Granada Trip Planning & Itineraries

Day 1: Discover Alhambra Tours

You can definitely spend a whole day exploring this amazing site. Alhambra is a feast for the senses with its beauty, views, pools and gardens. The red fortress and towers date from the 9th century, with the palace building beginning around the 13th century. From the Torre de la Vela (Watchtower) you get great views of Granada and beyond. Palacio Nazaries cannot be missed - it's often said to be the most magnificent Islamic building in Europe with its tiling, courtyards, wood carving and ceilings. Don't miss the domed ceiling of 8000 cedar pieces representing the seven heavens of Islam in the Salon de Comares. Palacio de Carlos V is a Renaissance Palace and includes a couple of museums of artefacts and paintings. The Iglesia de Santa Maria church from around 1600 was built on the site of the former palace mosque. Take time to explore the gardens, particularly Generalife - smell the flowers and appreciate the clever design and use of water to soothe the mind and symbolize Islamic paradise. It's hard to believe that in the 18th century the Alhambra was deserted and left for thieves and beggars. Napoleon used it for a barracks and nearly got it blown up. But it was fiction that resurrected this fairy tale palace complex - Romantic writers such as Washington Irving brought it back to public love and in 1870 it was declared a national monument. These days it is so crowded with visitors that it is wise to prebook your tickets as they are limited per number per day.

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Day 2: Historical Granada Downtown

Begin the day wandering the hilly, windy narrow streets of Albayzin, the old Muslim quarter. Many Islamic structures remain including the minaret inside the belltower of the church Iglesia de Santa Ana; the 11th century Arab bathhouse Banos Arabes El Banuelo (still functioning as an hammam so take a bath!); the old mosque patio at the Colgiata del Salvador - a 16th century church built on the mosque site - and the Arco de las Pesas, the 11th century gateway. Don't miss the views from the Mirador San Nicolas lookout, especially good as the sun sets over the Alhambra and Sierra Nevada.

There are many cafe-restaurants to have lunch or dinner, or sip on tea in one of the Middle-Eastern style teahouses before heading for the Cathedral. This is a huge Gothic-Renaissance church started in the 1500s. Next door is the Capilla Real, Granada's finest Christian building and burial site of monarchs past who had wonderful names like Philip the Handsome and Joanna the Mad. Other places worth visiting are Monasterio de San Jeronimo (a Gothic Renaissance treat), Monasterio de la Cartuja (the ornate church is a Baroque wonder), and Huerta de San Vincente which is the house where Federico Garcia Lorca wrote some of his masterpieces.

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Day 3: Day Trips from Granada

Surrounding Granada are the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains, lush Alpujarras valley and cities of beauty to equal Granada itself. The highest mountain range in Spain, Sierra Nevada is often snow-capped and full of a huge range of flora and fauna. If you like butterflies, this is the place for you. Don't miss a visit to Seville with its Moorish architecture, grand Guadalquivir River and scent of orange groves. Cordoba's claim to fame is its wonderful Catholic Cathedral, originally a mosque and converted in the 1200s. One of the last remaining synagogues in Spain is also in Cordoba. The green of Las Alpujarras valleys is a relief after the dry character of most of Spain. Fed by rivers running off the Sierra Nevada, this fertile valley is full of villages, spa towns and natural beauty. There is even a water museum!

Granada is not far from the coast so if you are missing the sight of the sea, spend a day at Nerja, a pretty coastal town with the famous Caves of Nerja nearby containing 20,000 year old treasures!

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