Andalusia (Spain)
Granada is the city where Moorish Spain made its last and most beautiful stand.
For two and a half centuries the Nasrid sultans ruled from the red-walled Alhambra on its hill above the Darro, building palaces of carved stucco, cedar ceilings and still pools that remain the finest Islamic architecture in Western Europe, until Ferdinand and Isabella rode in to take the keys in January 1492 and chose to be buried here in the Royal Chapel beside the cathedral. Across the valley, the white lanes of the Albaicín climb to the Mirador de San Nicolás, where the whole Alhambra glows against the snows of the Sierra Nevada at sunset, and beyond it the cave houses of the Sacromonte still ring with flamenco late into the night. This guide shows you how to get into the Alhambra without heartbreak, because its timed Nasrid Palaces tickets sell out weeks ahead, then books the guided walks, the cave flamenco, a soak in the Arab baths and a day in the mountains. Finally it matches you to the right hotel, from a parador inside the Alhambra walls to a Moorish house on the Darro and a smart, good-value base near the cathedral.
The Alhambra and the Nasrid Palaces
The palace-city of the Nasrid sultans and the reason most people come to Granada: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba fortress and the Generalife gardens on one hill. Entry to the palaces is by a timed slot that sells out, so this is the one booking to make first.
Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces Guided Tour
A three-hour guided tour with tickets included for the whole Alhambra: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba, the Generalife, the Partal and the Palace of Charles V. The easiest way to understand what you are seeing, and often a way in when the official tickets are gone.
Alhambra Night Tour of the Nasrid Palaces
See the Nasrid Palaces after dark, when the stucco glows under soft lights, the pools turn to black mirrors and the crowds thin. A 90-minute guided night tour, and a second way into the palaces when daytime slots are sold out.
Granada Cathedral and the Royal Chapel
The great Renaissance cathedral of Christian Granada and, next door, the Gothic Royal Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella lie buried in marble tombs above a crypt of plain lead coffins. The other half of the 1492 story, in the heart of the old town.
The palace-city of the Nasrid sultans and the reason most people come to Granada: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba fortress and the Generalife gardens on one hill. Entry to the palaces is by a timed slot that sells out, so this is the one booking to make first.
A three-hour guided tour with tickets included for the whole Alhambra: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba, the Generalife, the Partal and the Palace of Charles V. The easiest way to understand what you are seeing, and often a way in when the official tickets are gone.
See the Nasrid Palaces after dark, when the stucco glows under soft lights, the pools turn to black mirrors and the crowds thin. A 90-minute guided night tour, and a second way into the palaces when daytime slots are sold out.
Granada’s old Moorish quarter and its cave-house hillside on foot with a local guide: whitewashed lanes, hidden carmen gardens, the Mirador de San Nicolás facing the Alhambra and the flamenco caves of the Sacromonte. Two and a half hours that explain the city.
Granada’s signature night out: flamenco in a whitewashed cave on the Sacromonte hillside, with dancers a few feet away, a drink included and an optional dinner. Los Tarantos is one of the best-known caves on the Camino del Sacromonte.
The great Renaissance cathedral of Christian Granada and, next door, the Gothic Royal Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella lie buried in marble tombs above a crypt of plain lead coffins. The other half of the 1492 story, in the heart of the old town.
A candlelit Arab bath below the Alhambra hill, with warm, hot and cold pools, a steam room and an essential-oil massage. Ninety minutes of calm after the cobbles, and one of the most memorable things to book in Granada.
The snowy peaks you see behind the Alhambra, an hour or so from the city: a full-day guided trip into the Sierra Nevada with round-trip transport and a mountain guide. Big views, clean air and a complete change from the palaces.
FreeThe most famous view in Granada: a church square high in the Albaicín looking straight across the Darro valley at the Alhambra, with the Sierra Nevada behind. Free, open at all hours and magical at sunset.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$$Inside the Alhambra
The only hotel inside the Alhambra walls: a former Franciscan monastery built over a Nasrid palace, with garden terraces, a restaurant facing the Generalife and the rare pleasure of walking the grounds when the day crowds have gone.
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$$$Alhambra Hill and Realejo
A neo-Moorish landmark from 1910 on the Alhambra hill, with tiled domes, a lavish Arabic-style interior and a terrace bar with one of the great panoramas over Granada. Five minutes on foot to the Alhambra entrance.
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$$$Centro (Gran Vía)
A sixteenth-century convent on the Gran Vía turned into a polished Marriott Autograph Collection hotel, with dining in the old cloister, a sauna and steam room in the crypt, and the cathedral two blocks away.
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$$Albaicín and Paseo de los Tristes
A late fifteenth-century Moorish house below the Albaicín with just fourteen rooms around a galleried courtyard and original pool, a garden facing the Comares Tower and a top-floor Mirador room with sweeping Alhambra views.
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$Centro (near the Cathedral)
A sleek, good-value boutique hotel in a nineteenth-century building in the old centre, five minutes’ walk from the cathedral, with twenty contemporary rooms and the Vitola gastrobar downstairs. The smart budget pick.
Check rates →The practical primer for a first visit to Granada: how to get Alhambra tickets with a timed Nasrid Palaces slot, what else to book ahead, getting around the hills, how many days you need and how to fit it all together.
How to choose your base in Granada, from a parador inside the Alhambra and a 1910 landmark on its hill to a Moorish house below the Albaicín, a convent hotel on the Gran Vía and a smart budget pick by the cathedral.
