The Andalucian city of Granada is home to one of Europe’s top attractions – the Alhambra – but there’s much more to it than that.
What’s Granada all about?
If it was just about backdrops, Granada would be worth visiting – it sits in front of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. But Granada has a special history too. It was the last bastion of the Islamic caliphate that spread over much of southern Spain, finally being reconquered in 1492.
It was the defence of Islamic Spain that led to the construction of Granada’s top attraction – the Alhambra. This hilltop complex of gardens, palaces and fortifications is one of the world’s great sights.
But it sits atop a hugely likeable city with a distinctive character. It’s very clearly Spanish for the most part – evenings are often spent tapas crawling. But the Moorish influence is still strong here, with several streets that could easily be mistaken for Moroccan souks, with teahouses (called “teterías”), hookah lounges, and tiny shops selling slippers and lamps.
A walk through Granada’s highlights
Kick off in the Capilla Real, where the monarchs who united Spain – Ferdinand and Isabella – are buried in an ostentatious marble mausoleum. Then head along the Darro River to the Palacio de los Olvidados. Inside, there’s what looks like it’s going to be a bog-standard museum of torture instruments, but it’s much more interesting than that. It’s more about who was doing the torturing – the notorious Spanish Inquisition – and why than the gruesome methods used to extract confessions.
The palace is one of several private palaces in the historically Muslim Albaicín neighbourhood, which is a mystifying maze of cobbled streets, teterias and lookouts. The best of these is the Mirador de San Nicolás, which stares out at the Alhambra. The simplest way to find it is to take the steepest uphill option every time you come to a fork in a lane.
Granada’s top attraction
The Alhambra is as good as its reputation would suggest. Often mistakenly referred to as a palace, it’s more a series of palaces added through the generations as part of a hilltop town. Several things will strike while walking through – keyhole-style doorways, lavishly intricate stonework, arches designed to show off the city below, surprise courtyards emerging at the end of seemingly unpromising staircases.
The gardens are beautifully kept, and full of peaceful nooks and crannies, while the Alcazabar pulls off the intimidating, austere fortress thing with aplomb. The Nasrid Palaces, though, are where the decoration reaches its pinnacle.
The Alhambra is rightly Granada’s jewel, but it is so popular that restrictions are put on how many people can be inside at any one time. In practice, this means that between April and October, you’re probably going to need to book in advance. This is particularly the case for the Nasrid Palaces, for which special tickets are required.
Learning Spanish in Granada
Granada is a justifiably popular place to learn Spanish. Escuela Delengua offers intensive two week, small group courses. But the key is that it offers several daily activities alongside the classes designed to introduce learners to Spanish life and the local population.
Granada tours and experiences
Other activity options in Granada include an Arabian baths experience, e-bike tours of the Albaicín neighbourhood and guided hikes in the Sierra Nevada.
Where to eat in Granada
The evening jaunt around the city’s tapas haunts with Granada Tapas Tours is a great way of getting to know Granada’s food scene, and eat as you go along. The joints visited vary every night, as do the dishes served up – which might be cod-stuffed peppers at one stop, and home-made meatballs at the next.
The Restaurante el Trillo in the Albaicin has a gorgeous leafy terrace with trickling fountains and bird boxes. Dishes are beautifully presented, and have traditional Andalucian sweet-toothed leanings with things like prune sauces and fruit garnishes.
Shopping in Granada
The riverside Carrera del Darro has a few interesting shopping options, including Patio de los Perfumes, which not only sells perfumes but makes its own from ingredients behind the counter. There’s also a small perfume museum, while they run workshops for anyone wanting to concoct their own fragrance.
A little further along is Alea, which specialises in photography, but also does some lovely 3D photo/ art hybrids, which have opening doors and windows, or foregrounds physically in front of backgrounds. It’s a cute concept that works.
Granada hotel recommendations
The dream stay – which books out weeks in advance – is the Parador inside the Alhambra complex. It’s a former monastery, blessed with sumptuous gardens of its own, a swoony interior courtyard and lashings of beautiful wood and stone work. It’s the sort of place that proposals are made in.
The Hotel Gar-Anat is one of several riad-esque hotels in historic buildings. But this one ladles on the charm. Sumptuous wood carvings, walls with quotes from Granada-linked poets painted on, and a giant metal ‘wishing tree’ centrepiece that guests can leave feedback on are amongst the delightful oddities.
The Monjas del Carmen is in that classic won’t excite anyone, but won’t disappoint anyone territory. But it’s comfortable, has sofa beds for kids as standard, and is about as central as it’s possible to get. Rates are usually a relative bargain.
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