Day No. 157 Alhambra - Granada - The Red Palace

We wake up relatively early. Full of expectation. After all, we have big plans for today: A visit to the Alhambra. We spontaneously booked tickets online yesterday. Although we had read everywhere that you have to buy tickets weeks in advance, we got tickets spontaneously. We were also able to choose our preferred time for the Nasrid Palace, for which you have to book a fixed time. We opted for 2.30 pm. As we are not herd animals, we opted for a simple ticket without a guided tour, and I think €14 is quite reasonable for the tickets. In addition to your credit card, you will need everyone's ID to book.

You can book your ticket here. - Attention, there are a lot of unofficial providers! - We had to search for a long time.

After a relaxed coffee, which is always the start of the day for us, we pack up and say goodbye to the Alto de Viñuelas campsite. I like these small campsites. Of course, I prefer to be free, but sometimes I need electricity and a hot shower and in cities I like the security of a guarded campsite. It was quite nice and cheap with an ACSI Card, we paid 20 including electricity. It is said to be the best campsite in Granada. The people here are very friendly, but the sanitary facilities are rather basic but clean. The location is good for a city trip to Granada, the bus takes 35 minutes. Caution: There is no bus on Sundays and only a few buses on Saturdays. So if you book a ticket for the Ahambra in advance and want to travel by bus, you should check the bus departure times beforehand.

We decide to drive to the Alhambra with Hector anyway. And that was a good choice, because the drive and parking are surprisingly relaxed. I had imagined it would be worse, as the Alhambra is one of the most visited sights in Europe. But now, at the beginning of February, everything is relaxed.

The Alhabra is well signposted from the highway and you can't miss it or the parking lots. There is only one access road. The normal parking spaces have no height restrictions, so taller small vehicles like us can park there easily. There is also a separate caravan parking lot for larger vehicles. You will see this first when you arrive and can stay there immediately. Cars and caravans can also stay overnight. There is no shade in the parking lots, dogs cannot stay in the car while you visit the Alhambra and dogs are not allowed in the Alhambra. Further information and current prices for the parking lots can be found here:

Our online ticket, which we received as a pdf by email, has to be exchanged for a ticket at the ticket office. For this purpose, one person per booking with all ID cards is allowed into the cordoned-off ticket office area. The tickets are accompanied by an overview map and a note that entry to the Nasrid Palace is only possible at the time booked.

Then we are allowed inside the medieval city castle on Granada's hill. It is the most visited sight in Europe and is a World Heritage Site. The Alhambra consists of a 740m long and 220m wide park-like area with several palaces. You should allow 3 - 4 hours to visit the grounds. I have rarely seen anything so wonderful. The Alhambra touches my heart. I think it's a shame that I can't capture its beauty in photos. This is partly due to my modest photography skills and the lack of photographic equipment. However, it's also due to the many visitors, who naturally all want to take the same photos as me. Taking a photo without people is quite difficult. When we are back in Cologne, buying a camera is at the top of the list.

You will also find a quiet bench or two in the gardens for a short break. Bags and rucksacks are allowed. The only exception is the Nasrid Palace, where baby carriages are not allowed. But there are lockers to lock up in front of it. And there are also one or two drinks vending machines.

The Nasrid Palace was the highlight of the Alhambra for us. It is simply beautiful. It reminded us of a wonderful evening in Marrakech: we spent the evening in Dar Charifa, the oldest house in Marrakech. Today it is a restaurant with a wonderful roof terrace. The roof is open, so you sit under the open sky for dinner, but protected. We first had a drink on the roof terrace and took in the wonderful view before going downstairs for dinner. When a sudden rain shower came, we quickly covered the open roof with a tarpaulin. And then it became magical: suddenly it was fluttering all around us. The bats couldn't get out through the tarpaulin and fluttered through the courtyard. It was so beautiful that we will never forget it.

We did everything right and visited the Nasrid Palace at the end of our tour. We saved the best for last. Now, after 4 hours, we've had enough and we steer Hector towards Santa Fe. We want to go to the hot springs. We find a quiet spot nearby among the olive trees and are happy.

Editor's note: Everything that can be written about the Alhambra has certainly already been written. But it is difficult to describe the feeling the Red Palace leaves you with. It's a bit like "One Thousand and One Nights" - but Torgit got to the heart of the matter above, I know this feeling. I already had it on 7 June 2016, almost 900 kilometers further south.