Our epic trip through Spain in 2023 spanned a whopping 17-days. We spent months watching YouTube videos, reading blogs, and scrolling instagram to put together the best trip possible.

Now, I’m giving all my knowledge to you! We started in Barcelona, then went to Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Madrid (where we day tripped to Toledo and Segovia). 

The first city of our trip, Barcelona, is detailed in its own blog. Be sure to start there! Here’s the quick overview before we dive in to Granada.

• Day 1-5: Barcelona
• Day 6-8: Seville
• Day 9: Travel to Granada, Albaicin Neighborhood, and Mirador de San Nicolas
• Day 10: Alhambra, Generalife Gardens, and Sacromonte Neighborhood

Day 9: Travel to Granada, Albaicin Neighborhood, and Mirador de San Nicolas

First off – Granada was the surprise of our trip. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the Islamic influence and Moorish architecture that are preserved in the Albaicín neighborhood and other medieval monuments in the city make Granada feel like it’s a whole OTHER country within Spain. It’s truly SO incredibly beautiful. If I could redo our trip, I would add another two days in Granada (making it a total of 4).

We arrived in Granada on our first day via train from Seville around noon. We took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Parraga Siete in the city center. I honestly don’t remember much about this hotel. The location was good (right in the center of everything and an easy taxi ride to Alhambra).

After dropping our bags off, we wandered on foot around the city center, ate an incredibly delicious meal at Bodegas Castañeda (perhaps my favorite of the whole trip – the Castañeda Warm Assortment), and made our way through the neighborhood streets up the the Mirador de San Nicolas and the Albaicin neighborhood.

The Albaicin neighborhood is so incredibly cool. It’s quiet (it’s where people actually live) with narrow streets, winding, steep hills, and beautiful lookouts. We meandered our way to the Mirador de San Nicolas. There was a cafe nearby, so we had a quick afternoon pick-me-up, and then made our way back down to the city center.

Next time, I would give myself a whole entire day just dedicated to wandering the Albaicin neighborhood. There are tea houses and cafes and little shops everywhere. I would love a whole day to just… explore. One note: Granada has HILLS. It might not be the best place to wander if you have mobility issues!

Day 10: Alhambra, Generalife Gardens, and Sacromonte Neighborhood

This was a BIG day. We were feeling ambitious and just decided to go 1000%. If we had another day, I would have loved to split up the Alhambra and Sacromonte. Because we only had one day, we did both in one! But as you’ll see… it’s a lot to do (but worth it!).

The Alhambra, a medieval fortress and palace, is a famous display of Islamic architecture and one of the most visited tourist sites in Spain (so make sure you get your tickets in advance!). As the crow flies, it’s NOT very far from the city center, but you have to walk down and back up a large valley. It can be done, but I would highly recommend taking a taxi to the Alhambra.

The Alhambra complex is massive. We spent about half a day here, wandering the palace and the Generalife Gardens. If you’re visiting during the summer months, I’d definitely recommend bringing a hat (even a small sun umbrella!) and reapplying your sunscreen! The gardens are fully exposed and I know I personally found it a little hard to appreciate everything because I was SO worried about getting completely sunburned. If I had planned better, I could have enjoyed myself more!

From the Alhambra, we took another taxi up to the Sacromonte neighborhood. Sacramonte is the neighborhood where the Romani settled as early as the 15th century. They lived in whitewashed cave houses built into the mountainside. I’d highly recommend starting at the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte. They have 11 preserved caves that detail what life was like living in this caves (some members of the community continue to live in the caves as a way to honor their culture).

After walking through the Sacromonte Cave Museum, we had a choice to make – we could get another taxi back to the city center, or we could walk through the Albaicin neighborhood all the way back to our hotel. We opted to walk and it was INCREDIBLE. I can’t remember the exact route we took, but it was probably about 3km (1.8ish miles) and took us about an hour.

On to the next…

That’s a wrap on our two very full days in Granada, Spain! If I redid the trip, I would have done it in four days: One day to arrive and explore the city center, one day to wander the Albaicin neighborhood, one day to do the Alhambra and gardens, one day to visit Sacromonte. BUT, if you’re short on time, it can be done in two!

After Granada, we took the train to Cordoba.