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Granada

• 250.000 inhabitants, from Nerja 102 km (1,5 hours)

The university city of Granada is famous for the beautiful Alhambra. A visit to this fairy tale castle complex really should be in your top 5 of 'things to do' while you’re in Andalusia. You can read more about the Alhambra here.

You’d almost forget, but Granada has a lot more to offer than just the Alhambra. It’s a vibrant cultural city with a really nice atmosphere and a lot of history but above all the location on a huge plateau in the Sierra Nevada is spectacular! Just like all places inland, summers are hot and winters are cold in Granada. Of course a lot of visitors visit Granada and the Alhambra in summer. A unique feature is that right up to the beginning of summer you can see snow on the gletsjers of the mountains, which guarantees gorgeous pictures. The highway through the mountains also offers stunning views and scenery for photographs.

Once you’re in the centre you can have a good time shopping and going out. The old centre is more or less divided into 2 parts: the wider streets with large historical buildings – here you find lots of shops and plenty car parking facilities - and the even older part that is known by the name of Albaicin. The Albaicin is the ancient Moorish center with winding little streets upon the hill apposite the Alhambra. This part you can’t reach by car but it is well worth visiting on foot as you’ll find nice little bars and restaurants with Granada’s typical atmosphere. You could start your tour at Plaza Nueva with the Santa Anna church and if you’re willing to climb all the way up to the Mirador your reward will be the spectacular view on the Alhambra and the (snowy) mountains at the back!

- In Granada live a lot of gypsies (the Spanish call them gitanos) that still try to keep their own culture alive. So there’s no lack of flamenco music in this town. In the Casas Cuevas (caves houses) in Sacromonte they often organize flamenco concerts.

- For that authentic Moorish feeling and relaxation you could visit an Arabic spa or Hammam (for example close to Plaza Nueva www.hammamspain.com/granada or Aljibe de San Miguel, www.aljibesanmiguel.es).

- Another way to experience the old Spanish or Moorish atmosphere is to visit a tea house, a ‘teteria’. Most of the tea houses you’ll find in the Albaicin and also close to the hammams.

- The market is on Saturday morning on Plaza Larga. Like in all bigger cities and with all kinds of touristic attractions where people gather: watch your bags.

- If you don't want to have to look for a free parking place or parking garage in the busy centre, you can also park outside and simply 'grap a cab'.

The Granada market is on Thursday and Sunday morning.
Feria Granada: half of May