What's a good time of day to go to the Alhambra?

We opted for the 1:00 pm Nasrid Palaces tour. You are only allowed to stay in there for one hour, but that was plenty for us. You wait in line for tour time no matter what, so there is no shortest queue. You may enter the Generalife only once. But the majority of the Alhambra has no time limit.

As the chances are fair all tickets will be sold out, or very close, irrespective of the time of day, I doubt you will see much different in queues. Why trek up when you can take the little city bus? No comment - I have not been at night. You may stay in any unticketed area for as long as you like (until close) and you may stay in your last ticketed area for as long as you want. Therefore it is an advantage to buy a morning ticket and you could have extra time by lingering in one of the ticketed areas after the end of 'the morning'.

We went in the morning just because it was cooler. The inside may look amazing at night, but we had some great views of the outside lights from our hotel room balcony so we were good with that. You can wander the gardens any time you like but I believe you can only get into them once (after they stamp your ticket you can't get in again.) However, you must be on time for your tour of the palace, and the line for the palace will likely be the same no matter what time you go (as stated earlier, the tickets do pretty much sell out.) Perhaps it is different now, but I don't remember having to go through the palace in an hour, you just had to be on time to get in. However, that was a few years ago and it may have changed. I also agree that a shuttle or taxi is the easiest way up.

My understanding is that the evening hours are for lights and strolling only; the palace is not open for tours. Many people have said its worth the second trip though. I prefer morning. It's a little cooler and you can stay in the grounds as long as you want, maybe have lunch at one of the nice cafes there. Perhaps it has changed, but just a few years ago the time you could spend in the palace was "unlimited." But they are VERY strick about the 30 minute window to be in the line - no exceptions. But that 30 minute line is the only major one you should encounter. Although you can stay in the grounds for as long as you want once you enter, each ticketed site is only available to you for the duration of your ticket.

I was at the Alhambra in May, and there is indeed a time limit of one hour for the Nasrid Palaces. It was so jammed with people, though, that we were anxious to get back outside. There was a considerable amount of renovation going on which limited where you could be within the palaces, which might have made a difference, too. To clarify my first post, you can enter the Generalife and its gardens only once, but you can stay as long as you like. On the Alhambra side, only the Nasrid Palaces have a time limit. Nothing was said to us about having to be in the line 30 minutes ahead, but the line did start to form then. You can stay on the grounds and in the gardens as long as you like. We arrived in the morning, saw the Generalife, then went to the Alhambra side for the rest of the day (taking our 1:00 pm tour in the middle of that).

Depending on when you're going, morning is probably your best bet. That said we went in mid-April at 9 am. It had snowed in the mountains the night before. It was in the 30's with a windchill that took it down into the 20's - we were freezing. That was unseasonable, Europe had a cold winter and hadn't snapped out of it.

That's too bad about the new time limit on the Nasarid Palace, but if it's undergoing renovations, I can see how they need to keep people moving along. The 30 minute time window to enter the Nasarid Palace is the time window listed in your ticket. You can be in line no sooner than what is listed, and will be denied entry if you are not in the line by the expiration time. As I noted, this time window is very strictly enforced; I watched at least one couple get turned away just minutes late. They are also very strict about entering the other ticketed areas within the overall time limit on your tickets.

I had never been to the Alhambra before, so I have nothing to compare to, but I am mystified about the 30 minute window. As I said, we had 1:00 tour tickets. But we arrived early in the morning, got in with no problem and no mention of any time window for entering the ticketed areas. We went to the Generalife, then went over to the Alhambra and wandered around until shortly before our tour time, when we went to get in line. Again, no mention of a window of time to enter, though I suppose the 30 minutes would have ended while we were inside, so I don't know if anyone would have been barred entry then. There is nothing noted on our tickets with regard to a 30 minute window, either (looking at it as I type this). We entered the ticketed Alhambra area a full two hours before our tour time. Things do change, maybe that did, too.

Nancy, did you take a tour of the Nasrid palace or just enter on your own? There is no " one hour time limit" for general entry tickets- how would they enforce that? People are constantly entering and constantly leaving. We spent at least two hours there, backtracked at times, and at one point sat in a courtyard to enjoy the ambiance. There is no indication on the official website that this has changed. The one - hour limit may have been for your entire visit to the Alhambra, inkling all three ticketed areas. With a 1:00 palace entry ticket, you had a Morning Ticket which expires at 2:00, meaning that you cannot enter any ticketed area after 2:00. But you could have stayed inside the Nasrid palace past that time. The 30-minute window is for your entry. If you have a ticket for 10 am at the Nasrid palaces, you must enter before 10:30 or you will be denied entry. Your ticket has a bar code which they scan and they are very strict. We joined the entry queue at 9:45 for our 10:00 entry and the line moved so slowly, due to tour groups and school groups, that at 10:25 we were still not inside. People for the next time slot were crowding past us. So I went up to the officials and told them we needed to be admitted, and they did let us in- just in time. We made both a Night Visit and a Morning Visit to the Palaces and I would recommend that if you have time. We also did one of the Visits to the Environment offered for 30 euros. These are themed walking tours of the grounds,including areas not normally open to the general public. We did the Conquest of Water tour and it was great. But to answer the question, I suggest a Morning Visit with a 9:00 entry time to the palaces for your best chance of avoiding heat and crowds. See the fortress and gardens after the palaces.

As I said, if there was a 30 minute timeframe that ended after we entered the palaces, I wouldn't know, since we were inside by that time. I just know that we were told nothing about a 30 minute window. We had general entry tickets, not a tour. But we were told that we only had one hour after entering the palace. Don't know how it would be enforced, unless they emptied the place before letting the next group in. I actually suspect that might have been happening, since the line was a total standstill until they opened the door and admitted us (no continuously moving line). All I know is that there was no information given to us regarding any 30 minute window to enter, and we stayed all day (though less than an hour in the palaces themselves).

The line happens once you are already inside the complex, so everyone already has a ticket at that point. When I was there, the line did not form until a few minutes before each tour time, so there was no one ahead of you with a later time.

Rick Steves Spain has very detailed instructions about Alhambra tickets, visiting rules, etc. I was there in 2006, so things may have changed. At that time, morning or afternoon visits meant: 1. You could visit certain parts of the complex at any time, without a ticket. 2. You could visit the Gardens and the Alcazaba anytime during your half-day; you can only enter these areas once. You could stay as long as you like once you enter.
3. You can only enter the Nasrid Palace in the half-hour window on your ticket. Once inside, you could stay as long as you like, and could go back and forth within the Palace, as long as you didn't exit. Nighttime visits are completely different from morning or afternoon visits. You see ONLY the Nasrid Palace, and when I went, could only see part of it. I did enjoy seeing the palace by day and by night, but a night visit is not at all sufficient by itself. I got a Nasrid Palace reservation for 9 AM, and I'd definitely try for this. As with any popular place anywhere in the world, the crowds start to pile up later in the day. As for the "trek up," take a bus or taxi. Save your energy for walking around the complex itself. When I went, buses were frequent and cheap, but I believe I read something about changes on the route. Again, Rick's book would have details, and then check his updates page on this website for the latest info.

The following is taken directly from the official website: "The access to the Nasrid Palaces is different from the rest of the monument, because it is strictly limited to the half- hour indicated on the ticket due the restrictions on maximum capacity in this area (300 people). If you do not visit the Palaces within the half- hour indicated, you will loose the right to visit, although you can visit the rest of the Monument. Do not forget that the visit to the Nasrid Palaces finishes an hour before the closing time, and it takes at least 30 minutes, so you should visit the Generalife and the Alcazaba before." I wonder Nancy if the hour limit you mention was related more to your 1:00 Nasrid entry time. Since your general entry ticket ended at 2:00, they may have been warning you that you only had an hour left to enter the other ticketed sites.

The 30 minute time slot for entry to the Palaces is there whether Nancy was aware of it or not. I don't remember seeing it on the ticket but it is on the official website and in the brochure. And no the line does not move continuously, they start admitting people at the designated time, but it takes awhile for all the people waiting for that time slot to get checked through. And I think Douglas and Lola explained it, with a 1:00 entry the ticket expired an hour later. That is what they were warning about. They do not clear out the palace every hour to admit the next group. So it can be very crowded in there.

That makes sense, I guess. I wasn't the one who bought the tickets, so I never saw the website either. I only know what is printed on the ticket, and what we were told when we were there.

All these strict rules and long lines have me wondering... Is there a specific line for folks like us who already have a ticket?
Is there a problem with getting in on time by being behind folks in line who have a later entry time?