What Entrance Time for Nasrid Palace?

I think the earliest they open is at 8 AM.
I would consider timing your Nasrid Palace visit after Alcazaba fortress. That way you will not need to backtrack. Alcazaba can be done early- morning light is better for pictures and it will not be crowded to climb the towers; you can be done with it in 30-40 minutes. I think Nasrid will always be crowded, get an audioguide (sold near Nasrid and Justice Gate) and try to ignore the crowds.
Take a C3 minibus up the hill to Alhambra and Justice Gate to conserve energy. Justice Gate is not manned, if you have your ticket, you should use it; it is also a public entrance and anyone can go for a walk in the gardens during the working hours, you only need to show tickets to enter Alcazaba, Nasrid and Generalife gardens; Nasrid entry is timed.
My suggestion to you is to try to get entrance to Nasrid around 9:30, that way you can come earlier, if you wish and see Alcazaba. You will have plenty of time to enter Generalife gardens before 2 PM.

C3 minibus ride is not more than 10 minutes but I don't know how often they run; your hotel can help with this info.

Thanks very much for your detailed answer Irene. Is it a mistake to visit Nasrid at 9:30 and backtrack to the Alcazba? That way we have time for breakfast at our hotel, which begins at 8.

If your breakfast is at 8, then you can leave your hotel at 8:30? Bus stop should be nearby. By 9 AM you can be at Alcazaba ( it is near Justice Gate) but buy the audioguide first, it has descriptions about it. Time your Nasrid palace at 10 or 10:30. It is just that when you finish Nasrid, your exit pathway will naturally flow into the gardens towards Generalife. You maybe too tired or out of time to backtrack to Alcazaba before 2 PM. You can see Alcazaba quickly, I actually had 30 minutes and it was enough but there are towers to climb. Be sure to line up for Nasrid entrance about 10 minutes before your entry time. For touring Nasrid I would allow 1 hour minimum, I spent even longer there. Audioguide is very good.

Thank you Irene!

I don't think that the time entrance makes any differences. The whole idea of the timed entrance is to control the crowd. So the crowd is always going to be about the same. You have a 30 min window to enter and it is probably a ten min walk from the entrance. So 45 mins to an hour is fine.

Thanks for your reply Frank. I thought I had read that the earliest time for the Nasrid Palace was best because you were the first group in. But if you have to be out within a certain time, then it seems like it would not make a difference.

Once you entered the Nasrid Palace, you can stay inside there for as long as you want. So maybe crowds built up later on.
I also did the night visit and it was crowded as well. Everyone was let in at 10 pm at the same time.

If you are the first to enter there is no one in front of you but you will still have your own group of 20 or 30 that entered with you. But if you are doing a quick walk through and get ahead of your group then you will not run into anyone in front of you. If you go slow then the fast ones from the next group could catch up with you. We did it slowly so that there was a steady stream of people moving around us most of the time. You are following a one way path through the Palace. There is no way for you to have the place to yourself.

I have visions of my visit to Versailles where I was squeezed among throngs of people being pushed through the Hall of Mirrors. 😬

About the minibus timing: in March, we found that they leave Plaza Nueva very often. In fact, the morning we went, there were at least 2 ready to load and head out when we arrived about 9:00. They are small and can fill quickly but the next seemed to arrive quickly. (We had breakfast across the street and watched them from about 8:30-9:00.) As mentioned, it was about a 10 min ride, plus a 5 or so min walk the rest of the way in using the Justice Gate.

Good to know about the minibus. We were thinking about walking. I understand it is 15 minutes and pretty. Is this a mistake? Sounds like it would take no longer than the minibus.

Except it is all up hill and fairly steep. The bus will beat you.

Digbydog, FWIW I was at the Alhambra last week and, while I certainly wasn't the only tourist there, I found it to be far less crazy than Versailles. Admittedly when I went to Versailles it was peak high-season and this trip not so much (learned my lesson!) however the Nasrid Palaces slots were all sold out when I visited, so I assume it can't get any busier than it was (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I visited the Nasrid Palaces in the middle of the afternoon.

Good to know nbob! What time was your slot at Nasrid?

We chose to visit in the afternoon (Nasrid Palace time slot was at 3:00pm) mainly because I'd read in RS Spain book that the morning is usually more crowded due to all the tour groups.

We took the C3 Minibus from Plaza Isabel La Católica (very close to Plaza Nueva) to the Alhambra. We got off at the Justice Gate which is below the main entrance, if not sure just ask the bus driver to let you off at "Puerta de la Justicia por favor" (or write it on piece of paper and show bus driver)

Edit to add...
If you choose to visit the Alhambra in the afternoon, make sure you arrive early. We weren't aware of the school schedule and our minibus took 25- 30 minutes, instead of the usual 10 minutes, due to the heavy traffic from the schools letting out. BTW, taxis were also stuck in the same single lane (narrow) street leading to the Alhambra.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks so much Priscilla! I think we probably will book a morning slot, as I think we will be more tired later in the day. We will just have to deal with crowds/tours.

And lots of walking when you get to the Alhambra, so no need to try to walk up there. Many of the streets the bus took were very narrow and as someone else said, it was very steep.