Granada travel tips

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Granada travel tips

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sorin popovici

Posts: 427
Joined: Jan. 7 2005
From: Iasi, Romania

Granada travel tips

Hi,

I am visiting Granada with my wife to see Alhambra for the first time.
We did the research and bought the right tickets for Alhambra, but I would like to also see a lot of good flamenco if possible and also to try some guitars.
So please, do you have any tips on:

1. Where to stay (we are probably gonna airbnb), heard that there are a lot of stairs if you choose wrongly. Seen even a cave on airbnb where Manolete a famous bailaor used to live, but I am a bit claustrophobic ....unless it's really special for some reason
2. What tablaos to visit for good flamenco
3. Any good guitar shops to visit?
4. Any other attractions not to miss, we love history and museums...We did book all that was related to alhambra, Dobla de oro (not sure what it is, I think some other related monuments)

I would have loved to go also to Cordoba, to see Vicente Amigo's town...and Seville and to see Mezquita, but we dont have that much time, the whole trip is just 3 days. Getting there at Malaga and then taking train on Friday afternoon and staying from mid Friday to Sunday evening 10, 11 and leaving on the 12th of November back to Malaga.

My wife is not necessarily the biggest fan, but she is patient and forgiving with me :)...but probably we wont get to drink all the bad wine (tbh just gave up drinking) and stay until 4 am, but still would love to have the real experience and not the tourist crap.

Any advice is appreciated,

Thank you,
Sorin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 1 2023 19:41:02

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Hi Sorin,

Kind of scattered thoughts but if you’re adverse to a lot of hill climbing then stay away from any cave rentals (Sacromonte) or the Albaicin area Airbnbs. Best is to look in the Cathedral area and around Plaza Nueva, Bib Rambla, and Calle Elvira and also in the area around Reyes Catholico and Acera del darro street. Basically the parts of the old town that are flat. If you arrive on Friday at the train station you can pretty well walk to the old town. Take the Grand Via de Colon for the walk and you won’t get lost. There’s a street off Reyes Catholics called calle Navas that has a bunch of restaurants. There’s a grill place right at the entry called Entre Brisas that does great steaks. Really good, actually.

Hopefully you booked the Alhambra tour for Sunday, as a lot of places will be closed that day, so not as much to do otherwise. Saturday is best for sightseeing. You can go up into the Albaicin and Sacromonte. There are little busses that go and also bus tours that you can take where you can get on and off. You don’t have a lot of time, so something to consider.

Oh, and the Cathedral is the other big monument attraction besides the Alhambra and us worth paying the 5€ to see. Wander over to plaza Bib Rambla for a bite of lunch in the oldest square.

I’ll let others mention places to catch flamenco, but it’s basically integrated in with the tourist industry and always has been so it is part of the Granada experience. It’s not like an underground thing there, it’s easy to find. There’s a large student population, too. It’s a great place to visit.

There’s a few members who live or have lived there, so they could give better hints. Three days will go by pretty fast. Lots to see. You can have fun just walking around all Saturday.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 1 2023 23:53:22

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3431
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Eat tapas at Bodegas Castañeda, near the Plaza Nueva and the Catedral.

Also have dinner at either Balcón de San Nicolas or Huerto de Juan Ranas. Both are just across the street from the Mirador de San Nicolas. Food is decent, nothing special, and expensive, but the view of the illuminated Alhambra and Generalife after dark is magnificent.

If the prices put you off, the open air restaurant in the Plaza San Nicolas itself is fair value for the money, then it's only half a block to the Mirador for the view, and maybe some kids doing a spontaneous rumba or bulerias.

The Catedral is worh a visit. The chapel with the tomb of Fernando and Isabela, Los Reyes Católicos, is attached.

The big event of 1492 in Spain was not Columbus's discovery of America. It was the surrender of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim realm on the Iberian Peninsula, to los Reyes Católicos.

Isabela's crown is among the items on display near the tomb. When I first saw it I was surprised that it was so simple, and made only of silver, an unimpressive ornament for such an influential figure. Spain was not yet inundated with gold and silver from America.

There are a number of famous guitarreros in Granada, but as is the case everywhere, they may or may not have an instrument ready to try out.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 2 2023 4:26:15

orsonw

Posts: 1938
Joined: Jul. 4 2009
From: London

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

quote:

2. What tablaos to visit for good flamenco

See below for lists of some tablaos/penas, with links to their websites/social media to check who's performing when you're there. There are a lot of good flamenco artists in Granada, they sometimes perform at the penas/tablaos e.g. Jose Fermin Fernandez, El Turry, Habichuela Nieto, La Moneta, Sara Fernandez, Patricia Guerrero etc...

https://www.deflamenco.com/tablaos-flamencos-en-granada.html

https://flamencoinlondon.com/dance-in-spain/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 2 2023 9:55:45

Goldwinghai

Posts: 215
Joined: Mar. 17 2015
From: Virginia USA

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Teatro Isabel La Catholica is near Plaza Nueva
https://www.andalucia.org/en/granada-leisure-and-fun-nightlife-teatro-isabel-la-catolica
They have flamenco shows there, also from there you can buy 10€ tickets for the flamenco performances at La Chumbera, a concert hall in the Albaizin. Through its rear glass stage wall you can see the Alhambra all lit up at night from your comfortable chair. Only top artists perform there. I highly recommend La Chumbera.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 2 2023 16:01:24

sorin popovici

Posts: 427
Joined: Jan. 7 2005
From: Iasi, Romania

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Thanks everybody,

Thanks Rob, think I have a better idea where to rent the room now. Unfortunately, we booked Alhambra for Saturday, so will have to wander around on Sunday until we leave for Malaga.

Thanks Richard, I have a faint idea about the history but did not know the dates exactly. Did a guided tour in Madrid some years ago and remembered now that guide said that wherever I hear la frontera in the name, it used to be a frontier with the moors. Then they had a war, term was reconquista to get back the land from the moors, think he said. Ok, need to youtube this. Will try the restaurants you suggested to make it memorable and will definitely not miss the Cathedral

@orsonw Those are quite valuable links as they have eveything structured and we are passing through Malaga also and staying one night, really would love to go to all of them but we'll have to choose :(. Will see who's in town as you suggested close to that period, but seems like a cave it's a must.

@Goldwinghai La chumbera seems marvellous, that is quite a view. I have already checked it out on youtube :) Thank you

Thanks everyone, maybe I can do dinner in one of the restaurants and have some drinks in another place later to catch another show, but we will come again for sure...so will try to first of all to enjoy it

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 3 2023 0:27:21

Goldwinghai

Posts: 215
Joined: Mar. 17 2015
From: Virginia USA

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Sorin, I will be in Granada in November and happy to show you around.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 3 2023 3:22:54

sorin popovici

Posts: 427
Joined: Jan. 7 2005
From: Iasi, Romania

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to Goldwinghai)

Hey, thanks. I will message you once the trip gets closer, sounds like a plan ;)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 3 2023 22:41:25

ernandez R

Posts: 742
Joined: Mar. 25 2019
From: Alaska USA

RE: Granada travel tips (in reply to sorin popovici)

Salivating over this thread…

I’ve got this screwed up foot and the stairs of Granada are making me almost cry thinking I’ve been relegated to the flatlands of Spain ;)

I’ll figure it out.

Looks like Vermont for an early November birthday trip to see Lady Lamb, side train trip south to hug my daughter, a little further south to rub up against Andy’s BRW ( having him save me a set for a future build cause), then back up over the northern border to Montreal and perhaps sneak over to check on Rob cause. Say a prayer for me, and who knows Spain might be in the spring…

HR

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I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy,
doesn't have to be fast,
should have some meat on the bones,
can be raw or well done,
as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2023 3:17:22