From Madrid to Granada to Alhambra back to Madrid

First, it would be very easy to do on your own. Granada is a little hard to get to from Madrid especially using rail. Buses in Spain are often a good option. And maybe you could fly. Just have to check the schedules. Two or three nights would be adequate. Depending on transportation mode it could take most of a day to get there. The next day you could tour the Alhambra and you can spend the day there. The third day either return to Madrid or see the rest of Granada and back the fourth day. This is an area I see little advantage to an organized tour.

Nahima, the train to Granada departs Madrid at 9:10 am and takes 4 hours 25 minutes. You arrive in early afternoon, with time to settle in and see some sights. You should book your visit to the Alhambra well in advance. There are several options to choose; you might consult the Rick Steves guidebook for a description. Basically there are "general visits" which include all the sights; a visit to the grounds and gardens but not th epalace; a night visit to either the palace or the gardens, and a "visita entorno" or themed tour in a group, laasting half a day. You can read about these on the Alhambra website. http://www.alhambra.org/eng/index.asp?secc=/inicio For booking, use this one: http://www.servicaixa.com/nav/es/mucho_mas/granada/alhambra_y_generalife_09oz/visita_general/index.html

I traveled from Madrid to Granada by train and it was not a problem. I didn't have a ticket to the Alhambra but my hotel booked me a ticket for the next morning. I had no trouble at all. I went to Spain in September and the only negative was the heat. Oh, so hot 2 years ago!!!!

And just to add a few more details. You must allow a full day and two nights in Granada. The full day is for touring the Alhambra, which can range from 4-8 hours depending on how interested you are. Try to book a morning entry so you can spend the whole day. You can eat lunch at a restaurant on site. You have a 30 minute window to enter the palace part on your reservation - no exceptions are given if you miss it. The other sites must be done before 2:00 if you have a morning ticket. You can stay on the grounds all day. Pre-book your Alhambra reservations using their website. Though the previous poster was lucky, tickets do often sell out. I'd pre-book the trains too as there are so few and those can fill up.

I have to stress that buying your Alhambra tickets FIRST before any other tickets/reservations is essential. I got caught up in booking trains, hotels etc. and then ended up having to buy a Alhambra tour for 32 Euros pp since the regular tickets were sold out, or the entry time was at 19:00h which would leave only 1 hr. The Alhambra tour, turns out, looks really interesting! They have 5 different themes. I am hoping that I will be allowed to stay in and wander around after the tour, does anyone know if this is true?