alan64

We planned to get 8:30 a.m. tickets to be in the first group into the Alhambra's Nazrid Palaces. On the day we hoped to go, the first two slots are booked so we could only get a 9:30 ticket.

Our other option would be to get 8:30 a.m. tickets for the morning of the day that we're departing to Sevilla. We could take an afternoon train out if we did that, but we'd still have our departure in the back of our minds when wandering the gardens.

A lot of people recommend going as early as possible, but do you think that 9:30 a.m. would still be relatively uncrowded in the Palaces? BTW, we're staying at the Hotel America on the Alhambra grounds.

kayd

9:30 is fine. It is only the time for your entry to the palaces, not the property as a whole. You'll want to spend at least several hours at the Alhambra, so go as early as you want, walk around some, go to the palaces at 9:30, then see the rest of Alhambra and Generalife.

Maribel

Hi alan64,
Since it's October and not during school holidays (unless your Granada dates are Oct. 13-15, the fiesta nacional bank holiday), it shouldn't be as terribly crowded. The tour busses begin to arrive between 10:30 and 11. And since you're staying right there at the cute little Hotel America, you can be at the Nasrid Palace door right at 9:30.
I'd go for option one, as you'll want to enjoy your Alhambra visit, taking your time, and not having to worry about storing your luggage, then picking it up and getting to the train station on time for your trip to Sevilla.

kayd

It seemed to me that the palaces are most crowded at the start of every ticket session--people start lining up for 9:30 entry at 9:01, for example. Those with 9:30 tickets who arrive at 9:50 will find the crowd has thinned out some.

alan64

Thanks for making me feel more comfortable with the 9:30 tickets, which I've now purchased. The next slot available that day is now 11:30 so I wanted to grab the 9:30 slot before it was too late.

nessundorma

Since alan has already purchased his tickets, I'll just add this for anyone who comes up with this thread in a future search:

If you want an uncrowded experience of the Alhambra, book nighttime tickets. The interior of the palaces are beautiful. Go again the next morning to visit the gardens.

dcnative

Just to clarify - the nightime visits have the same admission policies as daytime, correct - so to have both a daytime and nightime visit, you pay twice?

And yikes, that they're already selling out that weekend ... I need to figure out which day(s) we'll be in Granada and book mine, pronto.

alan64

Per the Alhambra site, it's 10 Euros for the full tour day time, 10 Euros for the night tour of just the Nazrid Palaces, and a 5 Euro gardens ticket.

While we considered getting a night tour ticket and then a day garden ticket, we decided to see the Palaces in the evening but also buy a full ticket during the day so we can tour everything and not just the gardens.

annhig

Yep, if you want to go in the day and night you will have to pay twice. But IMO E10 is not much for such a wonderful experience. The night time-visit, although you only get to walk through the grounds to the nasrid palaces and out again, rather than the whole of the site, was truly magical, and there are far fewer people let in at night. Also, the gardens are lit up and look lovely and quite different.
You only go once, so why not enjoy it to the full?

alan64

That's what we figured, too. 2 x 10 Euros each isn't much when one considers the cost of a Spain trip. My Fiance has never seen the Alhambra, and I was just there for a day trip from Sevilla so I've always wanted to go back for a night visit.

nessundorma

That's great to hear you're doing the night visit! In the grand scheme of life, that 10 euros is not too much. It's the equilvalent of 4 cappucinos from Starbucks.

dcnative

Thanks all, for answering this question yet again. I went to the website to see what times were sold out, and I swear their explanation is so much more clear than all the guidebooks! I'm leaning to doing both visits as well, although I'm not sure how fabulous gardens will be by mid-late October.

annhig

We went early/mid Nov last year, and they were terrific. THe main gardens are in the Generalife, which you only see during the day visit; the gardens in the alhambra itself were not wonderful at that time of year, but the atmosphere was, especially at night.
Once you have your ticket, you may enter the gates at any time, but have to arrive at the entrance to the Nasrid palaces within your 30 minute time slot. Then you can spend as long as you like inside there [until closing, I suppose].

fluffnfold

I can't put a price on the 8:30 am entry to the Nazrid Palace. We just visited last Saturday. We were able to pick up our tickets the evening prior, just before the 8:00 pm closing time for the ticket window). Since we were staying at the Parador, we wandered over to the entry gate at about 8:20, and they let us inside! Other than one other couple, we had the place to ourselves for about 20 minutes! We made a quick pass-through, taking photos of each room/area since no one else was present, then we went back to the beginning and took a more leisurely approaching, reading our guidebook and gazing in awe. Just 30 minutes after our arrival time, the place was mobbed, with people talking loudly. The spell was broken and the magic gone.

IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AT ALL TO CHANGE YOUR VISIT TO THE NEXT DAY AT 8:30 am, DO IT!! We completed our entire visit of the Alcazaba and the Generalife by about 1:30 pm, and that included going back to the Parador for an hour's rest and to check out, and stopping for drinks/snacks at that little "hut" just outside the Alcazaba. So I definitely think you can continue with your transportation in the late afternoon after your morning visit. We visited the Albaiczin (?sp) area the afternoon prior to our Alhambra visit (using the mini-buses--highly recommend), which you could do too, so that you can leave Granada right after the Alhambra. There are excellent restroom facilities on the grounds outside the Nazrid Palace and Alcazaba; unfortunately, there aren't any other public facilities in the more historic area (even the TI couldn't help).