A trip to Granada: La Alhambra

Here is part two of my trip to Granada, Spain, with a guide to my visit of La Alhambra, the palace and fortress within the city.

Welcome back to part two of my Granada guide, following my recent holiday in the city. As mentioned in part one of my trip to Granada, I promised a full blog dedicated to my visit to La Alhambra, the World Heritage site within the city.

During my week in Granada, I spent a full day at La Alhambra, enjoying all the different locations within the grounds. I am so grateful for getting to visit La Alhambra, so I thought I would do a full blog post solely around the iconic landmark for you all.

So, if you're interested in La Alhambra, or simply want to know more about my trip to Granada, then continue reading for a guide to La Alhambra.

La Alhambra

La Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It began as a fortress, designed as a military zone, before becoming the royal residence and court of Granada.

There are a few different areas of La Alhambra that you can visit, including the Nasrid Palaces, Alcazaba, the Palace of Carlos V, and the Generalife.

I'll talk through each of them as my sister and I were able to visit all of them during our trip to La Alhambra.

We began our visit to the La Alhambra at the Nasrid Palaces, before moving on to the Alcazaba, the Palace of Carlos V and then finally the Generalife.

So, let's start with the Nasrid Palaces.

Nasrid Palaces

When booking your tickets to La Alhambra, there are different ticket types you can purchase. This is because if you want to visit the Nasrid Palaces, then you have to book a specific time slot.

My sister and I booked the 11:30 time slot, which worked quite well as it gave us ample time to reach La Alhambra, and then to explore the rest of the grounds in the afternoon.

The Nasrid Palaces are an iconic area of La Alhambra.

When walking around the palaces, you can't help but fall in love with the beautiful and intricate architecture of the royal palaces. It was fascinating seeing the design of the buildings and the beautiful scenery surrounding them.

Credit: WriteWatchWork

Credit: WriteWatchWork

Credit: WriteWatchWork

Within the palaces, there is a beautiful body of water that is vibrant green, lined with bushes on either side. There is also the Patio de los Leones with a gorgeous fountain designed as lion heads. As you walk through the palaces, there are also great spots for views over the city of Granada, specifically the Albaicín.

When I visited in the middle of May, Granada was reaching 36 degrees Celsius on some days. Being in the Nasrid Palaces provided some much-needed shade from the summer heat, which was a bonus too.

Alcazaba

After visiting the Nasrid Palaces during our pre-booked time slot, my sister and I grabbed lunch from the kiosk outside that was situated between the Nasrid Palaces and the Alcazaba.

We then ventured into the Alcazaba, which was formerly the military base where guards and such resided.

Strolling through the Alcazaba was tricky because the ground was quite cobbly and uneven. However, again, there were fantastic views of the city below from the lookout points.

There were about three towers, if I remember correctly, that you could climb up to and see some gorgeous sights. But as a word of caution, there is one inside a stone building that requires you to climb up a spiral stone staircase that gets quite busy as it's the only one up and down.

That being said, the views you can see from the towers are incredible.

Credit: WriteWatchWork

Shops and Ice Cream

My sister and I then popped into one of the shops within the grounds and bought some gifts, before heading to the Palace of Carlos V.

But before entering the palace, we bought an ice cream as a snack and refresher.

Palace of Carlos V

The Palace of Carlos V was an incredible building. I loved exploring the interior and seeing how it was almost like a bull ring with a round interior and an open-air roof.

We were able to explore the upstairs as well, which featured a small museum that you could enter for 1,50 euros.

There is also a small shop within the palace that you can visit.

Generalife

With the day getting on, my sister and I finished our visit to La Alhambra with the Generalife.

This area of La Alhambra is a villa surrounded by orchards and gardens that have beautiful fountains and more views of the city. Unfortunately, my sister and I didn't get to visit the villa, but we did explore the gardens.

The gardens were absolutely stunning, full of colourful flowers and plants. It was so peaceful walking around the grounds and being surrounded by nature, and it was a great way to end out visit to La Alhambra.

How to visit La Alhambra?

La Alhambra was one of the highlights of my trip to Granada. I loved exploring the history of the royal palaces and fortress, and being surrounded by iconic architecture.

I am also very glad that my sister and I bought tickets to the Nasrid Palaces as well.

If you fancy a trip to La Alhambra, here is where you can buy tickets: https://tickets.alhambra-patronato.es/en/

To get the La Alhambra, there are buses from the city centre, as well as the Granada City Tour train. However, my sister and I got a taxi up to the site, which you can also do.

I would definitely recommend visiting La Alhambra if you're ever in Granada.

Until next time...