Alhambra-in-a-day from Sevilla and night train to Barcelona

No.
Please examine your itinerary and determine if you have planned a trip which will provide more memories about dashing from point A to B, create needless travel stress, increase the opportunity for travel glitches and leave you thinking about all the trains, planes, buses and terminals you experienced.
Or
Re-examine your priorities and recognize even on a tight budget you can a few destinations, slow down and enjoy experiences which create wonderful memories.
I am speaking from the experience of first trips to Europe (oh so long ago) when we had to "max the value for our money" by "seeing" a lot of places to "justify" our expenditure.
Invest in creating wonderful memories.
And the answer remains "No" you should not attempt to spend a couple of hours in one of the most wonderful places in Spain and say "done did that". "Quickies" really are not that satisfying.

If you give yourself 3 hours in the Alhambra, catching a taxi at 8 p.m. for the 9:30 train, you won't have enough time and will be stressed during the entire visit. I recommend sleeping in Granada. What happened to your earlier idea of flying to Barcelona?

Thanks to both of you for your responses!

Marbleskies: I completely agree with you, but i guess it's also a matter of personal preference. We do not mind the dashing around as much especially in Europe where the trains are great!

Laura: Does the entry into Nasrid palace at 5 p.m mean we cannot enter and see the other sections within the Alhambra before that? Or are you saying just Nasrid palace will take a good three hours to visit? Our thought was to reach Granada by train/bus in the morning, and enter Alhambra as soon as we possibly can so that we visit the areas other than Nasrid Palace before 5 p.m and spend about 2-2.5 hrs inside Nasrid Palace when we enter there at 5.

Please let me know if i am making any wrong assumptions.

Cheers!

^^^ You are correct: A 5:00 Nasrid entry allows you to enter the other ticketed areas after 2:00. So you'd have 3 hours to see them (plenty) and then finish with the Nasrid. It can be done in as little as an hour and easily up to 2 hours if you want to soak it all in.

The schedule would be very tight but technically doable. Sounds exhausting...

Thanks Douglas,

Once we are done with the Alhambra/Nasrid Palace tour, can you tell me how long it will take to get to the train station from there?

Cheers

It would depend on how you get there. A taxi would take maybe no more than 30 minutes. Taking the shuttle back downtown and then a bus or taxi from there would add another 30 minutes at least. If taking a taxi from Alhambra, I'd give yourself at least an hour and half total (allowing for getting a taxi, delays and getting settled on the train).

Thanks a lot, Douglas!
But we are most likely dropping this somewhat outrageous plan now :) Too many moving parts, i guess.
Will save Alhambra for later. Gives us a reason to come back :)

Will do a stopover at Cordoba while traveling between Madrid and Sevilla now.
Hope it's worth it!

Cheers