I'm booking our Alhambra tickets online and see only two time options of six hours each however saw a post here suggesting booking first thing in morning of 8:30. Is that possible and how?

Also, how safe is Spain? We've experienced no crime in Italy yet are reading lots of cautions about crime in SPain in the guidebooks.

for Alhambra, you either get the morning ticket or the afternoon ticket. Once you select it, it'll show you the entrance time for the Nasrid Palace. Only the Nasrid Palace entry is timed - the rest of the place you're free to visit during your time slot (ie, all AM or all PM).

Spain is safe. There are probably more pickpockets than some other Western European countries, so be alert at all times and consider using a money belt for your cash, credit cards etc.

hi patiboo,

i have never understood the point of an afternoon ticket, unless you have to have one, because they don't seem to clear the site between sessions, so if you've got a morning ticket, you can stay all day.

don't forget the evening visit too - you only get to see the Nasid palaces and the garden that lead up to them, but they are very beautiful all lit up, and completely different to how they appear in the day time.

ann, if one has the morning ticket, he/she canNOT enter the ticketed areas (alcazaba & Generalife) AFTER 2pm. So yes, if the person is already inside Generalife before 2pm, one can stay for as long as one wants. However, once you exit, you cannot re-enter again if it's after 2pm.

I had an afternoon ticket when I visited the Alhambra. I made use of the morning to visit the sites in Granada - the Cathedral, Royal Chapel...

thank you, yk - I'd nver seen this explained before.

that's exactly what we did - we entered the site at about 9am, saw the alcazaba, then the nasrid palaces, [with a 10.30 slot I think] and after seeing the rest of it, finally entereed the generalife, where we stayed til about 3pm, which was about the right time for lunch in Granada!

the night before we'd had an evening ticket. we'd seen the places you mention earlier that day. we like to travel slowly and thoroughly.

So to clarify...if I have a 2:30PM ticket, I can enter any area after 2PM, then Nasrid palace at 2:30PM till anytime? then can wander around Alcazaba and Generalife till they clear for nighttime session?

bstclaire, NO, you HAVE to enter Nasrid Palace between 2:30 & 3pm. If you show up at the Nasrid palace gate after 3pm, you may be denied entrance. You should probably get in line by 2:30pm the latest for the Nasrid Palace.

Note that there are areas within the Alhambra that are FREE, which means anyone is welcome to walk around. That includes the Carlos V Palace, as well as the shops and some of the streets.

So, depending on what you're doing that day, you can head up to the Alhambra around 1pm, pick up your ticket, walk around the free areas, then enter any of the ticketed parts at 2pm. Again, you need to be at Nasrid Palace by 2:30pm.

Thanks, I didn't write it very clear but what I was trying to ask was once I enter at 2:30 can I stay within Nasrid Palace until anytime, hours if I wanted, or do they limit your time within the palace to 1/2 hour, 1 hour etc.

bstclaire,

once you are within the Nasrid palaces, you can stay as long as you like. just remember to leave yourselves long enough to see the rest of the site and the Generalife, which took us at least 90 minutes.

Yes, with a morning ticket until 2 pm, and with an afternoon ticket until closing time.

Yes, with a morning ticket until 2 pm>>

alec, my understanding is that so long as you don't try to re-enter the site, with a morning ticket you can stay as long as you like - we were still walking round the generalife long after 2pm.