Granada
The Alhambra above the city, and a tapa that comes with your drink
- When to go
- October 18° · 6 rainy days
- Per day
- €€price 2 of 5
- How many days
- 2days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 15 km Granada · 98 km Málaga
- Right now
Granada was the last city on the Iberian Peninsula to remain under Muslim rule, until 1492. What's left behind is a rare combination — a Moorish fortress above the city, a Christian cathedral in the centre, and a quarter whose alleys haven't changed in centuries.
The Alhambra is why most people come — a complex of fortress, palaces and gardens above the city. The general ticket, €22.27, covers the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces, the Palace of Charles V and the Generalife, but you can only enter the Nasrid Palaces at the time printed on your ticket, so you plan the day around that slot, not the other way round.
The Albaicín, the old Moorish quarter across the valley from the Alhambra, is walked on foot through steep alleys. In it and just below it are houses and baths from the Moorish period — Dar al-Horra, the Bañuelo, the Casa Morisca Horno de Oro — on a joint ticket of €8.48, and free on Sundays.
Guides for Granada
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Granada in 2 days
→Two days by the clock: the Alhambra built around your palace slot, the city and the Albaicín around the sunset.
Granada without the queue: Arab baths and the other viewpoint
→Eleventh-century Arab baths, a fourteenth-century merchants' inn, and the viewpoint above the postcard one.
The best time to visit Granada
→Granada month by month in numbers: how warm by day and cold by night, how much rain falls, and when the mountain above…
What to see in Granada
The Nasrid Palaces
The most lavish part of the Alhambra, with carved ceilings and inner courtyards. At night they have their own ticket, €12.73 — Tuesday to Saturday from April to October, Fridays and Saturdays in winter.
The Generalife
The summer palace with its gardens and fountains, quieter than the main complex; it's on the general ticket, and at night the gardens have a separate visit for €8.48.
The Albaicín and Mirador de San Nicolás
From the viewpoint in the early evening you see the whole Alhambra, with the Sierra Nevada behind it.
The Cathedral and Royal Chapel
The tomb of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, who took the city in 1492. The chapel is a separate ticket from the cathedral.
A free tapa with your drink
Order a drink, get a tapa at no extra charge — rare elsewhere in Spain, still the rule in Granada, not the exception.
Two things you probably did not know
The Alhambra survived because when Napoleon's army withdrew in 1812 it mined the towers, and a disabled soldier pulled out the fuses at the last moment. Eight towers went up, the rest stayed.
Granada is one of the few Spanish cities where a drink still comes with a free tapa, and you do not choose it. You get whatever the kitchen is serving that day, and each round brings a more serious plate.
Ready for Granada?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Granada — day trips or weekends.
Spain
→A country where dinner is at ten and the city wakes up as everywhere else turns the lights off
Portugal
→A country that spent centuries looking at the ocean instead of the Europe behind it
France
→From Paris the TGV reaches Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg in about two hours — France is chosen by direction, not by city
All 277 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
Within reach from here: Málaga, Seville and Chefchaouen
See how much of that actually suits you — or pin Granada if you have been.
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