My wife and I are visiting Valencia and Granada in September. We are planning to use public transportation, can you please give us some hotel recommendations.
Also, should we hire a guide in Granada to see the palace? If yes do you have any recommendations.
Thanks
We stayed at Hotel Anacapri. Very nice, wonderful breakfast. I don't think you need a guide to the palace. You could buy the Alhambra/Granada guidebook and use that as you visit.
The Alhambra Palace was delightful for my visit earlier this year. Walkable to the Alhambra. I also walked to Old Town and back. Some might prefer a taxi to return up the hill. Hotel was known by the taxi driver who I used from the train station. Taxi stand outside the hotel, or they will call one for you.
I didn’t hire a guide for the Alhambra. I did some studying pre-trip with YouTube’s, videos, and reading. With that background, the audio guide was sufficient for me.
In Valencia, we stayed at Hotel Puerta Serranos and it was fantastic. It was about a 15 minute walk from the main train station to the hotel (or you could catch a bus). We had an amazing view of one of the city towers (built 1392) out of our window and from the hotel's roof terrace. The tram to the beach also left from very close by.
The last time we were in Granada in 2014 we stayed at the no frills Hotel América right at the Alhambra complex. It was great for visiting the complex and you could walk around it at night. To get into town we took the bus. I will add that the other times we visited the Alhambra we stayed right in town.
A high end hotel also at the complex is the Parador. It is pricey.
Thanks for the advise. Do you recommend purchasing the tickets to see the Alhambra before getting there?
Yes, get your Alhambra tickets in advance. It's been a bit since I've been there, but they can be sold out months in advance.
The Alhambra is the only place I’ve ever purchased advanced tickets. They are definitely recommended if you want to be guaranteed entry the day/days you’ll be there.
I have stayed in Hotel Dauro 2 in Granada. It is in a great location surrounded by restaurants and not far from the Alhambra (15-20 minutes walk).
I would definitely buy Alhambra tickets in advance. My opinion is that your experience will be greatly enhanced by hiring a guide. We used one of RS recommended guides and thought it was worth it.
Enjoy
Update: We contacted Margarita Ortiz de Landazuri but she was not available. She set us up with Lucia who did an excellent job.
We stayed in a nice AirBnB with an easy walk to the Cathedral and Plaza Nuevo. There are frequent small Orange buses (they begin with C and have 1 or 2 numbers) that will traverse through the Albaicin, others that will take you up to the Alhambra, and much cheaper than taxis.
We had to buy a Granada card to snag tickets to the Alhambra, the upside is that it came with a bunch of bus tickets, most of which we didn’t use.
Also stayed in a newer AirBnB within easy walk from Joaquin Sorolla trains station (as well as the Nord station—didn’t realize there was a free shuttle between the two stations),
The nice thing about AirBnBs you can select ones with washing machines. Ended up wearing only a third of what I packed.
All, thanks for the recommendations.
In Granada do you recommend we stay close to Alhambra or the city center.
Thanks.
If you’ve never been to Granada then staying in town might be preferable so you can walk around at night.
In Granada I would definitely recommend staying in the city center rather than close to the Alhambra. It's easy to take a cab (or walk, though it's up a steep hill) to the Alhambra on the day of your visit, but staying in the city center will put you closer to restaurants and the other sites. We had a great stay at the Aurea Catedral. We booked a room with a view of the cathedral, and it was perfect.
I don't disagree with the points the others have made above about staying in town vs close to the Alhambra. However, I choose differently. I wanted to be at the Alhambra early AM and to stop in on several occassions and thus choose to stay close by.
It is easy to get around between the two locations - I think I might suggest choosing based on the hotel amenities and budget that you most prefer.
One last question, which part of town do you recommend we stay in Valencia.
Check out the Hotel Venicia Plaza Centro in Valencia. Very affordable in a great location. Good luck.
I've been to Valencia numerous times. As mentioned hotel Venicia Plaza is in an excellent location. We stay a long time, hence
we generally stay in airbnbs. I suggest staying in the old town, and, or close to Quart tower. Fabulous walkable city. Great cycling along Turia Park to the Mmuseum of Arts and Sciences.
Alhambra tickets are essential. I was In Granada in February. It was packed, we could hardly move in many areas.
All, thank you for the information.
we stayed right at the beach in Valencia (Hotel Neptuno), lots of places to eat and walk. Loud EDM music from nearby clubs till 5am was tough. good paella!
