Granada, Spain (Alhambra)

Mid-way through our time in Seville we took a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid-14th century by Moorish rulers. When planning our trip to Spain we were unsure if we wanted to add Granada to the itinerary since it is about a 6 hour round trip and we were already visiting three other cities. When soliciting advice from others who have visited the area, we were told it was a must-see, so we decided to go for it.

So on our anniversary (Wednesday, April 14th) we took a bus via ALSA from Seville to Granada. Each trip cost about 22 euro per person and the bus ride was about 3 hours each way. We were debating between the bus and train for this trip, but due to timing and availability the bus won out; it was actually a really smooth ride and not bad at all.

When visiting Alhambra you have to buy tickets and make reservations to visit the Palacios Nazaries, the main palace in advance of your visit. You have a 30 minute time slot when you can actually enter and aren't allowed entry if it doesn't fall within that time frame. From our experience, these reservations go pretty quickly, so the earlier you make your reservation, the better chance you have of getting a time slot that works with your schedule. Also, your entry time to the Palacios Nazaries determines the time you're able to enter the complex. For example, our entry to the main palace was at 6pm so we couldn't enter the complex until after 2pm. My good friend Rick Steves does a great job of breaking all of this down here.

To kill time before our entry into the Alhambra complex, we took the city bus from the train station to the city center where we checked out Granada and had lunch. The "downtown" area of Granada is a pretty neat area to explore and we could have actually spent longer there. Using the time we had we grabbed some lunch (I'm pretty sure it was another jamon & queso sandwich) and some snacks at a little shop with all organic dried fruit. We then took the city bus up to the Alhambra complex and began our journey there. As written by Rick Steves, the Alhambra consists of four sights clustered together atop a hill: Charles V's Palace (Christian Renaissance palace plopped on top of the Alhambra after the reconquest, free entry), Alcazaba (empty old fort with tower and views), Palacios Nazaries (exquisite Moorish palace, a must-see), and Generalife (fancy gardens).

We trekked around the complex all afternoon taking in the views. We were lucky and had a beautiful day to explore. Here are a few pictures from our visit:

in Generalife (the gardens)

at the Alcazaba (the fort)

leaving Palacios Nazaries (the main palace area)

You can see all of the pictures from our day trip to Granada / Alhambra here.