mandalay

Hi all
We are a group of 4 and heading to southern spain in January. We are in malaga for 4 nights and wish to take a day trip to Granada from there to see the Alhambra.

Any recommendations?
Recommendations of an organised tour group?
We do not have a car.

Thanks

annhig

hi Mandalay,

it takes about 2 hours to drive from Malaga to Granada, including time to negotiate the one way system and park in the huge car park in front of the Alhambra, and with 4 of you it will be more economical to hire a car, picking it up the night before and setting off early. That will give you virtually the whole day, remembering that it will get dark early which will restrict your sightseeing time. If you decide to do this you need to book your tickets for the Alhambra asap; whatever time you are given for the Nasrid palaces entry, you can enter the site at any time during the session you pick, so if you get tickets for the morning, you can go in as soon as you get there, and then enter the palaces within 30 mins after the time shown on the ticket. Also, if you want to see the Generalife gardens [included in the ticket] so long as you enter before the end of the session, you can stay as long as you like, though if you want to see Granada as well you might not want to stay that long.

you could also spend some time down in the town [great tapas bars] before setting off back to Malaga.

I'm sure that you could do a guided tour but you won't have as much time or flexibility as you would with a car.

WomBatt

This is easily accomplished without a guided tour.

'We do not have a car.' - Do you mean you will not want to hire a car?

kimhe

Buses from Malaga to Granada all the time. The fastest takes 1h 30 mins (3-4 times/day). 11,43€.
http://www.alsa.es/en/

Take a taxi from the bus station in Granada to Alhambra. Be sure to buy tickets in advance. I would have left Malaga at about 9am, then you would be in the Alhambra at 11. Would have taken time for a solid lunch in Granada at 2-2.30 (the main meal of the day for most locals, many/most restaurants would have bargain three course with wine included deals). If you take the bus back to Malaga at about 5, you would be back at 7pm. People start to go out for dinner at about 9.

Some Malaga restaurant recommendations:

El Meson de Cervantes, excellent and popular right in the city center: http://www.elmesondecervantes.com/
El Cortijo de Pepe for traditional food and great atmosphere:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html
More cutting edge and fabulous wines, but still affordable at Dom Vinos: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

nytraveler

I think if you want to see much of the Alhambra you will ant to leave Malaga way before 9 am - the grounds are large and only a couple of hours there makes the trip barely worthwhile.