Granada · Spain
Granada
A practical guide to Granada in 2 days: the Alhambra in the morning, the Albaicín after 16:00, how the free tapas work, where to stay, what to book and how to get around without a car.
Two well-planned days cover the essentials. The key is the clock: the Alhambra early, errands before 14:30, a rest, and the Albaicín once the alleys are in shade.
Granada is two hills facing each other across the Darro river: the Alhambra’s and the Albaicín’s. It was the last Muslim kingdom on the peninsula, until 1492, and you can tell in the streets, the baths, the gardens and the food. It is also the city where every drink comes with a free tapa, and that changes the way you eat.
Our experience
We arrived on Wednesday, May 20, at 1:20 in the afternoon, driving from Seville with stops in Ronda and Setenil de las Bodegas. We returned the car at the station, took a taxi to Plaza Nueva and spent two nights on the Carrera del Darro.
That afternoon we had lunch at Bodegas Castañeda, drank tea on Calle Calderería Nueva, went into El Bañuelo at 17:05 and the Capilla Real at 17:40, free because it was Wednesday, and finished at the Paseo de los Tristes with the Alhambra lit up (day 11).
Thursday was the big day (day 12): the Alhambra with a guide at 9:00, Carmen de los Mártires, tapas at La Riviera, the Corral del Carbón, the Mercado de San Agustín and piononos at López-Mezquita before 14:30. We rested for an hour and a half at the hotel, and at 16:10 we went up into the Albaicín: Plaza Larga, San Salvador, with San Miguel Alto and San Cristóbal as a detour if our legs held up, Dar al-Horra and San Nicolás at 17:55. We closed with a zambra at La Comino and dinner at Mirador de Morayma. On Friday we took the 6:00 AVE to Madrid (day 13).
How to plan the days
Granada is organized by the heat and the split opening hours. One day goes to the center and the lower Albaicín, which are flat, with sunset at the Paseo de los Tristes. It works well as an arrival afternoon.
The other day starts at the Alhambra first thing: the Alcazaba and the Generalife have almost no shade, and the Nasrid Palaces time slot does not forgive lateness. When you come out, walk down to Carmen de los Mártires before it closes at 14:00 and do the center before 14:30, when the market and the pastry shops close. Then rest. After 16:00 the sun drops behind the ridge and the Albaicín alleys fall into shade: that is the time to go up. San Nicolás at 18:00 has golden light and fewer people than at sunset.
With a third day, add the Sacromonte and, if it rains, the Alhambra Museum and the Madraza, both free.
What to eat and where
Free tapas survive in Granada largely because of the students: the bar makes its money on the drink, and the food gets you to order another round. If a bar does not give you a tapa, leave.
At Bodegas Castañeda, next to Plaza Nueva, order the house vermouth, about €2, standing at the bar. Careful: the Antigua Bodega Castañeda, on another street, is a different business. At La Riviera you choose your tapa from a menu: eggplant with cane honey, broad beans with Trevélez ham and, if they have it, tortilla del Sacromonte. On the Paseo de los Tristes, El Huerto de Juan Ranas serves tinto de verano with a tapa facing the Alhambra; with two or three rounds, the tapas became our dinner.
Granada’s sweet is the pionono, named after Pope Pius IX. At López-Mezquita, on Calle Reyes Católicos since 1905, it costs around €1. At the Mercado de San Agustín we bought 100 grams of Trevélez ham and goat cheese from Güéjar Sierra; the upper floor is a gastrobar and there are no free tapas there. For dinner with a view, Mirador de Morayma: lamb Granada style or plato alpujarreño and Contraviesa wine, for €25 to €35 per person.
Getting around Granada
You can do almost everything on foot. Plaza Nueva is the starting point: the C31 minibus to the Albaicín (€1.40) and the taxis leave from there. We took a taxi to the Alhambra for about €5, asking for “Paseo del Generalife”; the Alhambra minibuses leave from Plaza Isabel la Católica. The train station is about 2 km away: 15 minutes by taxi. If you arrive by car, return it there. Since October 2025 almost the whole city is a low-emission zone, with €200 fines for cars without the environmental sticker, and the Albaicín is residents only.
A bit of history
In the 11th century the Zirids made the Albaicín hill the center of the city. In 1238 the Nasrids chose the Sabika hill for the Alhambra. On January 2, 1492, Boabdil handed the keys to Isabella and Ferdinand, who asked to be buried here. After the expulsion of the Moriscos the Albaicín emptied, but its streets survived. In 1936 Federico García Lorca was murdered here. The pomegranate, granada in Spanish, is the city’s symbol: you will see it on coats of arms and street bollards.
What we skipped and why
The original plan went back to San Nicolás at night, after the flamenco. We dropped it because the Morayma terrace faces the lit-up Alhambra and we were leaving at 4:50 the next morning. We also left out the Alcaicería, which sells souvenirs today, the generic Sacromonte shows and the modern hammam, and we cut the first day’s tapas to a single bar after driving 310 km.
What to see, in order
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Plaza Nueva and the Carrera del Darro
Plaza Nueva is the hub for everything: taxis, minibuses and bars. From there the Carrera del Darro, the riverside street at the foot of the Alhambra with its stone bridges, runs to the Paseo de los Tristes, which has the head-on view of the monument.
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Calle Calderería Nueva
The tea-house street, about 100 meters of Moroccan mint tea, Arab pastries and bazaars. It is one of the shadiest streets in the city. The tea houses are what is worth it; most of the souvenirs are imported.
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El Bañuelo and Casa de Zafra
Eleventh-century Arab baths with star-shaped skylights and columns recycled from four eras, for €5. Next door, Casa de Zafra is a 14th-century Nasrid house with its courtyard, now the Albaicín interpretation center.
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The Capilla Real and the Cathedral
The tombs of Isabella and Ferdinand and, in the crypt, their lead coffins. The Renaissance Cathedral is attached, with a separate entrance; 20 minutes is enough.
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The Alhambra
The Nasrid palace city, with entry to the Nasrid Palaces in half-hour time slots. Plan on three hours at least and bring your passport.
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Carmen de los Mártires
A free 19th-century romantic garden, five minutes downhill from the Alhambra, with a pond, swans and peacocks. On weekdays it closes from 14:00 to 18:00.
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Corral del Carbón and the Mercado de San Agustín
The Corral is the only complete Nasrid caravanserai left on the peninsula, from the 14th century, with an original horseshoe arch; entry is free. Two hundred meters away, behind the Cathedral, the market sells Trevélez ham and Sierra Nevada cheeses Monday to Saturday until 15:00.
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Plaza Larga, San Salvador and Dar al-Horra
The upper Albaicín: the neighborhood market square, the Arco de las Pesas with its confiscated weights, the Almohad courtyard that survives from the great mosque, and the palace of Boabdil's mother, for €3.
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The Albaicín viewpoints
San Nicolás has the postcard view of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada behind it. San Miguel Alto, at 850 meters, is the highest and widest, but the climb is hard. San Cristóbal sits in between and almost always has fewer people.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- In Granada every drink comes with a free tapa: beer, wine, vermouth and even soft drinks, but not mixed drinks with spirits. A pint gets a bigger tapa than a small beer. After two or three rounds, switch bars and you get a different tapa.
- Build the day around opening hours: Carmen de los Mártires closes at 14:00 on weekdays, López-Mezquita and many shops at 14:30, and El Bañuelo and Dar al-Horra reopen at 17:00. Those middle hours are for resting.
- The C31 minibus goes up to the Albaicín from Plaza Nueva for €1.40. Ride it up and walk back down, since it is all downhill.
- If you leave early the next day, book the taxi to the station the night before and buy water and something to eat in the afternoon: at five in the morning nothing is open.
- On Wednesdays the Capilla Real is free from 14:30 to 18:30 if you reserve on the Archdiocese website. We moved our visit to that day for that reason alone.
Do
- Bring your original passport to the Alhambra: the ticket is in your name and they check it.
- For free tapas, stand at the bar. At the tables in the classic bars you order from the menu and pay for everything.
- Wear shoes with good grip. The Albaicín cobbles are slippery, especially going downhill.
- Bring water, a hat and a hand fan for the Alcazaba, the Generalife and the viewpoints: they have almost no shade.
- Buy the piononos before 14:30 and eat them the same day.
Don’t
- Do not buy Alhambra tickets on websites that call themselves "official" without being so. The only official seller is tickets.alhambra-patronato.es, or a reputable tour with tickets included.
- Do not accept the sprig of rosemary or sign clipboard petitions at Plaza Nueva, the Alhambra or San Nicolás: they are the opening to ask you for money or to rob you.
- Do not eat on the Cuesta de Gomérez or at the tourist-menu terraces on the Carrera del Darro. Have a drink with the view and eat somewhere else.
- Do not confuse El Bañuelo, the €5 historic baths, with the modern hammam on Calle Santa Ana, which is a spa and costs a lot more.
- Do not drive into the center or the Albaicín: almost the whole city is a low-emission zone and the neighborhood streets are two or three meters wide.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need to see Granada?
Two full days for the Alhambra, the center and the Albaicín. We did it in a day and a half, with 11 kilometers on foot the second day and a long midday rest. A third day adds the Sacromonte, the Madraza and the Alhambra Museum.
How do the free tapas in Granada work?
You order a drink and they bring you a tapa at no charge. Usually the bar picks it; at La Riviera you choose from a menu. To find out what is coming, ask "¿Qué hay de tapa?". A small beer costs about €2.50 and a pint about €3.50, and two or three rounds make a meal.
Is the Dobla de Oro or the Andalusian monuments pass worth it?
The €8.48 pass (El Bañuelo, Dar al-Horra, Casa del Horno del Oro and Corral del Carbón) only pays off if you visit three of them. The Dobla de Oro, about €30, adds the general Alhambra ticket and is valid for three days. We used neither: the Alhambra came with our tour and we paid for the others at the door.
How do you get to Granada from Seville?
The direct train takes about 2 h 30 min. We chose to drive a one-way rental car through Ronda and Setenil: about 310 km and four hours behind the wheel. We returned it at the Granada train station and continued by taxi.
Where should you stay in Granada?
In the lower Albaicín, along the Darro river, or near Plaza Nueva. We spent two nights on the Carrera del Darro: five minutes from Plaza Nueva, at the foot of the Albaicín and with everything within walking distance.
Is Granada safe?
Yes, with the usual care against pickpockets at Plaza Nueva, the Alhambra entrance and San Nicolás. Keep your phone in your front pocket. At night stick to the main streets of the Albaicín and do not walk down from San Miguel Alto in the dark.