Granada Alhambra Palace Visit Duration

If you are passionate about cultural visits, in the Alhambra in Granada you will find a very special monument full of art and history that will leave you speechless. It is the only medieval palace of its time that has come down to us and the last living trace of the Nasrid dynasty in Spain.

The Alhambra in Granada is full of amazing corners and discovering them will take you a while. After booking your tickets, so you can organize your visit well in this post I tell you how much time you need to explore the eighth wonder of the world.

The itinerary through the palatine city has a length of 3.5 kilometers and the general visit to the Alhambra usually lasts between 3 and 4 hours approximately, if you buy tickets to the Alhambra and the Nasrid Palaces to go on your own.

Even so, it is difficult to determine exactly how long the visit to the Alhambra lasts. To get to know a monument of this magnitude, artistic beauty and historical importance requires time, but it all depends on how much fascination you feel for it.

Organize the route to visit the Generalife or the Alcazaba

The visit to the Generalife or the Alcazaba has to be planned to be done before or after the Nasrid Palaces although you also have the option of seeing the royal residence of the sultans interspersed between the Generalife or the Alcazaba. In other words, you could do the following tour inside the Alhambra.

Visits with a fixed timetable

Whichever itinerary you decide to take, you must take into account two important hours in the visit to adjust the time during the tour of the Alhambra.

Once you have visited the most emblematic areas of the Alhambra you can also dedicate some time to visit other places such as the Museum of the Alhambra and the Museum of Fine Arts, both located in the Palace of Charles V, one of the best Renaissance works outside Italy.

If you book a guided tour of the Alhambra to see the monumental complex it will take you about 3 hours. The guide will lead you through the essential places such as the Generalife and its gardens, the Palace of Charles V or the Alcazaba. You can learn more about these guided tours in this post.

Night visits to the Alhambra usually last about two hours, less time than daytime visits as the visiting time is limited to the hours when the monument is open.

If the beauty of the Alhambra is striking in daylight, it looks with a special charm at sunset. To contemplate it in the stillness of the night only broken by the murmur of the water of its fountains and the moonlight is a magical experience. The delicate illumination projected on its walls envelops the fortress in an enigmatic and fascinating atmosphere worth seeing.

Perhaps it is the first time you travel to Granada and want to see the Alhambra during the day but if you feel like enjoying a quiet visit without crowds, a fantastic option are the night tickets.

Night timetable

There are two types of night visits to the Alhambra: the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife Palace and gardens. Both are made separately but under the same conditions.

• Summer night visit (from April 1 to October 14): from 10 PM to 11:30 PM.
• Winter night visits (October 15 to March 31): 8 PM to 9:30 PM.

During night visits to the Alhambra remember to remove the flash from your camera to avoid dazzling other visitors and disturbing their serene perception of the monument.

To see the Generalife calmly, enjoying the views and taking all the pictures you want of this beautiful landscape I recommend spending at least 30 minutes there.

The Generalife Palace was the summer villa where the Nasrid sultans retired to rest and escape the formalities of the court. Its gardens are beautiful and from here you have stunning views of the fortress and the city of Granada in the distance.

The Generalife is a haven of peace full of trees, small fountains with water and flower gardens where you can take a nice walk and take a short break.

Information of interest

This area of the Alhambra is usually left for the end of the visit and some people do not even go to see it so, unlike the Nasrid Palaces, it is not crow ded so there is no time limit and you can walk for a while along the paths.

And although you could spend hours contemplating the Partal, the Palace of the Lions, the Mexuar or the Palace of Comares, you will only have 30 minutes to make the tour of the Nasrid Palaces so I advise you to keep your eyes wide open and pay close attention to all the details of the rooms and spaces you will see to fully enjoy the architecture and ornamentation of this icon of Hispano-Muslim art in the West.

Access to the Nasrid Palaces is carried out in half-hour shifts so as not to accumulate too many people inside and thus avoid the deterioration of the monument. To make the most of the visit to the Nasrid Palaces try to be there 15 minutes before the time marked at the entrance. It is important to be punctual or you will not be allowed to enter later.

The Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra is the place where the sovereigns of the kingdom of Granada resided and the jewel of the monumental complex. In fact, it is the most visited part of the monument, so the tour to the Alhambra must be organized according to the time of access to the Nasrid Palaces, as you can only visit this part of the fortress at the time indicated on the entrance ticket of each visitor.

To see the monumental complex in its entirety, paying close attention to the details of all the rooms and enjoying a leisurely stroll through the fortress and its gardens, you will need between 3 and 4 hours at least (either on your own or with a guided tour).

However, if you just want to see the Alhambra from above with the aim of getting to know it and add it to your list of travel landmarks, about 2 or 2.5 hours may be enough to get an idea of what this monument is like.

However, if you are an art and history enthusiast you will not want to spend less than 4 or 6 hours to walk around it slowly and enjoy the views. There is so much to see!