel 956 130 733; ¬12-18), and the nearby Medina , c/Sepulveda 6 (tel 956 130 173; ¬12-18), with plenty of neo-Moorish embellishments added by the proprietor. For food , superb fino , tapas and a budget menú are to be had at the friendly Bar Manolo in Plaza Andalucía, at the foot of the main street.

TEBA is a small community with a calm and prosperous air situated in the mountains five or six kilometres south of the A382 between Campillos and Olvera, or straight up on the A367 from Ronda. It's easily seen from the A382 and is approached by way of a single, clearly marked road which winds its way up to the town. The lower square, Plaza de la Constitución, has all the accommodation : three clean, friendly and relatively inexpensive places, of which the best is Hostal Sevillano , c/San Francisco 26 (tel 952 748 011; ¬18-27), just off the plaza; it also serves food in its bar/restaurant below and has a good value menú . Sights around the village include the enormous Baroque church of Santa Cruz (daily 5-6pm; if closed at this time knock at the adjoining house of the cura ), which is stuffed full of treasures, and the Plaza de España where there's a monument in Scottish granite to Robert Bruce. Bruce's recently rediscovered heart played a part in the battle against the Moors here in 1331; one of his knights carried the organ as a talisman and threw it into the Moorish ranks to encourage his timid soldiers to charge. On the hill above the town are the remains of a Moorish castle , constructed on Roman ruins, which has a superb keep. The views from here over the surrounding countryside are spectacular.