Alhambra

We have been to the Alhambra on a morning visit and also (several years later) a night time visit. Morning was good - it was in part dictated by the fact that it was July and we felt the afternoon would be too hot, but also our personal preference. Ensure you book online and arrive in time to collect your tickets and to get to the Nasrid palace by the allocated time.

We enjoyed the night visit but the lighting outside the Alhambra is quite poor - inside was OK but I would perhaps consider reversing the order - seeing it in daylight first and then the night.

My understanding is that the time for the Nasrid palace is stipulated on the ticket and is generally at the beginning - but I may be wrong there.

I recommend a morning visit. It'll be cooler if traveling in summer. Once in, you can stay as long as you like on the grounds. There are places to eat lunch.

Depending on your entry time for the palace, the other admission areas will fall into place accordingly. If your palace entry is early, you'll do that first and then the others. Or you may have time for something before a late morning palace entry. Either way, be sure to arrive at the palace within your time slot - there are no exceptions and I watched people get turned away.

I recommend doing the Generalife last, mostly because it is close to the exit and easy to leave from there.

Frankly, in October, it won't matter much whether you choose a morning or afternoon slot....in fact, first thing in the morning may be a wee bit chilly, although nothing you can't handle.
However, from a photographic point of view, getting in there shortly after opening means less crowds, and softer lighting.
As others have mentioned, be very careful of that half-hour time slot during which you MUST begin your tour of the Nazrid palace...or you will be turned away. And I, too, recommend doing the Generalife last...it's a great place to wander the gardens, especially if it is a hot day.
Personally, I prefer to view the Alhambra from outside at night, up in the Albaycin, than go thru the grounds at night.
Tickets, in case you aren't aware, are available on-line from their official sales agent at www.alhambra-tickets.es

Everything written above is pretty sound advice. We had a 10:30AM entry into the Nasrid Palace. We arrived at the complex at about 9:00AM and picked up our tickets there after buying them online. We saw the Charles V palace first, then the Alcazaba, then the Nasrid Palace and finally the Generalife. It all flowed smoothly and we weren't rushed. There were very few visitors when we first arrived, and that was May 11. You'll find that the entry points for the Charles V palace, the Alcazaba and the Nasrid Palace pretty closely clustered together making it easy to see them in any order.

I had a 3 p.m. Nasrid entry time on May 19, which I think was a fine time to visit.

I got there early with the intention of going first to Charles V palace (which has no entry time restriction). If you want to do this make sure you know how to get to Charles V through the back way. You won't be able to get there through the main gate if it's more than 30 or 40 minutes until your Nasrid entry time.

Have someone at the TI draw you a map to Charles V or buy "The Alhambra and Generalife In Focus" guidebook in town before you go. It's designed like the Eyewitness guidebooks and has a very good foldout map of the Alhambra grounds.

(Don't get "The Alhambra and the Generalife" book if you want a guidebook; it's more of a souvenir picture book. "Rick Steves Spain 2010" seems to have the descriptions of the two books reversed.)

I relied on the guards at the main gate and the RS map for directions and got slightly lost, ending up in the Albayzin. I got directions from a very nice older man and a young woman who put me on the right path.

Still, it's a good thing I started my journey with plenty of time to spare or I might have missed Nasrid. Allow time for getting lost, etc. If everything goes smoothly, you can always entertain yourself in the shops or eating ice cream from the bar/kiosk near the fort until it's time for Nasrid.

However, having said all this, I think that even if I had entered the grounds at my appointed time, seen Nasrid first and then the other stuff, I would have had plenty of time.

Other thoughts on Granada:
I stayed at Hotel Anacapri, which was nice enough and very pleasant staff. There's a good Indian restaurant directly across from the hotel.

I also ate at the Moroccan restaurant Arrayanes described in RS. I loved the couscous chicken. It was my best meal in Granada.

The Casa Torcuato, also described in RS, was a disappointment.