Bus from malaga to granada

I've never been to Malaga so cannot vouch for this information:

ALSA, a major Spanish bus company, runs buses between Malaga and Granada. There may be other options as well. That link should take you to the schedule and fares for Monday, December, 19. Change the date to find schedules for other dates.

And here's some information on the location of the Malaga bus station. As a general rule I use these two techniques for finding out the location of bus stations:

• Googling "bus station" with the name of the city.
• Going to maps.google.com, finding the map of the city in question, and typing "bus station" into the search box.
  

However, in very large cities (Madrid being a prime example), there may be multiple bus stations, so you must be careful to determine which one serves your particular destination. I'd expect the address of each bus station to be shown somewhere on the website of the bus company you are using, but I couldn't immediately find the location of the Malaga bus station on the ALSA web site.

I found ALSA buses to be very reliable this summer, as indeed were all the Spanish buses with the single exception of a Sunday bus from Ripoll to Olot run by a small bus line. That one simply did not ever show up.

A couple of years ago we took the bus from Granada to Malage to catch a flight home. It was convenient and easy. It is the ALSA bus system. We bought tickets just prior to boarding at the station. The bus station in Malaga is next to the train station. In Granada it is some distance from downtown so we just used a taxi to get to the station. For our trip it was right on time.

The main bus station in Malaga is across the street from the Maria Zambrano train station.

My experience in 2006 matches Frank's exactly. The bus station in Malaga is near the center and next to the train station, but the bus station in Granada is quite far from the center and not near the train station (train station is closer to the center). I don't remember if I walked or took a short taxi ride in Malaga to my hotel; I definitely took a taxi to the station in Granada.

Both buses and bus stations in Spain are substantially nicer than Greyhound in the US. You get a reserved seat with your ticket. My bus was on time, but of course they can be delayed by traffic. The ride takes about 2 hours.

Is there only one bus station in Granada (so I don't go to the wrong one.) Are taxis readily available from the Alhambra to the Cathedral (Old town) and the train station in Granada? Any other means of transportation around the town (Granada) besides taxi? Do they have a "tourist bus or van"? Thank you

Do you have a copy of Rick Steves Spain or Rick Steves Snapshot: Sevilla, Granada & Southern Spain? These books have the answers to your questions, and many more besides.

"Is there only one bus station in Granada (so I don't go to the wrong one.)"

Yes, there's only one bus station in Granada. However, while they are working on the high speed train to Granada, the trains only go as far as Antequera, and a bus (operated by the train company) goes from Antequera to the Granada train station. This is the only long distance bus that does not go to the bus station.

"Are taxis readily available from the Alhambra to the Cathedral (Old town) and the train station in Granada?"

Yes.

"Any other means of transportation around the town (Granada) besides taxi? Do they have a "tourist bus or van"?"

There are minibuses that run pretty frequently, and go around the areas of interest to tourists (the Old Town, the Alhambra, the Albayzin, and Sacromonte). Rick's book has details of the latest routes. There are also regular-sized city buses to the bus and train stations.

Just returned from my 3 week Andalucia trip, and I took the bus from Malaga to Granada (and a few other routes). Things OP may find helpful.

The ALSA web site has bus schedules, in Spanish and in English. But I was unable to book tickets at the site because they do not accept US credit cards. There are English speaking staff at the bus stations' information booths. I bought tickets at the stations and arrive a little early in case there were lines. Some buses I took were almost full.

Here's a site for bus booking and good info on Spain's buses. Unsure if they will accept US credit cards.
https://www.busbud.com/blog/travelling-spain-bus-need-know/

From the Malaga and Granada bus stations, I took taxis to the centers of town for ~7 euros.

Granada's red minibuses (C* routes) will take you to the Alhambra and other tourist sites.
http://granadainfo.com/alhambra/minibus.htm
http://www.lovegranada.com/transport/granada-bus-map/

An article about visiting the Alhambra.
http://www.wandertooth.com/alhambra-palace-granada-spain-tips/

They need to update on the audio guide.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187441-d191078-r439401777-The_Alhambra-Granada_Province_of_Granada_Andalucia.html

The larger bus stations served by ALSA often have ALSA ticket-vending machines. Those did accept my US credit card. You can switch the language to English, and there's an option to check and print out schedules that I found very helpful. That was usually my first step when I arrived in a new city.