Day 12 ·
The Alhambra, the Albaicín and a zambra in an old cistern
Granada · Spain · 3 min read
Our big day in Granada: the Alhambra with a guide at 9:00, a garden almost nobody visits, tapas you get to choose, the climb through the Albaicín to San Nicolás, a flamenco zambra and dinner facing the lit-up Alhambra.
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Alhambra
Three hours with a guide: the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces at a fixed time, the Palace of Charles V and the Generalife. We took a taxi from Plaza Nueva and by 8:45 we were at the meeting point, by the map next to the ticket offices.
Our guide It's one of the few buildings in Europe with no substitute. What disappoints is how you have to visit it: go early, with your passport, with official tickets and with at least three hours. Read the full guide - 2
Carmen de los Mártires
A 19th-century romantic garden five minutes downhill from the Alhambra, with a pond, swans and peacocks. Free; on weekdays it opens from 10:00 to 14:00.
Our guide It's the best free stop after the Alhambra, and almost nobody visits. Go on a weekday before 14:00 and give it at least half an hour. Read the full guide - 3
La Riviera
One of the few bars in Granada where you choose your free tapa: ask for the tapas menu with your first round.
Our guide It's no locals-only secret, but it does its thing very well: you choose the tapa, and with two or three rounds you have a full Granada lunch. Read the full guide - 4
Corral del Carbón
A 14th-century inn and warehouse where merchants slept alongside their goods, with its original horseshoe arch. Free, and ten minutes is enough.
Our guide Ten free minutes and one of the stops in central Granada that gives back the most per minute. Don't give it more: the arch and the courtyard are the visit. Read the full guide - 5
San Agustín Market
Trevélez ham and goat cheese from Güéjar Sierra for an afternoon snack at the hotel. From there, piononos at López-Mezquita before it closes at 14:30.
Our guide It's a small, real market, not a spectacle. It's worth ten minutes downstairs to take home Trevélez ham and goat cheese from the sierra. Read the full guide - 6
Plaza Larga and the Arco de las Pesas
We climbed the Cuesta del Chapiz once the lanes were already in shade. Inside the 11th-century arch hang the false weights confiscated from cheating merchants. We went on past the church of San Salvador, built on top of the neighborhood's main mosque.
Our guide If San Nicolás is the tourists' Albaicín, Plaza Larga is the residents'. Fifteen minutes is enough, and don't leave without looking up inside the arch. Read the full guide - 7
Dar al-Horra Palace
The palace of Aixa, Boabdil's mother: a Nasrid patio on a human scale. 3 € at the door; it isn't included in the Alhambra ticket.
Our guide It's the other half of Granada and you can't skip it. Go up after 16:00, take your time, and don't stop at the photo from San Nicolás. Read the full guide - 8
Mirador de San Nicolás
The postcard view of the Alhambra in mid-afternoon light, before the sunset crowd. The garden of the Great Mosque next door has the same view with fewer people. We left at 18:05 to make it to the flamenco.
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La Comino
A flamenco zambra in an Arab cistern with about 30 chairs, with the musicians among the audience. It's the Gitano tradition of the Sacromonte, more intimate than a Seville tablao.
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Mirador de Morayma
Dinner booked on the terrace, with the Alhambra across from us. That's why we didn't go back up to San Nicolás at night: we had the lit-up view from our table.
This was the day a lot of people come to Granada for. We started it at the Alhambra at nine in the morning and ended it having dinner across from it, all lit up. In between we walked about 11 kilometers.
Why we planned it this way
The Alhambra goes first for two reasons: the morning cool, because the Alcazaba and the Generalife have almost no shade, and the entry to the Nasrid Palaces, which is at a fixed time and sells out months ahead. We booked a tour with tickets included. There was no space in the Spanish group, so we took it in English.
When we came out we walked down to Carmen de los Mártires, a free garden almost nobody visits after the Alhambra. Then a tapas lunch and some quick shopping in the center before the 14:30 break, and an hour and a half of rest at the hotel during the hottest part of the day. We had already seen the Royal Chapel and the Cathedral the day before, and that’s what gave us this break.
At 16:10 we headed up into the Albaicín. After four, the sun drops behind the hill and the lanes are in shade. We reached San Nicolás at 17:55 with golden light on the Alhambra and without the sunset crowd, and came back down in time for the 18:30 zambra.
What we changed before the trip
The original plan went back up to San Nicolás at night, after the flamenco. We cut it: it was one more climb and 35 more minutes, and the terrace at Mirador de Morayma looks straight at the lit-up Alhambra. That way we got back to the hotel earlier, because the next day our train to Madrid left at 6:00.
What we booked and tasted
Granada: Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces tour with tickets
- Tickets to the Nasrid Palaces, the Generalife and the Alcazaba
- Live guide (we took it in English: there was no space left in the Spanish group)
- Headsets to hear the guide
- Groups of up to 30 people
Official tickets sell out months ahead and there are almost no signs inside. The tour solved both, and got us into the Nasrid Palaces at their fixed time, which doesn't forgive delays.
Flamenco zambra at La Comino
- Zambra show in an Arab cistern
- Two drinks per person
We wanted to see Granada's zambra, which is different from the tablao we saw in Seville, and the venue was two minutes from the hotel.
A bar on Plaza Nueva
Order Toast with tomato and olive oil, café con leche and fresh orange juice
Café 4 Gatos opens at 8:30, too late for a 9:00 tour; several bars on the square open earlier for people heading up to the Alhambra.
La Riviera
Order Eggplant with honey, fava beans with Trevélez ham and, if they have it, tortilla del Sacromonte
With two or three rounds of drinks, the tapas you pick add up to a full lunch.
Pastelería López-Mezquita
Order Piononos
Granada's own pastry, named after Pope Pius IX, at around 1 € each. It closes at 14:30 for the siesta.
Mirador de Morayma
Order Fava beans with ham to start, cordero a la granadina or plato alpujarreño, a pionono for dessert and Contraviesa wine
Granada cooking on an Albaicín terrace with a view of the Alhambra. Ask for the Contraviesa wine by name: it's barely known outside Granada.
Plaza Nueva Alhambra
About 5 €. Tell the driver "Paseo del Generalife" and save your legs for the 11 km ahead in the afternoon.
Alhambra La Riviera
Another 5 €. If you get tired in the afternoon, the C31 minibus goes up to the Albaicín from Plaza Nueva for 1.40 €.
What we learned
Tips
- Bring your original passport: your Alhambra ticket is in your name and they check it. No large backpacks allowed.
- The Nasrid Palaces time slot is strict. When the guide says it's time to move on, move on.
- Dar al-Horra opens at 17:00 in summer and Carmen de los Mártires closes at 14:00 on weekdays. The order of the day is built around those hours.
- If your legs hold up, the San Miguel Alto viewpoint (the highest in the city) and San Cristóbal are between San Salvador and Dar al-Horra. If not, skip straight to Dar al-Horra.
Do
- Buy the piononos before 14:30 and eat them on the street or as an afternoon snack at the hotel.
- Do the climb up the Albaicín after 16:00, when the lanes are already in shade.
- If you leave early the next day, have your bags packed before dinner.
Don’t
- Don't buy Alhambra tickets on websites that call themselves "official" when they aren't. The only official sales are tickets.alhambra-patronato.es, or a recognized tour with tickets included.
- Don't pay for the modern hammam thinking it's the historic one: El Bañuelo, the real baths, costs 5 €.
- At San Nicolás, ignore the trinket sellers and anyone offering you rosemary, and keep your phone in your front pocket.