I have tried several websites, with no luck. Three of us need tickets in March. Had thought about the week of March 17, but realize that this is the week before Easter, so changed to March 13 or 14. Would like to get them before arriving in southern Spain. How does one do this?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Book your tickets at www.alhambra-tickets.es Click on "English" in the upper right corner. Don't forget, you'll get a half hour time slot listed on your ticket. That's the time during which you must enter the Nazarid palace, or lose out on the most interesting part of the Alhambra tour.
Posted by
Winnipeg, Canada
111 posts
I'd highly recommend above poster Norm's suggestion. However, you can try to obatin tickets:
a.) if you are staying at hotel. Some hotels can arrange this for their guests.
b.) at the financial bank, La Caixa. I'm not sure if this is still in place and if so some branches carry tickets
c.) stand in que at the alhambra ticket window in the early morning.
....I did this and I stood in line at 6:30am. If you take this route, go as super early as possibly or you're going to wish you did because the que of people exponentially grows by the minute. Also que up in the "Pay by Cash" line rather than the credit card line. The credit card line may seem faster but it has no human ticket operator as you are buying from a machine and the machine absolutely requires the credit card's pin number to complete purchase. I think this realy applies to European credit cards. For us North Americans, we don't have pin numbers on our credit cards when making purchases.
Posted by
Philadelphia
655 posts
Hi Betsy,
I did this on-line just a week ago for a visit March 29. I used the website Norm has suggested. You will be forwarded to a second site where you can reserve up to ten tickets. Have all your stuff organized because you are allowed five minutes once you begin. Don't panic - it is plenty of time. Be sure to use the credit card for the reservation that you will have with you on the trip because you get the actual ticket by inserting that same card into a machine at the entrance when you arrive. On the ticket website you can check March 17 for availability if that is still your first choice.
Norm...I've been wondering, we will be in Granada the previous day. Would it be a good idea to go and get the tickets then in order to avoid waiting in line. Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Thanks.
Posted by
Malaga, Malaga, Spain
410 posts
You still have to queue to collect the tickets you have prebooked - or certainly that was the case last July when we went. The queue is shorter and probably (it was hard to tell) faster moving than the other queue(s)and at least you know you will get the tickets.
We had tickets booked for 8.30, got there about 8.10 on the first bus from central Granada at 8, and collected tickets at around 8.30 or maybe a little later - then you have 30 mins from your booked time to get to the Nasrid Palace.
So, factor in the time to collect your booked tickets.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
The last time I was there was last May, and I walked right up to the "pre-booked tickets" booth. A security guard stopped me to make sure I was at the right spot, then let me proceed. This was with the general ticket lineup perhaps 50-60 meters long! So I don't think you'll have any problems in March. Be aware...with a U-S credit card, you won't be able to collect them from the machines around the entrance...but you will still need that credit card to pick up the tickets.