ANDALUSIA, SPAIN

Getting around: The region’s most convenient airport is in Seville, where there are major car-rental companies. I used the online broker pepecar .com, which was significantly cheaper through prepayment. Where to stay: Ronda is the perfect base for a driving loop through the region, with many hotels and restaurants; www.turismoderonda.es. Rooms and restaurant terraces at the Don Miguel hotel look into the gorge and toward the bridge; hoteldonmiguelronda.com. In Nerja, I stayed at the seafront Paraiso del Mar, whose terraces cascade down to a wide beach lined with paella eateries; www.hotelparaisodelmar.es.

Details: andalucia.org.

The dark castle of Zahara, deep in the olive-studded countryside, looms over a handful of tightly packed houses clinging to the rocky outcrop jutting into a man-made lake. The village is so tiny, and the roads so remote, that I found plenty of villagers taking their afternoon paseo, or stroll, along the main highway.

Canyon dwellers