greg

Nelson,
While many travel without planning, the off season Alhambra evening visit is just one of the many activities needing planning to land in the city on specific days of the week. When I mention needing to synchronize visit on certain day of the week to other travelers from the U.S., they think I am a freak in thinking about events 6 months in the future. I think when everything is open every day of the week at home, we might come to an assumption that it is like that elsewhere.

EYWandBTV

Yes, it is a little obsessive-compulsive to plan trip details half a year ahead of time but sometimes it helps avoid a disappointment, like the Alhambra evening tour. For me, it's also sort of a hobby.

kimhe

A little more Carlos I/Carlos V and the beginning of modern Spain. Here the great Sara Baras dances his mother Juana la Loca which was locked away 27 years old in 1506. As the clip suggests, she was perhaps quite normal "loca" because of her husband "el Hermoso"/the handsome... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5KjIliSPpA

Anyhow, the palace her son Carlos - the emperor of the Habsburg monarchy, Spain and the "New World" in America - a few years later got built up in the Alhambra is a powerful and well thought through - and some will today say both tasteless and ugly - expression of Christian Spain, in almost the blink of an eye, becoming the world's leading power. But it's also interesting that he wanted it to be bulit at Alhambra which his grandmother Isabel also held very dear.

annhig

we must have been very lucky as when we went, even though it was November the evening visits were available every night and we just walked in and bought our tickets.

samoca

The Generalife Gardens are beautiful and definitely worth it. I was in Andalucia in October 2013. If you go to Granada after Sevilla, prepare to be a bit disappointed in the town. Seville is such a beautiful place and Granada is only really interesting for the Alhambra IMO--Even the Alhambra is not such a standout after the Alcazar in Seville. It is bigger and more famous of course, and the Generalife Gardens are indeed much nicer than the gardens around the Alcazar. But IMO Granada would not even be worth a visit without the Alhambra, whereas Seville is just a fabulous looking city with so many wonderful things to see and very walkable. Granada is much smaller and very hilly. In Granada, you should save time for one of the small public bus tours of the Albaicin up to the "Gypsy caves," which is really a museum, since the gypsies are all integrated with other folks and live all over town now (according to the museum guide). Also, you should know that an easy way to pick up your Alhambra tickets with your advance reservation is from the Alhambra Bookstore in the town. I forget the location but you can find it easily by googling. You can show them your reservations and buy the tickets and then go in the side entrance of the Alhambra, not the main gate and save a lot of time that way. Forget all the names now--Trip Advisor has a whole page on advanced ticketing for the Alhambra, describing how to get advance reservations, amount of time to spend at each place in the Alhambra grounds, etc. and side gate entrance. Also, Rick Steves is good for all this, as recommended above. I think my Spanish friend and I only spent about 4 hours total inside the Alhambra grounds--and at least a couple of the hours was walking around the gardens. They were very beautiful in mid-October. I can't imagine going there at night actually, as there are a lot of flowers.

Also, if you like flamenco, the flamenco performance venues in both Seville and Granada are really worth it--hour-long shows in small venues where every seat is usually very good. Buen viaje!

annhig

samoca - i don't agree with you about Granada - we liked it because apart from the Alhambra it seemed to be a real place rather than a tourist venue. lots of fun things down in the town as well as the Alberzin - the Cathedral, a great market, the street of tapas bars, [try the pulperia or octopus restaurant] the shops full of real furs [yes, i know but they are interesting to look at] etc.

progol

Thanks for a wonderful thread! I'm fascinated by the discussion of the Generalife -- thanks, Sandralist and kimhe for providing historical and cultural background.

I've never doubted my plan to view the gardens, but now I have all the more reason to do so.

sandralist

Unlike Samoca, I never warmed up to Sevilla but was thrilled and fascinated beyond all measure by the Alhambra. I spend nights in the Parador there, and was enchanted.

EYWandBTV

Yes, this has turned into a fascinating discussion, as is often the case on these forums.

We do indeed like historic, beautiful garden complexes, and they don't have to be monstrous Versailles-like affairs. We loved the historic reconstruction of the medieval Giardino della Minerva in Salerno for example. I just couldn't quite get a handle on the Generalife, but this discussion has underlined the beauty of the Generalife and its importance in understanding the entire Moorish architectural and engineering design of the Alhambra complex.

FWIW, yes, as soon as we can (late August? early Sept? for the October tickets) we will use the web site to reserve tickets for the morning session on the October Sunday, picking them up at the Libreria de la Alhambra on Calle Reyes Catolicos just below Plaza Nueva Saturday . Then hiking up early to get to the Puerta de la Justicia for the 8:30-9:00 entry time slot at the Nasrid Palace. After that, the fort, Carlos V Palace and museum, quick sandwich (Hotel America or Parador terrace or the snack bar outside the fort, whatever), then over to the Generalife before the expiration of our session at 2:00 pm. If any of this sounds incorrect, inaccurate, or unwise...please advise!

As always, many thanks.

crosscheck

I would recommend taking a taxi to the Justicia gate instead of walking up. We are big walkers/hikers, but were glad we saved our energy for later. Also, I would recommend going to Generalife right after Nasrid. (Lighting will be better in the morning than at midday). Neither the palace nor the gardens were crowded when we went in September. Then a walk through the Parador and lunch at America. Then, you can decide about the fort, palace and museum - they're more skippable. We ended up just peeking in those places, then walking down and still had time for a nice siesta that day.