I'm getting ready to buy Alhambra tickets for our upcoming visit to Granada in early May. I'm wondering about suggested timing for the visit? Maybe an afternoon ticket followed by dinner at the Parador... anyone know if that is a good plan? Or, other suggestions about when to go? Thanks...

Thanks for the reminder to get our Alhambra tickets. I'll be interested in the answers you get.

I just returned yesterday from Granada and will post a trip report eventually. We had the afternoon slot with entry into the Palaces at 3pm. I was very pleased with the timing. We spent 3 hours inside the Alhambra, from 2pm until 5pm. At the time we left the complex there were no restaurants open, at the parador or anywhere else.

I did not eat at the Parador so cannot comment on their dining room but based on food alone, and on my other experiences at paradors, the food is probably very good but far from the best in town.

Most restaurants do not appear to open for dinner until 8:30pm, so you would have plenty of time to travel to any area of Granada for dinner. Where will you be staying?

I will have lots of food information in my report and will be happy to answer any questions based on my brief visit. In general, we found the Centro to be filled with tempting eating spots, many of which did not appear to attract many non-Spanish tourists.

If you are not committed to a sit-down dinner, you can opt to select one or two dishes at a couple of tapas bars....we found this to be a fantastic experience.

The food is good and the VIEW from the terrace over the Alhambra is BETTER than ANY restaurant in that city, period.

Hi Crystal [and enzian]

if you are getting tickets for the alhambra, don't forget to get ones for the evening too. you only get to see the nasrid palaces and the gardens en route, but they let in far fewer people so you can see things far better than during the day.

and the atmosphere at night is lovely.

PS - if you do the afternoon tour, you could go back to your hotel, have a kip/have a few tapas, then get the bus back up the hill for the night time tour, followed by dinner at the parador. we had dinner in our hotel at about 9pm after the night-time visit and in spain, that's still quite early.

I have not eaten at the Parador in many years, so I cannot comment on the quality, though I doubt it has diminished greatly from its standards and price, but the view of the Generalife is specactular.

add a little included live music out on that terrace and yes, it is even more spectacular.

now you need to decide on lunch ( 1.30-3.30) or dinner?

I certainly did not eat at every restaurant in Granada but I would find it difficult to believe that the food at the parador is the best in that city, based on where we did eat! An added plus is that the Parador dining room opens earlier than most restaurants to accommodate the tourist/based clientele.

for something different, try the pulperia [octopus shop] in the little street behind the main square.

every sort of dish made with octopus or squid that you could possibly imagine, and then some.

there are other nice tapas bars in the same street if cooked cephelopod doesn't interest you.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm thinking we'll do afternoon at the Alhambra... thoughts about touring with a guide versus self-tour? And then maybe a drink on the terrace (if available) and dinner in town. Would love more restaurant suggestions! We will be staying at the Hotel Santa Isabel la Real in the Albaicin neighborhood. Leaving Granada by car and want to see some hill towns enroute to Sevilla... will post separately for suggestions about that. Looking forward to Southern Spain!

I have a recommendation for a guide for you and will post his details if you wish. He was our guide for the "Conquest of Water" tour. For the actual Alhambra tour we used the audio guides, which are quite good.

I will be including a number of restaurants in Granada in my ongoing trip report. I will be happy to recommend a few places (realize that I am not an expert, having spent only three days there recently) but you should let me know if you want to eat seafood or meat...

If you do not care about a sit down meal, I would recommend sampling a few places for tapas. Again, I am happy to share names based on my own experience.

Thanks, would love guide and restaurant info.... we are meat and seafood eaters, casual and nicer... like to mix up our experiences. Any suggestions appreciated!

OK!! Since you have plenty of time before your trip, you can check the restaurant info in my trip report..I started it today and will get to the Granada part soon.

There have been several guides in Granada mentioned here but we were so impressed with the guide that we had last week that I would not hesitate to recommend him; perfect English, personable, knowledgeable--all around good guy.

Juan Cobo: [email protected]

This is great information. (Hope I'm not hijacking your thread, RLCrystal!) But it sounds like we should consider dining at the parador our first night in Granada--we are staying inside the Alhambra at Hotel America that night; we could take what we save by staying there (instead of at the parador), and spend it on dinner. Can I make a dinner reseration on the website if we are not guests there, or should I try calling them?

Would it be too much to do a night visit to the Nazrid palace that same night? We will have 3 nights/2 full days in Granada, so there will be time to visit the gardens and other areas in the daytime as well.

I think since you are staying near the Alhambra, you would be fine doing both a daytime tour and the night visit on the same day.

enzian, we stayed near the alhambra at the hotel guadelupe [which is right opposite] and had plenty of time to do the night-time visit and have dinner.

this is one of the advantages of travel in spain - however late you want to eat dinner, you will be eating earlier than the spanish themselves.