DAY 10
Train from Cordoba to Granada
We arrived to Granada a bit later than expected thanks to our mishap earlier in the day.
Our train got in around Luna’s bedtime, so we beelined it for the Airbnb and put her to sleep.
Where we stayed: Duplex on Plaza Bib-Rambla Airbnb
After putting Luna to bed and setting up the baby monitor, we stepped outside for a walk around the Plaza de Bib-Rambla.
The plaza was beautiful at dusk and buzzing with activity. We grabbed some ice cream and ordered takeout from a nearby restaurant to enjoy back at our apartment.
With only one full day in Granada and lots to do, we decided to turn in a bit early so we would be well rested for the day ahead.
DAY 11
The Alhambra and Mirador de San Nicolas
Our day in Granada was dedicated to exploring the spectacular palace and fortress complex known as the Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a must-see for anyone visiting Andalusia.
This is one of those bucket list places that people dream of visiting. In fact, it’s Spain’s most visited monument and draws around 3 million visitors to the city every year.
I’ve been dying to visit ever since we studied it in one of my architectural history courses in college. Somehow despite taking a few trips to Spain, I never managed to make it there. This time around, I was determined to make it happen. I made sure to book tickets well in advance and structured the rest of the trip around it.
We had a timed entry ticket to the Nasrid Palace for 12:30pm. The rest of the complex can be visited at any time, so we headed there in the morning to check out some of the other sights beforehand.
We took the bus to the top of the hill and entered near the beautiful Convent of Saint Francis (now converted into a hotel) and its rose garden.
We headed further into the complex until we reached the Palace of Charles V, a Renaissance-style building from the 16th century.
Just past the entrance, we stepped out into a large circular courtyard surrounded by a colonnade on two floors.
In the rooms at the perimeter are two museums: the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of the Alhambra. The former contains a collection of Spanish paintings from the 15th to 20th centuries, while the latter displays archaeological artifacts from the Alhambra and its surrounding areas.
After wrapping up at the Palace of Charles V, it was time for the main event: the Nasarid Palaces.
The Nasrid Palaces were built in the 14th century and served as the residence of the Nasrid dynasty, the last Muslim dynasty to rule over the Kingdom of Granada. The entire complex is a prime example of Islamic architecture, showcasing the height of the dynasty’s power and influence. You can really feel this as you work your way from room to room — nearly every surface is ornately decorated with colorful tiles and intricate stucco carvings.
The palace complex is divided into three main parts: the Mexuar, the Palace of Comares, and the Palace of the Lions. We followed the route suggested in our travel guide and slowly made our way through the sprawling complex.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to take our stroller into the palace and didn’t think to bring a harness with us that day, so we had to carry Luna the whole time. And as luck would have it, she almost immediately fell asleep, which means I had the pleasure of carrying dead weight for a solid hour. It sure made for some funny photos though.
We next reached the Palace of the Lions with its famous courtyard, appropriately called the Court of the Lions. At the center of the courtyard is a large fountain with twelve lions at its base. Even more impressive, though, were the pointed honeycomb arches and thin columns surrounding the courtyard.
After a family photo-op near the fountain, we stepped into the pillared gallery to check out the rooms (or “halls”) at the perimeter. Each had its own unique mural painted on the ceiling.
The route through the palace complex ended at the Mirador de Lindaraja, which had beautifully-framed views down to the Lindaraja Courtyard below.
Having finally reached the end of our tour of the Nasarid Palaces, Luna decided to end her nap and joined us for a stroll through the manicured garden and orange grove.
After the palaces, we grabbed some sandwiches from a little snack stand and found a spot in the shade to enjoy our lunch.
After lunch, Dan made a quick solo trip to check out the Alcazaba fortress.
The fortress wasn’t exactly stroller-friendly (like a lot of the Alhambra actually), but I was happy to have an excuse to stay behind with Luna and get some extra rest.
Dan took some photos for me so I could see what I missed out on. The view seemed especially impressive!
After the fortress we had just one point of interest remaining, the country escape and gardens known as the Generalife.
The Generlife was used as an escape for the royal family for times when they needed a break from the formality of the palace (what a life…). It’s very close to the complex but technically located outside of the Alhambra’s walls.
We first walked through the gardens, which are beautifully landscaped and flanking a long, narrow reflecting pool.
The buildings of the Generalife are much more simple and less ornate than the palace, as you might expect, but they’re still quite beautiful in a rustic sort of way. Similar to the palace, the complex is sprawling with most rooms facing beautiful and serene courtyards.
Like the fortress, the Generalife buildings had a lot of stairs that would be difficult to navigate with the stroller. This time, Dan and I each took turns hanging back with Luna while the other toured the interior.
We wrapped up our tour of the impressive Alhambra around 5 pm. We were definitely tired and in need of some rest, but there was still one last item on my list for Granada.
West of the Alhambra is the Albayzin neighborhood, a very hilly part of town that has a number of viewpoints (called miradors) with great views of the Alhambra.
I initially planned to go to one of the miradors the day before, but given we arrived much later than expected, we decided postpone. That meant we had just one day to do it all, and so despite the urge to stay in the comfort of our Airbnb, we managed to catch a bus and made it to Mirador de San Nicolas just before sunset.
The view was pretty fantastic and was a really nice way to end our brief but memorable time in Granada.
Finally back at the Airbnb, we put Luna to bed and ordered some takeout.
We had a big day ahead of us — the next morning we would be picking up our rental car and heading west to one of Andalusia’s famous white hill towns, Ronda.
Don’t miss it…
This post is a part of a larger two-week trip around Spain. Check out the full itinerary and an overview of the trip here!
