Alhambra Palace, Granada
Read an article produced for The Sierras Magazine, about a reader's experience on their trip to the Alhambra Palace, Granada.
It has taken over 2 years for me to find the time and inclination to make the trip to the Alhambra Palace but with my mum visiting during the Summer months, it seemed the perfect opportunity. We booked over the internet the day before and were lucky enough to get a time for the Nasrid Palace (later in the afternoon 4.30pm to be exact).
We set off mid morning hoping to get there for about 2pm allowing plenty of time to collect our tickets and get in.
Upon arrival we parked in car park c, not too far to walk as it was extremely hot!
Our next mission was to get the tickets. We got somewhat confused on arrival as we had pre-booked so thought there would be not queuing but the left queue (the one we needed to be in) was longer than the queue on the right (pay on the day)! We ended up queuing for a good 40 minutes to get in.
Once inside we headed for the “general life” gardens which I must say were beautiful. Even though it was hot and of course the height of summer, the gardens remained very green and full of colour as well as having some spectacular fountains.
We later made our way to the Nasrid Palace and again had to queue for our allocated time—another good 30 minutes in extreme heat and no shade.
Once inside we made our way through. I had already been warned about the one obvious thing, there is no furniture. I had originally thought of the UK and National Heritage old houses that showed all the details of how it used to be, but as I had been forewarned I was not disappointed.
The only real disappointment for me was that the court of lions were not in place as they were being restored due to wear and tear over the years.
So here are my tips:
· I expected to see written boards all over the place telling us all about everything. However, when we entered we realised people had headsets which told you everything you needed to know but because we were ushered through the ticket office on arrival as it was so busy, we missed it. So if you want the headsets, look to your right after getting your tickets and get them here
· Don’t go between July—September. It is just so hot and busy it becomes
uncomfortable
· Take an empty water bottle with you. There are plenty of water fountains but if you
do go in summer—there is never enough!!!
· Allow money for the car park on return—could be up to 15 euros
· Take plenty of film or extra memory—it is hard not to get carried away with the camera
as very picturesque
So should it have been one of the seven wonders of the world—you decide!