I have just seen on Rick Steves site that the hall of kings in the Palacious Nazaries is closed. I have done little research on this but assume it is a small portion of the palace and the rest is open. We plan to be there in May. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge about this?

As far as I know (I´m visiting in two weeks time), the Abencerrajes Hall will be closed since yesterday, due to the works in the Lions Fountain.
Nothing is said in the official website of the Hall of Kings.
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/

Bye, Cova

Thanks cova. When you return, please post what you discovered.Thank you for posting the official website. I will look at it in more detail as I have time. Happy travels!!!

Hi Cova,

Have you returned? What was closed and how did it impact your visit to the Alhambra?

We were just there last week and the Hall of Kings is closed and the lions fountain was covered in plastic due to renovations. Still, there was plenty to see in the Palace and we enjoyed our visit.

Thank you for your report Suru11 - I don't have a frame of reference for what portion of the Alhambra the Hall of Kings encompasses. So, when you say there was still plenty to see,was it the "good" stuff or just the "leftovers" if you get my drift.

In no way is it only the "leftovers" that remain open to visitors. Most of the "good stuff" is still accessible.

Fantastic. I am going to spend my 50th birthday at the Alhambra (in Nov 2011) and I want it to be knock my socks off good, not set with disappointment at the closed doors.

Will there be anything pretty to see in the gardens mid-November?

Happy, you will definately NOT be disappointed. You can still walk through the lion courtyard, it was just under renovation with plastic covering some things and the fountain was gone. They had placed the lions in a separate room so you could check them out. It might be finished by November. I can't comment on the Hall of Kings because we never saw where that was.

I actually think I liked the gardens better than the palace, but that is really splitting hairs because the entire place was a treat. It's not so much the kinds of plants and flowers that are in the gardens in my opinion, but how everything is placed and laid out. I think it will be just as spectacular in November as it was in the Spring. Even with those two areas that were closed, we still spent 5 hours walking through and seeing everything. Have a great time!