Alhambra - Granada - TravBuddy

I rated this great fortress and palace as a Life-changing experience, because it really is. I believe it is something everyone should see at least ones in his or her life. As for me, it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

The Alhambra, which name refers to the reddish ground of the hill it was build on, and to the reddish color of the Alcazaba walls, was build in several stages. It's main purpose was to be a fortress, that defended the city and palaces within from attacks. It belonged to the Arab sultans and kings that reigned Granada and the larger parts of Spain long ago. Later Christian kings have build their palace inside the walls too.

I could write pages and pages about the Alhambra, as it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. It was the second time I visited and still it got me all quiet and touched by its splendor. Yet you need to see it with your own eyes. Even the most professional pictures don't give the right impression. It definitely is something you need to feel, you need to experience it. So I'll try to keep this entry reasonable short.


SEVERAL PARTS OF THE COMPLEX
The complex consists of many parts. When you first enter you walk across the ancient entrance road, past the remains of the old Arab baths and the Medina. The oldest part of the Alhambra is the Alcazaba or fortress, with the many watchtowers. These walls are the main thing you notice when you watch the Alhambra from the outside (e.g. from in the Albaicín). They offer majestic views over the city of Granada, the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Generalife gardens, and the Alhambra itself.

The second part are the Nasrid Palaces. These are, in my opinion, most beautiful part of the Alhambra. They are the old palace of the Sultans, well preserved and full of artwork, marble, wonderful architecture, ponds and fountains, inscriptions, amazing ceilings, views over the Albaicín,... and so forth and so on. If you have seen some pictures of the Alhambra on book covers or something, it probably will have been pictures of the Nasrid palaces. The most famous parts of the Alhambra, as the patio de liones and the patio de los Arrayanes, are part of it. Since this is the most fragile and at the same time most visited part of the Alhambra, you have a entrance hour on your ticket. You get thirty minutes to enter (no earlier, no later), but once in you can stay as long as you want. This is a bit of a strange procedure, but smart too, since there never are too many people in one room and there is enough space to enjoy the wonders and magic of the building.

A third part of the Alhambra is the catholic palace of Carlos V, never finished and build in a completely different style than the rest of the Alhambra: renaissance. I never really liked it, but yet it is worth a visit too.

The last thing to see are the gardens or the Generalife (I would write it down phonetically as you definitely do NOT pronounce it the English way, yet I don't know how to do it correctly so I rather don't). They offer great views too, and are a nice ending of a long visit. Hanging around the shades, between the plants, sitting down to watch over the valley, walking through the summer palaces,... A lovely ending of a memorable visit.


GETTING YOUR TICKETS
It is wise to book your entrance tickets to the Alhambra in advance, as there are UNESCO restrictions to how many people can enter each day. When you show up, and the quota is reached, you won't be able to visit. It is easy to buy these tickets online. Use this (official) website: https://w3.grupobbva.com/SMVE/home.html
You can buy the tickets by telephone as well, or in several banks or shops, but I would suggest to reserve them yourself online, especially when you don't speak Spanish that well. This way you can be sure every dates and times are correct.

You can visit the Alhambra at three time periods: forenoon (8:30am to 2pm), afternoon (2pm to 8pm) or evening (not all the area's can be seen when you choose this type of visit). The most recent opening times can be seen here: https://w3.grupobbva.com/SMVE/home.html

When you buy tickets you will be asked to choose an entrance time. This time does NOT refer to the hour you will be allowed to enter the complex, but to the hour you will have to enter the nasrid palaces. For example, when you choose 4pm this means you can enter the complex at 2pm (the time you chose is in the afternoon, so you will get afternoon tickets), and have to enter the Nasrid palaces between 4pm and 4:30pm. I would suggest to plan the Nasrid palaces at the start of your visit (when you book a morning ticket at about 9am, when you book an afternoon ticket at about 2:30pm), so you don't have to concentrate on the time during your stay, to make sure not to miss the Nadrids.

With the tickets bought in advance, you still need to go to the ticket counters on time. These are the same desks as where the other tickets are bought, called to desk of the Patronata de la Alhambra. On your climb to the palace there will be maps across the road to show you the way.


GOING TO THE ALHAMBRA
Talked about going to the Alhambra, there are busses that take you uphill, but don't use them if you are phisically able to make a small climb. It isn't like mount Everest, and the walk is a perfect prologue to the Alhambra visit. There are several entrance ways, but the Cuesta de Gomérez, which leaves at Plaza Nueva, is the most beautiful one.


AUDIO GUIDES
I would highly recommend to hire an audio guide. In my opinion, it is a MUST. It gives you a thousand times more info than you could ever collect yourself, and even with a good guidebook or well made preparations such a guide has priceless added value to offer. I think I read the whole official Alhambra website three times back and forth, and still the guide told me facts I didn't know yet. It is available in many languages and easy to carry around, so there really is no reason not to take it with you. The price is only 3 euro.


SOME USEFUL WEBSITES
http://www.alhambradegranada.org/default_en.asp
https://w3.grupobbva.com/SMVE/home.html
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/informacion.html


We stayed in the Alhambra for about five hours, long enough to get a good impression of all the different parts. I think a shorter stay doesn't provide enough time to see all the details and to store all the impressions properly.

One of the more impressive sites I have ever seen. The whole place is very big and has lots to offer. The most famous place is the Palace, but it's not the only attraction there.

Just an amazing place.

The ticket has to be reserved at least two days before the arrival as the number of visitors is very limited.

For 10€ you can't do better then the Alhambra.  It is the huge castle that changed hands between the moors and the christians during the times of kings and queens.  The audio guide is a great tour itself and the sights are beautiful.  While I speak highly of the audio guide, having a book about Alhambra will only add to the experience and  your understanding of the ancient place. 

While there is a lot here there are two big sights.  The Palacio and the Generalife.  The Palacio is where you can see some incredible architecture and small gardens.  There is a ton of history here as well. 

The Generalife is the major garden and to me was a better visit then the Palacio.  The care and time put into these locations is tremendous.  

It is recommended that you purchase tickets early and you can do this by internet at their website or at any BBVA bank.  I recommend that you go on a Thursday or Friday.  Weekends I hear are packed and several exhibits are closed earlier in the week.  Additionally some exhibits are closed in the afternoon so the morning would be preferable if you wanted to see everything.  When you purchase your ticket you will schedule a time slot to enter the Palacio.  If your Palacio time is in the morning then you have a morning ticket and you need to enter Alhambra in the morning and the same goes for if it is in the afternoon.  Otherwise there are no other time restrictions.  Once you are inside you can stay inside for as long as you want so you can see the other parts of the location.  Much of Alhambra is actually free, but you'll want to spend the 10€ for the ticket so you can get into the Palacio, Generalife, and the castle. 

They have a night ticket available as well and the Palacio is reportedly lit up well, but at night you can only see the Palacio, I'm not even sure if you can see the generalife.