Thanks for the suggestions on restaurants in Granada. Now a few more questions:

(1) We have reserved tickets to the Alhambra at 10:30 am. I've read a lot in this forum about arriving early and picking up tickets. What time should we arrive for that entrance time? Also, do we have the whole day to explore? I don't expect that we'll last that long, but would like to be able to plan around how much time we expect to spend inside. How much time do people typically spend wandering around?

(2) Depending on how long we spend in the Alhambra that first day, we will have the rest of that day and one additional day to explore Granada. What else should we plan on doing/seeing? I've already made a note to stop at the Capilla Real, but what else should be on our list?

Thanks so much in advance!

I was in Granada last May and it was a great city. Here are my thoughts.

(1) If you are worried about ticket pick-up you can get them at any Caixa machine in the city (they are pretty much everywhere). I assume you mean you have the morning ticket with a 1030 entrance to the Nasrid palaces? I believe you can enter as early as 8:30 if you would like. I am not sure if they kick the morning people out at 2 when the afternoon times start. But do keep in mind you get one entrance to each of the ticketed parts. Depending on your preferences, you could spend a lot of time at the Alhambra. We had the 2pm ticket with Nasrid at 5:30. We stayed until closing time at 8, and we did not get to see all of the Generalife. But we did spend an hour or so eating at the restaurant in the Parador. (It was very good, with some nice views of Sacromonte).

(2) In the morning before the Alhambra, we basically just had breakfast, and walked around to get our bearings. On the second day we saw the Royal Chapel and the Cathedral. The Chapel was very memorable, particularly Isabella's private art collection. We then went up into the Albaycin to see the views from the Mirador of San Nicolas, to wander, and to have lunch. After that we returned to the city, I wandered around a bit more, and visited the Monastery of San Jeronimo. I really enjoyed the monastery - very peaceful, and it had an interesting chapel by Diego de Siloe. If I had more time, I probably would have tried to convince my companions to either climb all the way up to the Sacromonte Abbey, or to go the Carthusian monastery that is a bit outside of the city.

Enjoy your trip!

We loved the views from the Mirador up in the Albaycin - don't miss it.

Re the suggestion of collecting the tickets from La Caixa machines anywhere in town - we tried several times but never could master the machines .... they only ever seemed to be in Spanish and we never fully understood the directions. We picked up our tickets at the machine at Alhambra the afternoon before we had booked for (without any problems there). Took a taxi up, collected the tickets, and then ambled down again.

We had early tickets (8:30 or 9am I think) and spent the full morning there, heading down after lunch.

Great suggestions - thank you!

take the local bus up and around the Albaycin-you'll see life in this area with its hidden court yards etc and great views of Alhambra. You might also discover little courtyard places to eat off the tourist track

Have you read Maribel's Guide to Granada? You should find it useful (www.maribelsguides.com).

Thanks for the link to Maribel's Guide!

We're staying in the Albaicin, just up the street from the Mirador de San Nicolas, so I think we'll spend the afternoon we arrive in Granada exploring it before heading to dinner.

hi nyc,

unless they have changed the system drastically since our visit 5 years ago, [which from my reading I don't think they have,] this is the info you need:

1. the time on your ticket is for entrance to the Nasrid palaces. if it says 10.30am, you need to present yourselves at the entrance TO THE PALACES by 11am, or you miss your slot.

2. it is a 20 minute stroll from the ticket office to the nasrid palaces, with quite a lot to see on the way - some gardens, ruins and shops. if you are interested in any of these, you need to allow longer.

3. with a morning ticket [which is what you have] you can enter at any time after the site opens [at about 8.30 am I think]. [there is a little cafe by the entrance where you can have coffee, croissants, etc.] to pick up your tickets from the ticket machines, you need the same credit card that you used to book/pay for them. [this applies to all ticket machines in spain, so far as I can tell]. there are, as others have said, other parts of the site where you have a part of the ticket that allows entrance to them once, and only once, but these entrances are not timed - so you can do them any time. if you get there at 8.30am, you should have no problems picking up your tickets.

4. once you are in, you are in. they appear not to chuck everyone out at 2.30 pm when the afternoon tickets start. we had morning tickets and we were still wandering round the Generalife gardens at 4pm. [but I'm a bit of a garden nut/ter as my DH would say].

5. have you thought about getting tickets for the night-time visit? you only get access to the Nasrid palaces [and the bit of the site that you need to walk to to get to them] but they are magical at night.

Great - thanks! Nowhere has this info been clear but on this forum, so I really appreciate all of the insight.

And yes, we have tickets to the nighttime visit the following evening. I can't wait! We leave next Thursday for our first-ever visit to Spain

nyc - glad we could help. please come back and add to the store of knowledge when your hols are over.

hope you enjoy your visit - and especiailly the alhambra.

Will do!

We had about 27 hours in Granada! And managed to see the Alhambra and have dinner and the next day to see the Capilla Real, the Cathedral, and then we took the local bus up to St. Michaels for the view and walked back down the hill. We enjoyed it all.

Can you handle some Gypsy Flamenco in one of the caves in Sacromonte?

Based on suggestions from kimhe we were planning on attending a flamenco performance at Pena Flamenca La Plateria the second night we're in Granada. On our third night, we have tickets to the Alhambra evening visit.

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Probably a good idea, Sacromonte isn't for everyone.