WE found a hotel in this area. its on street cuesta de san antonio. it is 300 metres from hospital real and 150 metres from the gran via street. (also a park nearby)
I just wanted to know is this area safe. we will be travelling with 2 small children age 5 and 2.
Thanks, for all your help
Vic.

I spent 5 nights in Granada around New Year, had chance to walk all over Granada. I am afraid I can't say whether the area is safe, but it seems to be quite out of town centre. With small children, you might have to spend some time either on bus or taxi for sightseeing.

Albayzin is quite safe in my view and a fantastic area to stay in. It is not far from the town centre.

My one reservation would be that it is very hilly and the streets quite cobbled and uneven so it might be difficult with small children/strollers etc.

I am no expert on Granada but tend to agre wih eliza it is a fantastic area where many beautiful Carmens are located I also agree that is hilly and that is an important consideracion. In general people tend to overlook the fact that many European cities old zones are hilly . This of course is only natural because it was the safest part of the area.

thanks, everyone. it states that the apartment is in the lower part of the albayzin. so i am assuming it should not be to much of a hill

hi vic,

Granada seemed as safe as any other touristy city when we were there about 2 years ago [oops, make that 3, how time flies] but we did see a rather "keystone cops" chase of someone pursued hotly by the police who were being barracked by supporters of the miscreant.

this was right in the centre of town in broad daylight and didn't make me worried at all, in fact it was quite reassuring to see the police doing their job.

we got the bus right up to the top of the albercin and then walked back down, and again, although the streets are narrow, they seemed without obvious dangers.

however, given you have small children, I'm not sure that a plce rather more central might be better - you could walk/get bus up to the albercin & the alhambra and easily get back to base when teh kids got tired.

I'm going to give another plug to the hotel we stayed in called the Guadelupe - it was very good value at €60 per room per night and the rooms were huge. the disadvantage was that it IS up by the alhambra - but there is a nice walk down into town and the bus will take you down there [and some of them go up to the albercin too] and better still, back up again.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

Regarding Granada I noticed that sitting in a cafe in a Plaza, some dubious characters approached the people sitting at the tables offering to polish shoes or sell something .....I am positive they were scouts for thieves ready to take whatever of value the scout would tell them that was there to be stolen.

montrealvic,
I know the location, the Cuesta de San Antonio, and it really isn't central or handy at all to the major downtown sites, quite a downhill hike to them. I made the climb all the way up there to the Mirador de San Cristóbal lookout (not to be confused with the other lookout, Mirador de San Nicolás), and I've seen the park. It's actually at the very top of the upper Albaicín, on the way out to the university. That area of the far upper Albaicín is rougher around the edges, less gentrified and far less handy than the lower part near Plaza Nueva. And even with the hotel being 150 meters from the Gran Vía, getting up requires going round and round.

As others have said, the hills of the Albaicín are very steep, cobble stoned, uneven steps are high and the streets quite narrow- an area with no parking garages and some streets so narrow that taxis can't reach them. Since most of it is closed to vehicular traffic, reaching an Albaicín hotel can be a major challenge.
I've stayed right in the middle of the Albaicín on the "narrowest street in Spain", joked my taxi driver, who couldn't access the hotel's main entrance. It wasn't the least bit fun to drag luggage up and down those steps. Nor would it have been with a stroller and young children in tow!

For families with young children I'd recommend either a hotel on the Alhambra hill across from the entrance pavilion and parking lots like ann's Guadalupe (for extremely easy drive up, access to the complex and a handy minibus to take to and from downtown) or...

a hotel downtown (the flat part of the city) with its own garage, near one of the pretty squares where young children can run about and play, something more practical. What is your price range?

I feel strongly that a car and downtown Granada are just not a good mix, particularly now since so much of downtown is closed off to everything but local traffic. It's just a hassle to reach one's hotel by car. If you plan to drive to Granada, a downtown hotel with valet parking is a huge plus or staying up on the Alhambra hill is just a breeze to reach by car.
The ring road up to the Alhambra complex circumvents the exasperating downtown maze entirely.

montrealvic,
Just saw your other Arcos vs Ronda thread and read that you're starting your trip in Granada car free. This is good!

Thanks Maribel for your advice. Maybe i should look at other places. Also just wanted to know is this place (apartment) not accessible by taxi.
thanks vic.

Hi montralvic,
Do you specifically want an apartment rather than hotel?

If so, I'd look for something that's actually downtown-

here are some much handier (and safe) areas-
behind and west of the cathedral, the pretty Plaza Bib-Rambla, or on the east side of Reyes Católicos street near leafy Plaza Mariana Pineda. Those areas are flat, without steep, uneven cobble stoned steps and much, much better for strollers and for easy sightseeing. Then take the red minibus up to the Alhambra complex.

bookmarking

montrealvic,
Didn't address your other question-the street itself is wide enough to be accessible by taxi.

It's a long street that runs basically the length of the Albaicín, but the southern end of the street would be at least a 20 min. downhill walk to the cathedral and center of downtown. You can get up in that "vicinity" from downtown by bus. Bus #8 takes you as far as the very large gardens, Jardines de Triunfo, but then you need to walk up, past the Hospital Real (that houses the University's Rectory and Library), for 300 meters to reach the start of Cuesta de San Antonio. I personally wouldn't want that daily long up and down "commute".

I've taken the bus up to Hospital Real then walked past the beginning of Cuesta de San Antonio on my very long trek up to visit the Monasterio de la Cartuja.
Lots of hills in this upper part of Granada.