Albayzin, Nicolas Viewpoint on own

Well, the Alhambra is an uphill hike without the city bus. But most of Granada is best seen on foot. Did you mean a guide with a car, or whether knowledge of the city is required? How far can the 7-year old walk? I'd worry about a chilly breeze, but we did both of those areas on foot. Note that Google Maps covers Granada.

Actually, we ate in a restaurant with a view of the sunset on the Alhambra, called, in general (not the name of the restaurant) a "Carmen". But that was outdoor seating. I don't know if it would be as nice in December with the temperature going down.

Tim

Thanks - I was thinking of a walking tour with a guide. The reason was twofold - one knowledge of the area and since we were doing it in the late evening, will safety be a concern. The seven year old is used to hikes and he can walk for two hours

Vidya

I should have said that we're "guidebook" people, so we didn't even think of hiring a guide. I think it's a matter of personal taste. Grenada is attractive and atmospheric, and easy to walk around. You will miss individual sites without a guidebook, because they don't have big tourism signs on them. We use Rick Steves, or for much more detail, Lonely Planet. If you are going several places in Spain, Lonely Planet (on paper) is a good investment. I was disappointed with their early e-book version (for Switzerland.)

We walk a lot but we considered it walkable. I'd give yourself a half hour or more to walk up (from the Cathedral) but you may get there much faster. You don't need a guide; it's slightly confusing following the directions in Rick's book but we made it without too much trouble. If the walk seems too long, or you're worried about getting lost, you can easily hop in a taxi and be there in not much over five minutes.

I didn't think it was unsafe in any way. The area is mostly expensive restaurants (that sell the view).

We got there early so wandered a little and came back closer to sunset. It's a nice scene from the time the sun gets low and reddish until the sky gets dark and you see the Alhambra lit up.

There's a bar close to the cathedral called Antequerra (also another Antequerra II not far away). When you order a drink they give you a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with fries and some fritos - really a whole meal that your 7 yr old may really enjoy. I think your 7 year old can go in before 9pm; we didn't have a kid in tow so don't know Spain's rules for sure.

At that time of year, the sunset will be very early. Weather could be a problem with rain and very chilly if not cold weather. The Alhambra will take a good portion of one day. With four it would be cheap and handy to take a taxi to both the Alhambra and the overview. You can easily walk down from there but it is a steep, uphill walk from the bottom.

Personally we always find live guides to be very useful and prefer them over self guided tours or pod casts. Think about - you spend thousands of dollars to get there and then you want to save 20 or 30 bucks by not hiring a guide. If I need to save $30, I skip lunch or a bottle wine. So I would hire a guide and the TI is often a good source for guides.

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestion.I have RS and Lonely planet guidebooks

Cannot wait to see Granada

Vidya

There's a minibus that runs from near the Cathedral up to the Alhambra. It makes 3 stops at the Alhambra, so choose the one that's closest to where you want to start. The first stop is at the main entrance and highest point. Returning, you can get on at any of the stops, but the farther down the hill, the less likely you are to get a seat. It's easy to walk to the Albayzin viewpoint on your own and to walk down again (in a different direction for variety) after dark. Going down, it's hard to get completely lost, as long as you keep going down. Eventually you get to level ground and never too far from the old town center. I was there in February and there were lots and lots of people around, quite safe.