cybertraveler

Hello, fellow travelers!

I am trying to buy tickets for the Alhambra in July. When I visited ticketmaster today, I see that the Alhambra General tickets are completely sold out through May 27 (with the exception of May 23 and 24). Tickets are available from May 28- June 30.

My question is: when should I mark my calendar to be sure that I'll be able to get tickets for the end of July? Obviously, I'll need to move quickly once dates are opened up.

Thanks for any information or tips on booking these tickets. We'll also want to visit the Palace at night, but from what I have read that seems to be less difficult to book.

Alec

It used to be on the 1st May for all bookings in July, but the Alhambra authorities have been late in releasing tickets to Ticketmaster.es. So you need to check daily to see if slots for your chosen date have been released or not.

latebloomer

I checked almost daily for the 45 days in search of tickets for June 23. They finally became available this past Sunday. So somewhere in the 55-60 day range in my case.

I was crushed to see that there were no tickets for the evening viewing of the Nadrid palaces and thought they'd sold out, but then figured out that an international music festival is taking place around that time and venues at the Alhambra will be used for the festival. Unfortunately, I had only one evening option. Rats.

lincasanova

you should try to go to one of the shows.. usually the top national and international dancers and musicians are playing

cybertraveler

Thank you for the great information. I will keep checking vigilantly, and look into one of the shows.

I am very interested in the evening viewing of the Nadrid palaces as well, but was surprised to see that it begins at 10:00pm. Do people think that this would appeal to my two teenage sons (19, 17), or should it be just DH and me? They enjoy art museums and touring cathedrals, etc, but they do have a limit!

cybertraveler

Hello again,

I just booked tickets for the end of July for both the daytime visit with Nasrid Palace at 10:00am and the Alhambra at Night. Tickets for the 10:00am entry are going quickly.

It looks like the night visit tickets do sell out, contrary to what I have read in various places. So, if anyone is hoping to visit at night in July 2015, they might consider booking now on ticketmaster.es

annhig

hi cybertravel,

We were lucky when we went in November a few years ago - we had booked the day time tour in advance but not the evening one, and we were very lucky to get in when we went on spec the night we arrived. It was beautiful all lit up and because they let far fewer people in for the evening tours [I think ours was at 8pm because it was later in the year] it's far less crowded than we found it to be the next day.

I think that you made the right choice in booking both tours. for the Spanish a tour at 10pm would not be unusual especially in July; they are used to eating at midnight if not later! And part of the point of the evening tour is to see the Nasrid palaces lit up at night, which has to be quite late in July as it doesn't get dark until quite late.

Between the two tours you will have plenty of time for a nap, though it's more likely to be you napping than your lads I expect.

cybertraveler

Hi ann,

It's always nice to hear from you. Your advice on staying in Pisa before our flight home last year was great. The boys enjoyed their climb of the Leaning Tower and we took lots of goofy photos. That is also a nice airport to fly out of.

We're looking forward to the Alhambra at night. I'd forgotten to take into account how the Spanish are night owls, so I feel even better about pre-booking our tickets.

annhig

oh that's good to know, cybertravel. All this advice that we hand out is really quite a responsibility and it's nice to find out that it worked!

I don't know where you are staying in Granada - because we knew that we were going to be spending quite a lot of time at the Alhambra site we opted for the Guadelupe hotel just opposite which was a real hit with us - nice big rooms and bathrooms, a good restaurant where we had dinner after our earlier-then-yours evening tour of the Alhambra, and cheap parking in the huge Alhambra car-park opposite. And very reasonably priced. it would be a good place to stay for you as you could nip back for a nap and then have dinner without having to walk down into the town and then toil back up again.

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

wherever you stay, there is a very useful bus that brings you up the hill from the main square at the bottom; walking down is a lot easier of course but some of the buses go all the way from outside the Alhambra ticket office to the Albercin, which means that all you need to do from there is to walk back into town.

Nelson

annhig, thanks for the Hotel Guadalupe suggestion, exactly what we were looking for. I just booked it for our two nights there this fall.

The Alhambra ticket timing issue can be confusing for sure. This blog seems useful:
http://www.wandertooth.com/alhambra-...da-spain-tips/

michele_d

Thanks for the link Nelson...it was very helpful.

annhig

oh nelson - the responsibility!

But I think you will like it - the rooms are large and airy, and despite its not being down in town it's quite convenient with the bus and it's actually a nice walk down. There are some nice shops - we bought a lovely leather bag for our DD from a lady who was clearly unconvinced by our reassurances that's we'd return when we didn't buy anything the first time we went in, and was thrilled when we went back!

cybertraveler

Annhig, the Hotel Guadaloupe looks like a good spot. We already have reservations at Casa 1800,but I've bookmarked the Guadaloupe.

Nelson, that link was great, especially the map of the Alhambra. Thanks!

annhig

cyberstraveler - in case it's of any use to you, we had a pretty decent meal in the Guadelupe's restaurant; it was funny that they didn't think that we'd know what oxtail was but it tasted good.