Spain Road Trip: Playing Tourist in Granada

vista of Alhambra, Granada

Spain Road Trip: Playing Tourist in Granada

Granada, Spain is a popular tourism destination. It is hosting travelers year-round, drawing visitors to the Alhambra, for summer vacation, or to ski in the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains. Below are the highlights we experienced, as well as advice if you’re planning to visit Granada.

Exploring Granada, Spain

Duration: 1.5 days

Time of Year: early November

Why Granada? The Alhambra, of course.

What did we find notable in Granada?

We strolled up the hill to the Medieval Moorish quarter of Albayzín and wandered around. Here, we encountered a restaurant, Carmen Mirador de Aixa, perched on the side of the hill. The gorgeous views of the Alhambra lured us in. So we sat and had a glass of wine and some snacks while enjoying the view, the sunny day, and the Spanish guitar notes drifting from the public San Nicolas mirador just above us.

Granada Moorish district

Medieval Moorish quarter of Albayzín

 

For our tour of the Alhambra & Generalife buildings, we had a very personable guide that made our experience more memorable. We booked an English-speaking tour.

 

Our takeaway:

While the Alhambra is famous, historically significant and a beautiful sight with a lovely garden, I wasn’t as enamored with it as I thought I would be. I conclude that my visit to the Real Alcázar in Seville the week prior affected my expectations. Maybe it was the impression that the Alhambra was supposed to far exceed the Real Alcázar (which I didn’t feel that way at all). Both palaces are excellent points of interest to see. Although you might appreciate them more individually if you don’t see them back to back. Heresy, I know.

 

So you’re interested in going to Granada… here are some helpful planning tips 

The town center is quite small and for pedestrian traffic only. If you have a (rental) car, you will park it in a garage for about 18-20 Euros a day.

I would estimate that 1-3 days is a good amount of time to visit for tourist activities. We passed our time here wandering around on foot, visiting the main attraction and hitting up cafes/restaurants. The city seems to cater more to tourism than livability, so I wouldn’t really recommend it as an expat home.

You must book your activities well in advance of your trip. General admission tickets to the Alhambra & Generalife book up 2-3 months in advance. We secured tickets for a guided tour about three weeks in advance in offseason.

I had not stayed at a Room Mate hotel prior to this trip. We stayed at Room Mate Leo and felt it was very comfortable and in a great location. I would highly recommend this hotel group, that started in Spain and has expanded to a handful of global cities.

As it’s surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains, the temperatures fluctuate drastically and it’s quite chilly in the morning and evening.

Check out TripAdvisor for input on points of interest & restaurants. Apparently, there is a historic spa, Hammam Al Andalus Granada that I didn’t know about until afterward.

 

Want to read about the other Spain road trip destinations?

 

Turia Gardens & the City of Arts and SciencesValencia, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

Park Guell iguanaBarcelona, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plaza de Espana, Seville

Seville, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Are you intrigued to visit Granada? Or, if you’ve already explored Granada, what was your favorite thing about the town?

Leave a comment!

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*This post includes several resource links for which we have no affiliation.

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Lauren Martins
lauren@modernodyssey.co
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