Granada Spain and the Alhambra

From Barcelona to Granada, your best bet is to fly. Vueling and Spanair both offer service between these two points, and the sooner you book, the cheaper the rate you will get.
From Granada to Paris, your best bet may be to take the same airline(s) back to Barcelona, then take easyjet or Vueling to Paris. Just remember that the two flights will not be linked, so if you miss the second leg, you'll be out of luck. Leave a couple of hours between Granada-Barcelona and Barcelona-Paris to account for late flights, flight changes, etc.
Frankly, with eight days, I'd spend 3 in Barcelona, 2 in Granada....and 3 in Madrid, if you haven't been there before. It's a wonderful city with many sights to see. You can take a bus from Granada to Madrid (about 5 hours, quite comfortable, and cheap) then get a Vueling or easyjet flight from Madrid to Paris.

We were just in Granada but Barcelona was a separate trip. I think you should allow more days in Barcelona than Granada. Two days in Granada is probably enough. We stayed at Hotel America in Granada which is very near the Alhambra and this area is beautiful--wooded and some waterfalls. It is an easy walk into town and also to the Albaycin area. Barcelona was our favorite city in Spain and even three days may not do it justice. When we return to Barcelona we will add San Sebastian into the travel plan.

What are you travel days in January? Steves' Spain book covers Granada well with recommendations. However, it is critical that you obtain you admission ticket for the Alhambra will in advance. The Alhambra is the most visited tourist site in Spain -- so plan ahead. Granada is a two day visit. Maybe come in mid day, a full day and leave the next day.

Don't know your budget, but we enjoyed our 2 nights in Grenada at the Caseria de Comares in April. It's in a nice area (near the Stadium) with restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance. They offer appartments and have a nice pool and gardens. It's like staying at an oasis. Also, underground parking is available. We walked to the central plaza in about 30 minutes. They reserved the Alhambra tickets for us. Check their website.

Frank brings up a good point about getting your Alhambra tickets in advance....a morning or afternoon session, with a half-hour slot during which you MUST begin your tour of the Nazrid palace. You can easily purchase them on line at their official site, www.alhambra-tickets.es (click on English at the top right.) They usually put them out in three- or four-month blocks, so January's probably not available right now.

Dear Respondents,
thankyou for your generous advice. It is so helpful to have hear real experiences.
Kathryn

Kathryn,
We recently finished up two weeks in Spain that included Barc and Granada. We exclusively took trains from city to city, so I can't speak to air travel within the country, but everything else written here is pretty sound advice from what we experienced. We stayed at the Hotel Macia on Gran Via in Granada. It's right at the northwest corner of the Albaicyn and about a 15-minute walk to the center of Granada where you can hop a bus to the Alhambra. It's also a short walk to the train station, but I don't know how close or far it is to the airport. It was $115 a night and that was when the dollar was pretty depressed against the Euro. The hotel was very nice, clean and have wonderful staff. Barcelona was our favorite city in Spain. If you're going to include only those two cities, I would favor more time in Barc than Granada. Hope this is of some use to you, and enjoy your trip.