Granada Questions

Susan,
I've not taken the train from Madrid to Granada because we chose to visit Córdoba en route to Granada.

However, presently the railways are undergoing renovations around Granada, so if you decide to travel via train, you will travel from Madrid ( Puerta de Atocha Station) to Antequera Santa Ana station via AVE train, then you will transfer to a bus, to continue the journey to Granada's train station. Total travel time is 3hrs,50 minutes- 4 hours depending on what time you choose.

You can book your train tickets up to 62 days in advance at considerable savings on this website:http://www.renfe.com

You can also take the ALSA bus,from Madrid to Granada, but the travel time will be longer, around 5 hours. The bus station is on the outskirts of Granada, so you'll need to take a local bus or a taxi to the historic center, or to your hotel.
We paid around € 8-10 for a taxi last October.

The Alhambra does not offer audio guides or official tour guides, but their website recommend that you hire your guides from this organization: http://www.alhambra-granada.org/en/index.html

Make sure you book your Alhambra tickets 2-3 months in advance.

Have a wonderful trip!

Yesterday Oct 5th we took the train from Madrid to Granada. It was easy and as the other reply stated. We transferred to a bus after a short wait. The bus pulled up to the front of the station and we just got on without assigned seats. It was a nice bus and took us right to the train station in Granada from there we took a waiting taxi to our hotel. Very easy. We used go euro to book all five of our train trip.
The Alhambra was also easy we booked our Palace tour for 8:30. AM. We walked there from our hotel in 20 min took the shortcut as described in the Rick Steves
guide. It's important to book your tickets well in advanced. We also picked our tickets up at the Alhambra office the night before again as described in the guide.

Hi Susan,

To add to the already good information you have received from Priscilla and SRE, you could also fly from Madrid to Granada. Iberia has several flights daily for a little over $200 for the hour-long flight. Personally, I'd prefer to take the train/bus combo. It's pretty easy, as described by SRE, and can be inexpensive if you book ahead through Renfe.

The Alhambra does have self-guided Audio tours for day visits (not the night tours). There are a few options. The €6.50 "complete" audioguide describes over 50 stops throughout the complex. There are also simpler €4 "garden" or "Palace" audioguides-each covers just 15 stops. You can rent them at the Alhambra entrance or at the Charles the V Palace. You need to leave a €40 cash deposit or your ID and return the Audioguide to the same place you picked it up. Rick's Spain guidebook also has a good, self-guided tour.

Margarita Ortiz de Landazuri is an excellent local guide who does tours of the Alhambra (€13/2.5 hours €260/day). www.alhambratours.com or info@alhambratours.com.

I did a tour of the Alhambra recently with Cicerone tours. The tour is €55 and includes the entrance ticket to the Palacios Nazares - www.ciceronegranada.com. It was especially handy, as I did a last minute trip to Granada and hadn't booked my Alhambra tickets in advance!

I used the official Audio tour several years ago when I was there and found it very informative.

Susan,

My apologies for giving you misinformation about the audio-guides.

Rich, would you please tell me where you found this information (for future reference)?
I couldn't find any information about audio guides on the Alhambra's official website, & don't recall seeing them when we were there last October, but then again, we didn't enter through the main entrance.

The Alhambra does have self-guided Audio tours for day visits (not the night tours). There are a few options. The €6.50 "complete" audioguide describes over 50 stops throughout the complex. There are also simpler €4 "garden" or "Palace" audioguides-each covers just 15 stops. You can rent them at the Alhambra entrance or at the Charles the V Palace. You need to leave a €40 cash deposit or your ID and return the Audioguide to the same place you picked it up.

Thanks!

Edit to add... Never mind Rich. I just found this information in RS Spain book! Thanks!

Sure Priscilla, it's listed in Rick's Spain guidebook (page 594 of the 2016 edition)

Hi Rich,
I just edited my post above (at the same time as you were writing) because I found the information in RS Spain book (I have the 2015 edition)

I wonder why this information is not listed on the Alhambra website?

... it's listed in Rick's Spain guidebook (page 594 of the 2016 edition)

Just checked the book, yes it's there. It would help to add that the audio guides were discontinued for awhile, and are available again.

"It would help to add that the audio guides were discontinued for awhile, and are available again."

I'm not aware that the audio guides were ever discontinued and if they were, why would that be helpful to know now?

I'm not aware that the audio guides were ever discontinued and if they were, why would that be helpful to know now?

The audio guides had been discontinued for some time and are supposed to be replaced with "the launch in October of its new multimedia audio guide service, available in twelve languages".

http://www.granadahoy.com/article/granada/2370667/la/alhambra/ultima/su/nuevo/servicio/audioguias/para/operar/octubre.html

A September report said that the new service was not launched. Rick's book can help clarify this.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187441-i416-k9698967-Alhambra_audio_guide_availability-Granada_Province_of_Granada_Andalucia.html

Just returned from Spain and visited Alhambra. The new audio guide has been available since November. This review is quite accurate.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187441-d191078-r439401777-The_Alhambra-Granada_Province_of_Granada_Andalucia.html