The Alhambra

The Alhambra is one of the reasons we decided to include Granada as a stop over on route to Portugal. We had been informed that when you buy your ticket you are issued with a timed slot to enter the Nasrine Palace, if you miss that time slot you can’t get in…..and it’s better to view it in the morning as you are allowed to spend the rest of the day wandering around at your leisure.

On arriving at our camp site I asked if they could book our tickets for us, but was informed that as it was low season there wouldn’t be any problem just turning up there on the day. For some reason this caused me a little apprehension but we went with it and decided to visit the Alhambra on our last full day in Granada.


On Sunday, still feeling a little apprehensive about finding our way on public transport, I went to reception to ask exactly how to get to the Alhambra. Thankfully there was another English lady paying her bill at the same time and she had been to see it the day before, so Peter and I got some wonderful instructions on how to get into Granada, what direction to walk in and how to find the shuttle bus which takes you to the gate. (So there was no need to worry.)

We knew we wouldn’t be able to take Benji, so Peter got up early to give him a long walk, and we left the site to catch the bus at 9.30am. (early for us!)

Spanish buses are marvellous. They are cheap, run on time and never come in threes!

Having been dropped off at one bus stop we duly made our way on foot through the city to the plaza where the shuttle bus would take us up the steep incline to the entrance of the Alhambra.

I was looking forward to ‘a bit of culture’ because so many people had told us that it was not to be missed, and we had seen it from the other side of the valley lit up on Saturday night – and it looked spectacular.

But to be honest both Peter and I were a little disappointed. The architecture and mosaics are amazing, and I’m pleased we went, but it didn’t have the appeal of the Albaicin. (Like many National Trust properties in the UK, it’s a monument to life created for the wealthy.)

We prefer to be around people and places which teem with everyday life, which is probably why we loved the Albaizin so much. The buildings are very old but it is still full of life today and you can imagine what it was like a couple of centuries ago.

Having walked a lot of Kms, we got back to Benji at about 2pm. What a welcome!

We slowly began to pack up to move off on the Tuesday morning to the next part of our adventure…………..to be continued!

A few pictures of the Alhambra below ..........