We will be in Granada this Fall for 3 nights. Is there an advantage to seeing the Nasrid Palaces at night vs. during the daytime?
I'm considering reserving the "Alhambra Experience" ticket that would give us access to the N. Palaces at night; the rest of the Alhambra the following morning. Otherwise, we will purchase the General Admission ticket to see everything during one admission during the day.
A lot will depend on your interests and the time you have, but when we went last summer, we did the evening tour of the Nasrid Palaces and then went back for General Admission the next morning.
The evening tour has a very different feel to it, more exotic, more focus on the reflections off the water and the sounds of the fountains. To me it was easier to see it as a residence and less as a tourist attraction. But in the day, you get better views, more ability to see the details, time to explore at your own pace, and of course seeing and walking in the gardens!
The Alhambra (and the Nasrid Palace, in particular) is amazing no matter what you do, but if you're able, my suggestion would be to do both!
Forgot to add: In the evening, some parts of the Nasrid Palace are closed that are open in the day--you'll still see the more well known parts, but if getting to see all of everything is important to you and you can only go once, you'll need to factor that in.
The answer is very much a matter of opinion. I think it's not worth two trips up the hill, or two admission fees. The viewing is best in daylight. Many years ago, I found the night lighting downright lousy. Think about distant viewing places or a "Carmen" with a view for dinner.
My experience was in between the two above replies. While the night view was nice, you don't see all parts of the palace, and it would definitely wasn't as impressive as seeing it by day. It was also, qualitatively, a very different kind of experience. I very much dispute Rick's suggestion that if you can't see it by day, you should see it by night and consider it either "just the same" or "just as good." For me, the day view was different from, more extensive than, and better than, the night view.
When I went in 2006, there was also the difference that during the day you got an audio guide, while there was no audio at night. There have been more recent posts about changes to the audio guide situation at the Alhambra, so I'm not sure what's going on with that now.
I could not fit the "Alhambra Experiences" into my November itinerary, and took the night and day tours separately instead. The night tours were only available on Fridays and Saturdays during that time, and I had to change my itinerary a bit to book mine. According to this review, the audio guide rental is good for both tours for the "Alhambra Experiences".
With the night tour, I was hoping for a more "tranquil" experience. No such luck. The visit was marred by mobs of tour groups, jammed doorways, loud tour guides, non-stop selfie shooters. The day tour was the same.
I shared some of my Alhambra experience and information in this thread:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/fine-tuning-for-andalucia
Staynsavor , I was really hoping for less tour groups (& selfie-sticks!) during the night tour.
It sounds like there's no benefit from booking the "Alhambra Experience" that breaks up the complete tour into two half days, so we'll just reserve the daytime ticket. Thanks, everyone, for your input.
Hi Jean,
We booked our Alhambra tickets for the afternoon (3PM) because I'd read that the mornings were more crowded due to tour groups.
We didn't choose to do the night tour because one doesn't get to see the complete Nasrid Palace.
My mom & I enjoy visiting gardens so we definitely wanted to tour the Generalife during the daylight.
Enjoy!
I chose to do the night tour, then go back the next day for the full visit. I thought the Nasrid Palaces at night were lovely and there were some nice views of the city below as well. During the day, the Palaces look completely different. I think that's the best way to go, if you have the time.
