Where to stay in Granada

2 days in Granada – the MexicoCassie way

For the sake of ease (and not knowing your specific details) I’ve created 2 full day itineraries for Granada. The order of the days does not matter. You can move things around depending on what time you arrive in Granada & your Alhambra entry time.

⭐️ My recommendation is to book your Alhambra tickets (precise details given just below) and plan everything else around this. The longer in advance you book your tickets, the more options you will have and the less stressed you’ll feel.

⭐️ If you can, I also recommend choosing the first tickets of the day for the Alhambra. This is what I did on my favourite visit.

I arrived thirty minutes before opening too, to ensure I would be first inside. I was the first to breathe the undisturbed air of the day in this beautiful, ancient building. I received the full immersive experience that no one else did that day because I was first to stand, breathe and gaze in awe (and yes, my photos are amazing!).

Day 1 in Granada

📸 The Patio de los Arrayanes is the most famous spot for photos in the palace. Once you leave the Nasrid Palace you will find yourself in the gardens. Be sure to stop to admire the views and take photos by the Partal Palace and its water feature before exploring the rest of the beautiful gardens.

Next up, walk up to the Generalife Gardens and Palace for a relaxing stroll while admiring the views and the gardens themselves.

The 3rd stop in the Alhambra complex is the Palace of Carlos V where you’ll find 2 small museums: the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Alhambra Museum. Both are good for a quick look.

Finally, head into the Alcazaba where you’ll climb the towers for excellent views over the city all the way over to the Sierra Nevada mountains.

What to take with you

🥤 Exploring the Alhambra will take you all morning so be sure to take a bottle of water and a light snack in with you if you tend to need a mid morning nibble. 

⛲️ There are drinking water fountains throughout the complex. There is a kiosk at the Puerta de la Justicia and there are snack machines by the Palacio de Carlos V (Palace of Charles V).

Lunch

🥙 Time to try some local cuisine and grab some tapas for lunch. Remember, this is the main meal of the day in Spain so if you’re visiting Granada during high season, it’s probably a good idea to reserve a table for lunch.

📍 Pick somewhere around Plaza Nueva / Granada cathedral / Paseo de los Tristes for lunch. While it’s definitely the touristy area, there are numerous restaurants here and most of them will be serve good food. Just use Google maps and the reviews to find the right spot for you. I recommend this to make your afternoon activity easier to reach.

⭐️ If you’re travelling with kids or someone who has a restricted diet, you can use my article about finding simple tapas and other plates, to help you figure out what you might like to eat.

🍅 And if you’re a vegetarian, use this article to help you find ‘safe’ dishes (because meat can hide in the weirdest of places here in Spain).

Afternoon

If you feel the need to relax after your busy morning in the Alcazaba, you could do worse than head to the Hammam al Ándalus (Arab baths) for a relaxing spa treatment and massage.

I haven’t been here but I have had similar experiences in Almería and in Sevilla and if anyone wants to offer me a hammam experience in Granada, I promise you I’ll be there before you’ve even finished making your kind offer.

If you’re still raring to explore, then I recommend heading up to Sacromonte, one of the two neighbourhoods up on the hill overlooking Granada and the Alhambra. There is a gorgeous museum right at the top of the hill, the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte. Here you’ll learn about the history of the area and cave living and be treated to a wonderful view over to the Alhambra and the white houses on the hills around Granada. 

Evening

If you’re visiting Granada during the summer months, it’s also good to know that the Lorca en Granada festival takes place every summer in the magnificent gardens of the Generalife Palace. I attended a performance there in 2025 and now I’m obsessed and want to see something there every summer because it’s incredible. The shows start late due to the heat (I saw one that was 10pm – midnight) but I promise you it’s well worth it if you can attend something – you absolutely need to reserve in advance though.

Day 2 in Granada

Begin with a walking tour of Granada. This is a great way to get a feel for the beautiful city of Granada. You’ll explore the narrow streets of the historic centre, with its Alcaiceria, the old bazaar or souk, the Catedral de Granada, la Carrera del Darro and up into the Albaicin district where you’ll find the Mirador de San Nicolás for one of the best views over to city to the Alhambra.

As you might expect, the city is a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, small markets, and plazas full of restaurants and tapas bars. Granada isn’t a big city to its not difficult to find your way around. The main areas people tend to explore are the historic centre, Sacromonte and Albaicín.

👣 👣 Book a walking tour, or take the hop-on-hop-off mini-train (with audio commentary in multiple languages) for a traditional introduction to Granada.

⭐️ For something a little more fun, perhaps book a segway tour of the city, or reserve this street art tour of Granada that focuses on the three oldest barrios, as well as cave houses and murals, or this escape room style walking tour.

Lunch

🥙 I highly recommend reserving a table at Restaurante Qadima on the peaceful and gorgeous Placeta de San Miguel (the plaza pictured above) in the same area. We, sadly, didn’t eat here as it felt too expensive to visit with kids but it remains firmly on my ‘must eat here’ list. This restaurant is famous for its quality tuna.

Afternoon

If you’re a cathedral visiting kinda person, now is a great time to visit both the Granada Cathedral and next door the Capilla Royal. If you’re not into churchy-stuff then a great option for you is the Inquisition Exhibition, where you can learn about the Spanish Inquisition while seeing a fascinating exhibition of real torture equipment – after all, this is simply just another side of medieval Catholicism in Spain.

Afterward, why not stroll around the shopping areas of Granada, head back into the Alcaiceria to enjoy the souk-like atmosphere and the souvenir stores. 

Or/

Take a cool artisan class to learn how to make Alhambra style tiles to take home.

→ Read more about the class

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Evening 

Soak up the typical Andalucian atmosphere before you leave the city by joining locals in dining late on one of the numerous plazas around Granada.

or/

If you’re interested in eating a meal while watching the sun set over the Alhambra, book a table at Las Thomasas. Again, I haven’t eaten here but it gets rave reviews for the views, the food and the service.

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Now that you’ve got Granada sorted, where’s next?