unonymus_traveller

Hello everyone..

I'm landing in Granada at 09:30AM on 17 Sept.

I have figured out how to purchase tickets to Alhambra but am still confused whether I should do it on 17th afternoon 2pm-8pm or 18th morning 8:30am-12am.

Also whether I should keep timings for visit to Nasrid palace in the beginning or end or sometime in between. I believe it takes more than 30mins from entrance to Nasrid palace.

If someone could give me a sequence that I should follow while visiting attractions at Alhambra.
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Also is it possible to visit Alhambra by night. If yes is it worth it.

unonymus_traveller

Tickets for 16 sept are already sold out. Need some help soon.

kja

IME, once admitted to the Alhambra, morning or evening, you can stay until the grounds close in the afternoon, as long as you don't go out any of the exits, but I've read conflicting reports on that recently, and so can't make any promises.

When I was there, back in 2004, I was able to enter in the morning (as soon as it opened, IIRC) and I didn't leave until the grounds closed, and even so, I hadn't finished my visit to the Generalife when I was politely directed to the exit. Obviously, other people have been able to manage their visits with just a morning or afternoon visit. Plan your visit accordingly.

It takes only a few minutes (less than 10?) to walk from the entrance to the Nasrid Palace. Again, assuming that things are as they were when I visited, once you enter the Nasrid Palace, you can stay there as long as you like -- you just have to be sure that you ENTER within your time slot.

So if the Alhambra is a priority for you, then my advice would be to opt for a morning session, with a slot at the Nasrid Palace no more than 30" after your entry -- that should give you maximal flexibility UNLESS they are now kicking people out during mid-day or unless YOU want to leave at some point. Under those scenarios, you might want to simply opt for the afternoon session. Sorry I can't be clearer!

I would also recommend an evening visit of the Nasrid Palace on that same day. During the day, you can visit the entire Alhambra, but you will do so with MANY others, so be prepared for crowds. In the evening, you can visit the magnificent Nasrid Palace (only) with just a few other visitors. When I was there, everyone who was there spoke very, very quietly, and I found it absolutely magical! I got to see this incredible palace with very different lighting, and to smell the flowering shrubs, and hear the fountains, and … well, I'm sure you get it.

Since I was there, I believe the Alhambra also offers evening visits to the Generalife, and if I had the chance, I would snag one of those reservations, too, preferably for the night BEFORE your daytime visit. JMO.

Hope that helps!

Elizabeth_S

To add to kja's comments - we were there in February of this year and indeed were able to enter the grounds in the morning with a 2pm entry ticket - our hotel told us to do that we had to enter at the Justice Gate not the main entrance. The Justice Gate is very convenient to the Nasrid Palace. We could not enter the Alcazar or Generalife Gardens or Nasrid Palace until after 2pm but we otherwise could walk the grounds, visit Charles V building and museums, go to the Parador for lunch, etc. So if you're landing at 9:30am I suggest you buy the afternoon entry and entrance to Nasrid at 2pm as well. That way you can get to Alhambra from the airport not worry about delays etc. Or to be really safe buy morning and afternoon tickets - they aren't very expensive.

unonymus_traveller

thanks kja and Elizabeth_S for your comments.

I did finally did figured out about the tickets stuff. The undermentioned blog explains in detail.

http://www.wandertooth.com/alhambra-...da-spain-tips/

Sadly I could get tickets only for afternoon on both 17th and 18th. So i booked mine for 17th with entry to Nasrid Palaces at 6:30pm.

The tickets for Night visit is only available for 17th, so few more doubts :

- Elizabeth - can I enter the grounds earlier than 2pm. Did you enter early. Still doubtful on that ? where did you collect your tickets from ?

- Since night tickets are only available for 17th should I do it, or it'll become too hectic with day and night visit on same day ??

-

Elizabeth_S

We picked our tickets up at the Alhambra bookstore

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Alh...1!4d-3.5971172

But you can just go to the main entrance as well I presume?

Yes --- we had a 2pm Entrance Time but we entered the grounds several hours before that via the Justice Gate which is about a 5-6 minute walk (down) from the Main Entrance Gate. One thing that isn't clear is that you really only show the tickets in 3 places in the grounds - the Alcazar, Nasrid Palace and Generalife Gardens. The Justice Gate is the also entrance for the Parador and another hotel (we enjoyed lunch in the Parador bar)

I can't speak to the night question - we didn't do it. We were happy with the time we spent at Alhambra.

kja

My day and evening visits were on the same day, and that worked well for me.

annhig

We had morning tickets, but stayed all day, just like kja says. But I understand that now unless you enter the Generalife gardens before 2pm, they will not let you in. We also bought tickets for the previous evening on spec and loved seeing the Nasrid palaces at night, when they let in far fewer people.

for you though, if you follow Elizabeth's plan and enter by the Justice gates during the morning, the afternoon ticket may work better.

Whether you want to come back in the evening to see the palaces again, when you will have seen them at 6.30, I really don't know. if you do decide to do so, the hotel where we stayed, the Guadelupe, is right opposite the main entrance and has a very good restaurant. So you could exit the site after seeing the palaces, go for dinner, and then go back for the evening visit.

http://www.hotelguadalupe.es/en/restaurant/

they also have a cafeteria [new since we stayed there I think] if you don't want a full meal.

minamax10

Perhaps it's obvious to everyone but me, but I had to double check regarding the entrance time for the Night visit to the Nasrid Palaces.

Tickets on line are sold for two time slots 22.00h and 22.30h. From the pulldown menu you can see 22h-22. 00h ....which is a bit confusing. Since daytime visits give you 30min to enter from the allocated entrance time on the ticket. Just to make sure if the night visits are organised the same way, I emailed Alhambra information office.

Night time entrance : you must be there on time or 5 min earlier for the chosen entrance time (22.00h or 22.30h) .

annhig

that's good to know, minamax - my recollection was that you had the same 30 minute leeway for evening visits, but it was quite a few years ago now, and I may have misremembered [or just been lucky!]

they are well worth it anyway.

EYWandBTV

If you do decide to do the evening visit as well, be sure to double-check about the correct entrance. I think that if you have a ticket for the evening visit, you *must* enter through the Puerta de Justicia (which is just a few minutes walk to the Nasrid Palace), and *not* the main pavillion entrance which is at the far eastern end of the Alhambra complex. Double-check this.

I'd urge you to do the evening visit as well. Just take a break after your daytime visit. This is a unique site and this will probably be your only chance to enjoy it?

Alec

Alhambra tickets can no longer be collected at the Alhambra store in town, and the machine has now been re-cited in the tourist office at Corral del Carbon a short distance away.
http://www.lovegranada.com/monuments/corral-del-carbon/

Elizabeth_S

Alec - is that since February of this year? We picked ours up at the bookstore.

Alec

Around April.

Elizabeth_S

That will do it! thanks for posting - I will cease mentioning where we got our tickets.

minamax10

EYWandBTV , not sure yet about the exact gate one would enter for the night visit. This is the email which I got from Alhambra information :

"If you buy tikcets for the night season ,22:00pm you have to be in the Main entrance Of Nasrid Palaces on time! at 22:00pm or five minutes before 21:55pm."

Hm...it sounds like one should be at the entrance of the Palaces at that time and not the gates to the Alhambra complex. I guess visitors are let in a few minutes prior to the time stamped on the tickets so that they have enough time to get to the Palaces.

minamax10

Perhaps this info might be interesting / useful as well. When asked regarding the audioguides for the Night visit, here is the reply :

"Actually we don´t have audioguide, but inside the monument we offer FREE WIFI .
WIFI:ALHAMBRA
PASSWORD:unesco2012
And also for free you can download COOLTURA aplication in your mobible phone because is an audioguide , available only in enlglish , espanish and dutch."

annhig

Hm...it sounds like one should be at the entrance of the Palaces at that time and not the gates to the Alhambra complex. I guess visitors are let in a few minutes prior to the time stamped on the tickets so that they have enough time to get to the Palaces.>>

again, this information may be somewhat out of date, but we were allowed into the complex immediately we'd bought our tickets from the ticket office which gave us at least 30 mins to get down to the Nasrid palaces before the timed entrance. We were unfamiliar with the site so it took us most of that to get down there.

I'm pretty certain that the instruction to be there at least 5 minutes before the time for entrance to the palaces refers to the entrance to the palaces themselves, not the actual entrance gate. i would want to be there at least 30 mins in advance.

EYWandBTV

it sounds like one should be at the entrance of the Palaces at that time and not the gates to the Alhambra complex>>

Yes, that's how it was when we visited two years ago. The Alhambra is such a huge, complicated site that it took me a long time to understand how it was organized, that is, I didn't fully get it until I was actually there. Usually, when you read "Alhambra" the description is referring to the entire, very large walled complex inside of which are the fortress, the Nasrid Palace, the Palace of Charles V, remains of the Christian chapel, and various gardens. There is a pavillion entrance to the Alhambra at the far eastern end and the Puerta de Justicia entrance at the western end (this entrance is closer to the Plaza Nueva of the center of the city, and the Darro River which separates the hill of the Alhambra from the Albaicin to the west, the ancient Moorish section).

We entered the Puerta de Justicia for the evening visit well in advance of our 8 pm visit to the Nasrid Palace ( = Palacio Nazaries). We walked from the Plaza Nueva up the steep Cuesta de Gomerez, through woods, to the Puerta. This is about a 20 minute walk. You can also take a taxi to the Puerta.

Once you go through the open Puerta de Justicia it's just a 5 minute walk across a courtyard to the Nasrid Palace entrance. There's a guard at the walkway, cordoned off. You are about 100 feet from the entry doorway of the palace. I got there 30 or 40 minutes ahead of time. There was only one other person in front of me.

An advantage of getting there well ahead of time is that you are at the head of the line. The first big room you enter in the palace is not that beautiful or historically significant. It has been altered significantly since the Christians conquered Granada. (You can read about every room in the palace, with photos, at several sites online, just google.) So I skipped this room and went rapidly to the next big one and that's where the splendors began. I was all alone as I went forward because everyone else was absorbing things "one step behind" me.

We bought tickets for the evening visit to the palace, the morning visit to everything, and the afternoon visit to everything. That way we didn't feel rushed and were able to take a long, restful lunch break in the hotel which is inside the Alhambra complex.

Good luck on your trip planning!

kja

Timing is critical -- and so personal! I had the earliest morning arrival available, skipped lunch, and hadn't quite finished my daytime visit when I was asked to leave in preparation for the evening visit. (I was NOT asked to leave during the lunch break -- but that was back in 2004, and I think the rules may have changed....) And again during the evening, there from start to finish.