Granada’s famous Alhambra has made it a popular tourist site, but it can be difficult to purchase tickets. Don’t worry, there is so much more to see than this one complex. Granada has a rich history that can be seen in many of its neighbourhoods. From the picturesque streets that climb the many hills to the lively plazas surrounded by historic buildings, Granada is a great spot to spend a couple of days, even if you don’t see the Alhambra.
Granada was the last Moorish city to be overtaken by Christians. While Seville and Córdoba fell in the mid 1200s, Granada wasn’t conquered until the late 1400s. As a result, the city’s oldest areas still have a distinctive Moorish feel to them.
Here are a few places you can see when you visit Granada, Spain.
Albaicín
We’ll admit, the city took a while to grow on us, but as we wandered the disjointed maze of streets that climb up and down the hills in Albaicín, we began to see its allure. Bougainvillea and quirky decorations on the white heritage homes make the oldest neighbourhood in Granada a place you want to explore. Each street makes you wonder what enchanting scene awaits around the next corner.
Its location on a hill across the Darro River from Alhambra means that as you climb the streets in Albaicín, your view of the fortress gets better and better.
There are so many miradors (viewpoints) in this community that you can easily find your favourite. Partway up the hill is one of the most popular spots. San Nicholas Viewpoint, in front of San Nicholas Church, is almost directly across from the Alhambra. It is perfectly placed to see the iconic monument and its location, perched atop a long ridge.
At night, the views are even more stunning.
San Nicholas Church was built in 1525 at a time when Gothic styles were preferred. The church, though was built in Mudejar style. It had a lot of bad luck, being struck by lightning in 1828 and then damaged during anticleric riots of the Second Republic in the 1930s. It has been rebuilt a few times but its old stye was retained in the unique roof.
Beside it is the Great Mosque of Granada (Mezquita Mayor de Granada). Construction began in the 1990s, but it wasn’t open until 2003. Remarkably, this mosque was the first built in Spain since 1492. The garden in front also provides nice views of Alhambra.
During the Spanish Inquisition, most of the Muslims, Jews and Moriscos were exiled from Spain. Many of those living in Granada ended up in Tetouan, Morocco. You can read about Tetouan here. (Coming Soon)
Our favourite lookout was San Miguel High Viewpoint (Mirador de San Miguel Alto) on the very top of the hill. We saw the chapel Hermita de San Miguel from below and wondered if the view would be worth the walk up.
It definitely was. From this high perch, we had sweeping views of the city’s skyline and across to the Alhambra. Making the view even better were the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.
This viewpoint is located where one of the tallest towers built by the Nasrid Kingdom once stood. Torre del Aceituno (Olive Tree Tower) was named after a legendary olive tree on this hill. A legend says that the olive tree bloomed and produced ripened fruit, all in one day. Today, it is home to 18th century Hermita de San Miguel. The chapel is only open one day a year, on St. Michael’s Day.
Historic Quarter
At the base of the hill is where most of the city’s newer historic quarter can be found. The streets are lined by wonderfully ornate buildings. that all seemed to lead to a different church.
Carrera del Darro is a tourist street in the heart of this quarter. On one side are historic palaces and mansions on the other, the Darro River. Many of the buildings now are used by tourist shops and restaurants. It was always busy in this area, but it didn’t feel lively as in some cities, instead, it felt cramped.
Alhambra
Undoubtedly, the most popular site in Granada is the Moorish-built Alhambra. We found an interesting route to reach it from Carrera del Darro. Cuesta del Rey Chico climbs the hill around the backside of the fortress. The peaceful walk is named for young Boabdill, King of the Nasrids. Apparently, he was an awful leader, and his poor decisions allowed the Christians to end the Moors’ 800-year rule. He is said to have escaped from Alhambra down this very alley when the Christian’s win was imminent.
The walk passes under a few old gates and by old fountains and was much less busy than other places in the city.
At the top of the hill we reached its main gates. One of them is Justice Gate (Puerta de la Justicia). The Moorish horseshoe-shaped gate is still decorated with a hand of Fatima, reminding us of its Islamic roots.
The large complex is divided into three separate areas: Alcazaba (military zone), palaces (royal quarters), and Generalife (royal gardens). To visit these areas requires a ticket. Unfortunately, because it’s so popular, we weren’t able to get tickets. We learned a lot from our mistakes and have listed a few tips to help you buy tickets. You can read that below.
Inside the main gate, we were surprised by the amount you can see without a ticket. There is a large garden courtyard in front of the Church of Santa María de La Encarnación and Palacio Carlos V. You can usually enter the church, but a wedding was taking place so we couldn’t go inside. Entrance to Carlos V Palace is also free, but there’s not much to see in the cube-shaped building.
Separating the garden courtyard from the Alcazba (fortress) is another horseshoe-shaped Moorish gate. On the other side of Wine Gate (Puerta del Vino), you can see the many bastions, buttresses and towers on the Alcazaba. It’s also a great vantage spot to look out upon the city.
Tips to book tickets to Alhambra
When we travel, we have a general plan but add and delete sites and cities as we go. Tickets for Alhambra sell out a couple of months in advance, which doesn’t match our style of travel. Because of this, we couldn’t buy tickets on the official website, so ended up doing a lot of research to find other options. They didn’t work for us, but maybe they will for you. Here are the different ways to purchase tickets for Alhambra:
- There are a few different types of tickets available, but in order to see Nazrid Palace, you must either purchase Alhambra General, General Gold Double or Night Visit to Nazrid. Tickets that include Nazrid Palace sell out very quickly, especially in the summer. There are many on-line ticket sellers that say they are official, but are really tour operators. Here’s the link to the official ticket site.
- Tour operators often have spots available, but the more last-minute it is, the more you have to pay. For us, the price had escalated to over €150 each for a tour. If you are able to buy a couple of weeks in advance, you will pay much less.
- For very last minute travellers, the museum puts a few tickets for sale on-line at midnight the night before they’re available. We tried to buy these three nights in a row, and were unsuccessful, but obviously some people were lucky.
- Finally if you can’t get tickets, you can still walk around the courtyards to get a glimpse of what it was like. As well, you can walk all the way around the complex’s outer walls to see them from every angle.
Since we walked up to the fortress on the backside, we decided to walk back to the city centre another way. This popular route takes you through Granada Gate (Puerta de las Granadas). It is sometimes translated to Gate of the Pomegranates. Granada does mean pomegranate in English, but that seems like a literal translation. This gate is the largest and lowest of the old city gates.
Granada Cathedral
The other important building in Granada is the cathedral (La Cathedral de Granada). It is the second largest cathedral in Spain after Seville and is spread out over several blocks. Granada Cathedral has a wonderful roof, decorated with many spires and domes. Unfortunately, its tall bell tower was draped in construction tarps. The Cathedral has been encroached upon by the growing city making it difficult to get far enough away for a picture.
Construction of the large church took over 200 years therefore, its architects changed several times. One of those also played a significant role in the designs of Málaga and Cadiz Cathedrals. Since it is such an important church though, the front entrance is less elaborate than we expected. We found it looked more impressive at night.
The interior nave is also different than we thought. White columns reach up to white domed ceilings and make the huge space seem even larger. The only colour comes from the stained glass windows, positioned high on the walls.
The Royal Chapel
On the side of the cathedral is the Royal Chapel. The large, stone chapel was built in Isabelline Gothic style. It is called this because it was built during the reign of Queen Isabella. In front of the main golden altar are the tombs of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, the first monarchies of Spain. It was under their rule that Granada was finally seized by Christians.
Inside the small chapel, life sized statues of the pair lie on the top of their marble tombs. The bases are opulently carved with depictions of biblical scenes, dragons, bishops, lions and cherubs. No photos are allowed inside.
San Jerónimo Monastery
This rather unassuming building made us wonder if we wanted to enter, but we’re very glad we did. If you like ornate Rococo architecture, then you will love San Jeronimo Monastery (Monasterio San Jerónimo).
When you walk into the church, the first thing you notice is the ceiling. Elegant plaster ribbing is further accentuated by paintings of angels and flowers in between. And that’s just the entrance.
Go further inside to see the tall painted columns and decorative arches that frame the golden altar. Then look at the ceilings and walls that are host to small states, paintings and stucco designs in true Rococo style. There is very little space that is not decorated in this church.
Sacromonte
From below, you wouldn’t realize that unusual homes are located in the hillside community of Sacromonte. Spanish gypsies have been living in caves on Valparaiso Hill since the 1500s. We had imagined scenes similar to those we saw in Setenil de las Bodegas, Guadix, or the one where we stayed in Pegalajar, but the cave homes in Sacromonte weren’t quite as cute. Its main street, Camino del Sacromonte, is directly across from the Alhambra, so while the caves were not very impressive, the views were.
The area is also well known for its flamenco shows, but since we had the perfect experience in Jerez de la Frontera, we didn’t attend one here.
Sacromonte Abbey is set near the top of Valparaiso hill, above the community of Sacromonte. Religious relics were found in holy caves underneath the convent, making this a pilgrimage site.
The 17th century Abbey and Seminary were not overly fascinating, but its hilltop location offers a fabulous view of the city and the Alhambra.
Outside of the historic centre, Granada is a busy city. We didn’t see much else of interest except Triumph Square (Plaza Triunfo). We walked through it every day, but it looked best at night.
Tourist Passes in Granada
If you plan to visit the sites of Granada, you should consider purchasing a pass that includes entry to different sites. There are a few different options to chose from depending on your timelines and interests. You can find more about those at the Tourism Granada website here.
Getting to Granada
It’s quite easy to access this busy city. You can fly into Granada, but it’s even cheaper to fly into Málaga. Alsa Bus travels between the two cities frequently (2 hours). Another option is to take the train from Málaga, Seville, Córdoba or even further from Madrid or Barcelona. If you have a car, good freeways make it an easy drive to Granada.
Getting around Granada
There is a good public transit system in Granada. Trams have two long lines that travel from the suburbs to the city’s downtown. It’s best to buy a reloadable card if you plan to use it over a few days. The downtown core is very walkable, but you could also take public buses or taxis between sites including up to the Alhambra. It’s not advised to drive into the historic centre though. The streets are very narrow, many are pedestrian-only, and there is very little parking.
Where to stay in Granada
The best areas to stay are in the centrally located historic quarter or the community of Albaicin. If you prefer to stay further out, try to stay near a tram stop. All communities in the city are considered safe.
This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Granada.
To read more of our adventures in Spain, click here.
Coming Next – Best Day Trips From Granada
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