Best way to tour the Alhambra?

As the palace was the highlight for me (especially the baths) , what worked for me was to go through the palace, then the Generalife gardens, and backtrack to the Alcazaba fortress. On a hot day, if you're tired by that time, the Alcazaba might be of the least interest, so you'll have seen the most impressive parts first. Enjoy!

It's been a few years, though, so I don't know what changes might have been made to the official ticketing and scheduling process. With the research you've done, what parts are confusing you?

That's a personal choice and really depends when you get to the grounds and when your palace entrance time is. If you have a lot of time, maybe go to the gardens first. If you have a short period of time, see those parts of the complex closer to the palace entrance and see the gardens afterwards.

Because the Nasride palace is the most stunning and impressive part of the Alhambra, i would take a later reservation for it and visit the rest, or part of the rest, and then be blowned away by the magnificence of Nasride

The Alhambra has multiple parts. Some are free to enter at any time. The Alcazaba and Generalife Gardens require tickets, and (assuming you have a ticket to see the Nasrid Palace too) are entered, once each, any time on the same day as you have your Nasrid Palace entry. And the Nasrid Palace has entry only by strictly enforced half hour blocks; miss your 30 minute window, and you're not getting in. However, once you're in the Palace, you can stay as long as you like, and can backtrack and see things again as long as you don't exit.

I'm not sure there's a "best way" to visit. If you get into the Nasrid Palace earlier in the day, you'll have fewer other people (since people can stay as long as they like, it does get fuller as the day goes on). On the other hand, I agree it is the highlight, so seeing it first means the rest is a bit of a letdown (although I really liked the Gardens too).

A bigger factor is, when can you get tickets for? Rick's book has all the details of buying tickets and visiting, including strategies for picking up the ticket and how much time to allow for getting to the Nasrid entrance so you don't miss your entry time.

I like Harold's post, but I have one word of warning. Unless Steve has published the 2018 book, some of his Alhambra recommendations are out of date - as are a number of websites, by the way.
In the past, you could buy a morning or afternoon ticket - these no longer exist. You buy one ticket and can visit as long as you want except for your timed entry to the Nasrid Palace. Harold's details about that are still valid.
This is the official Alhambra website and seems to be the only one with correct ticket entry information. It also defines where and how to pick up your tickets.
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/index.php/Visit-the-Alhambra/8+M5d637b1e38d/0/
One word, if you are considering getting Senior's ticket, you won't be able to get that ticket ahead of time. You will need to go to the main entrance ticket office, stand in line and provide proof of age. They might also tell you it is only for EU members (though others have been admitted)....so it will all take more time on the day of visit. Decide if that is really worth the few dollars' savings.

The access timing is still confusing. The Alhambra website seems to drop the "morning" and "evening" distinction.
The email from Ticketmaster says:
*Remember Pick up tickets in advance to get to the Alhambra. We recommend one hour before the scheduled time of entry to the Nasrid palaces.
Turns visit:
Summer Hours (From April 01 to October 14)
Morning Shift: 08:30 to 14:00
Afternoon Shift: 14:00 to 20:00
Night Shift: 22:00 a 23:30 (Tuesday to Friday)
Winter Hours (From October 15 to March 31)
Morning Shift: 08:30 to 14:00
Afternoon Shift: 14:00 to 18:00
Night Shift: 20:00 to 21:30 (Friday and Saturday)

Access to the Nasrid Palaces (only for visits that includes this space) must be done at the exact time indicated in your booking otherwise you will lose the right to visit this area. The rest of the monument can be visited within your shift (morning, afternoon or night shift).*

I guess we will find out the hard way........

The entrance to the Alcazaba is near the entrance to the Nasrid Palaces. If you don't visit the Alcazaba first, you'll have to double back to see it. There are some nice views of the city below, so you may want to try for early or late light for photos. The same goes for the Nasrid Palaces - the less contrasting light, the better the photos.

You can pick up your tickets at any Caixa ATM machine in the area (all of Andalucia, I think). Caixa is the biggest bank in Spain, so you can find machines all over. You need to use the same credit card you bought them with. Just put your card in and follow the "bouncing ball." It will take several minutes for the machine to print out each ticket individually.

A few months ago they cancelled the morning/afternoon distinction, but they haven't updated all the website info. The evening visits are ticketed separately.

Entry to the Nasrid Palaces is timed at half-hour intervals. If you have a 10.00 entry, you can go in until they start the 10.30 entry. However, people line up a half hour or more in advance. If you get there near your entry time you'll find that most of the people in the back of the line are for a later entry. Sometimes the guards will go through the line asking for people with the current time to come forward. When I was there several years ago, they didn't allow large items (backpacks, etc) inside. There was a free bag check service nearby. You'll want enough time to check bags (there could be a line) before entry.

Donna and Dennis, ignore the Ticketmaster details as to time frame and use the patronato website for opening and closing times.

A note about backpacks - last year the I was able to enter the Palace with my camera backpack but it had to be on my shoulders the entire time. I could not carry it any other way- or a guard would come up and ask me to put it back on. I could stop and change lenses - they seemed ok with that - but had to put it right back on.

We visited in September 2015 and I realize things might have changed. The only advice I would give is to get the first entry of the day for the Nasrid Palace if at all possible and do it first. Our pictures from the plaza where we waited to enter are some of the best we took on our trip with the sun starting to illuminate the city and by happenstance, a hot air ballon rising over the city. As we were the first group to enter, there were very few people in any of our pictures and many pictures have no one at all making for some fantastic memories of a very special place. The lack of other people gave us a chance to really absorb what an amazing place the Alhambra is and think about life in the palace. The other advice I have is to get the audioguide - I thought it was very informative. I had been to the Alhambra many years previously and I found it even more special the second time because there were so few visitors giving me time to truly appreciate what how extraordinary it is.

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