By plane: the following companies offer flights to Granada: Iberia (flights from Madrid and Barcelona), Air Nostrum (exclusive franchise of Iberia’s group, bookings through Iberia Website, flights from Melilla), Air Europa (flights from Palma de Mallorca), Monarch Airlines (flights from London)and Ryanair (flights from Liverpool and London). There is a bus service to the city form the airport of Granada (15 km distance from the city). By train: consult the website of the train company Renfe to find out about a direct connection to Granada from your place or if you need to change trains. The train station is in the centre of the city. By bus: From France (Linebus), from Barcelona (Alsa) and from Madrid (Continental-Auto). The bus station of Granada lies outside of the city.

To get a taxi in Granada you have to go to a taxi rank or call a taxi by telephone (958 280 654). But don't worry, there are a lot of taxi ranks and they are easy to find (f.ex. in front of the train station and the bus station, or in front of the shopping centre "Corte Inglés"). Granada has a sightseeing bus that offers two routes: Granada Monumental and Romantic Granada (the ticket is included in the city pass, more about the city pass: section "city pass"). The urban buses have an approximated frequency of 10 -15 minutes.

What to visit in Granada

The historical monument and ground of the Alhambra: with its Nasrid palaces and the garden of the Generalife is, without a doubt, an impressive place of an extreme beauty. The Alhambra, perhaps soon, will be considered one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The Albaicín: a district located facing the Alhambra, is a synthesis between the Islamic architecture and the Andalusian. If you get lost in its labyrinthine streets following the aroma of the flowers of the orange trees, you will find a great number of monuments and cármenes (typical houses of Granada with an orchard or a garden) The Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaicín are Patrimony of the Humanity. Something more to visit? Of course! The centre of Granada (the Cathedral, churches, monasteries and gothic and baroque facades, and side streets full of craft stores - Alcaicería -), the Realejo (the Jewish quarter within the Muslim city, a labyrinth, with a lot of monuments and lanes, full of bars and restaurants) and the Sacromonte (mainly gypsy district, next to the Albaicín; Sacromonte means sacred mountain, it has a special magic, with its famous sacred caves, the cradle of the flamenco in Granada).

Buying the tickets for the Alhambra

The tickets can be bought in one of the branches of national BBVA bank (but also in the branches of the BBVA of London, París, Milan and New York) and in Internet (www.alhambratickets.com web with spanish, english, german, french and italian versions). The other way is buying directly at the ticket office, but we recommend buying the tickets in advance if you plan to stay only one day in Granada. The tickets are for visits in the morning, the afternoon or night. In the night it is only possible to visit the Nasrid palaces.

The city pass is a tourist voucher with a 30% saving in the normal ticket prices for the main attractions of Granada like the Alhambra and the Cathedral. The voucher also includes 10 bus trips in any of the microbuses and other city bus services and offers also special prices in some restaurants and hotels. The city pass can be bought directly in the Alhambra and Generalife Ticket Office, the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real) Ticket Office and the Museum Science Park Ticket Office (Museo del Parque de las Ciencias). In Internet in: cajagranada

If you want to try a tipical Granada dish we recommend: "saladillas con habas" (saltes nuts with beans) and "jamón de Trevélez" (cured ham from Trevélez) as an appetizer, "tortilla del Sacromonte" (omelette), "remojón granadino de bacalao y naranja" (fish dish), "sopa fría de ajo blanco" (cold garlic soup), "migas alpujarreñas" (fried breadcrumbs), "patatas a lo pobre" (potatos) and "espetones" (grilled sardines). And the dessert: "soplillos de las Alpujarras", "torta real de Motril", "pestiños de Vélez", "tocino de cielo de Guadix", "dulces de almendra" and "ulces de las monjas de Santiago y Santa Isabel" Do you want fruit? Naturally the "granada" (pomegranate), but there are also "caquis", "membrillos" (quince jelly) and "higos chumbos".

Granada has a vibrant nigthlife. Around the Alhambra you will find many tapas bars (in Granada it's normal to get a tapa when you order a drink) with terraces, where you can enjoy in summer the beautiful evenings before the nightlife starts. Fried fish "tapas de pescadito frito"?: In the Albaicín quarter. At the caves of Sacromonte, like we said before, flamenco shows, but also bars with a special flair and a certain personality. Life music in bars in the centre and for sure discos. Granada is a city with a prestigious university and therefore full of students and this means there is always something going on.

Granada celebrates a great number of fiestas populares. The most important one, like almost in whole Andalusia, is the Holy Week "la Semana Santa" (in March or April). Another one is the Festival of the Reconquest of Granada ( 2nd of January), the procession of the Abbey of Saint Cecilio ( 2nd of February) and the Romería of San Cecilio (first Sunday in February), May 3rd is the Festival of Crosses, the celebrations of the Corpus Christi (14nd and 15nd of June) with processions and toros (bullfights), and 29nd of June the fiesta of thel Albaicín quarter. The most important cultural events are the Theatre Festival in the end of May and the International Music and Dance Festival, which finds place in the Alhambra.

The taracea is the craftsmanship which most represents Granada: Furniture, boxes, picture frames and other products made of different types of wood and sometimes with inlaid works of nacre or ivory. Where to find? In the Alcaicería street. The manufacture of guitars is another craft art very tipical in Granada (it's said, that the guitars, manufactured by the craftsmen of Granada "granadinos" are one of the best in the world). Their craftshops are in the Cuesta de Gomérez and in the Realejo quarter. Besides the taracea and the manufacture of guitars there is the pottery of Granada with his special beauty.

Like we mentioned it before, the Sacromonte is the craddle of the flamenco in Granada. In the XIX. century Granada visitors started to talk about the performances of the gypsies of Sacromonto and the “zambras” (fiestas, which are celebrated with dancers, musicians and clapping (palmas)). This was the beginning of Granada's Flamenco reputation. Between the "granadian" styles of Flamenco there are different types of Fandango. Flamenco shows in the Sacromonte: Cueva los Tarantos (C/Sacromonte, 9) and Zambra Gitana La Rocío (C/Sacromonte, 70), and more. And if you want to learn flamenco: Escuela Adrián y Cristina.

The temperature in Granada is cold in winter and normally temperate in summer, although sometimes the thermometer can raise considerably. Another characteristic of the climat of Granada is the change from warm to cold within a day. The precipitations are little and they are concentrated, mainly, in winter. In the months of July and August it rains very little.

Besides the city of Granada, you have time to visit the surroundings or something more, we would like to mention some places here: the villages of the Natural Park of the Sierra de Huétor (land of olive oil, wine and sausages; panoramic views and sport possibilities in the mountains; rivers with crystalline water) and the Alpujarras (a perfect place for rural tourism, located between the provinces of Granada and Almeria, where you will find the famous Spa Bath of Lanjarón - Granada is a zone of Spa baths -). And not to forget that Granada, a land of a great variety of landscapes and places of interest, has a coastside (Motril, Salobreña, Almuñécar) and one of the best ski areas of Spain, the only one of Andalusia (Sierra Nevada) and the province of Granada has the highest mountain of the Iberian Penñinsula, the Mulhacén, with 3,481 meter.

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