If there was an award for one of the most beautiful places in Spain, the Alhambra in Granada would probably take home the gold.
A sprawling 14th century palace and fortress complex tucked away in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a trip to southern Spain would be incomplete without a visit the the Alhambra. I’ve been making regular pilgrimages to Granada since I was 16 years old, and I knew this summer I couldn’t skip it.
Especially since I had all new gear from Canon Australia to play with. I still can’t believe the first time I visited I used disposable cameras! Man, that feels old just writing that! Agh!
(More about what gear I am shooting with here)
It’s fiendishly difficult to get tickets to the Alhambra, and the Spanish websites are pretty messy, so I decided to hop on a skip-the-lines tour with Viator instead and miss out on all the complications of doing it independently.
The last time I was in Granada was 2011 when I was teaching English in Córdoba. I went with a friend for a weekend in the spring and I have such good memories of spending a day wandering around the Alhambra. The wisteria was blooming and the whole complex smelled like flowers.
Spring in Spain is all kinds of glorious.
As you guys probably have already picked up on over the years, I am not a fan of crowds or popular tourist attractions. That being said, the Alhambra will always be a special place for me, even though it’s like the Vegas of Spain.
You have to wonder even though they have a specific number of tickets sold per day to keep the number of tourists down, that number must be in the millions.
That being said, I found that if I was patient and took my time and waited, I could often get the photos I was looking for without people in them.
For me, Andalucía (southern Spain) is one of the most fascinating spots because of it’s eclectic and culturally diverse history, and Granada being the prime example of it. The Alhambra is a relic of Spain’s amazing past when Spain was occupied by the moors.
For me, it feels like east-meets-west and it remains a legacy of a bygone age.
There are few places like it left in the world, especially Europe. You have to visit if you get the chance!
It also reminds me of my very first trip to Spain in high school and when I fell in love with this part of the world. I can remember skipping through the gardens in the hot summer, drinking liters of water trying to stay cool and sneakily dipping my toes into the fountains everywhere when the guides weren’t looking.
Who knew that moment would inspire years of traveling and living in Spain for me?
Here are some of my favorite snaps from my recent trip to the Alhambra in Spain with Viator! Enjoy!
Have you ever been to the Alhambra? Is Spain on your bucketlist? Do you have a favorite place that is touristy?
Oh such gorgeous images Liz! You’ve inspired me to go to Spain. Wish our tourism authorities will have the foresight to “have a specific number of tickets sold per day to keep the number of tourists down” here in our tourist sites in Sri Lanka! What time do you think would be great to visit on a tour of the Alhambra?
I think the best time to visit is in the early morning or late afternoon
The Alhambra also always reminds me of my first time in Spain as a high schooler! It’s such a stunning spot.
I love that so many people had the same experience, it was life changing for me!
I visited The Alhambra a couple of years ago and it was one of my favorite parts of southern Spain. I’m planning to study abroad in Spain in 2 years and I can’t wait to visit it again. I’m also a fan of the Viator skip the line tours — to be honest, sometimes the tours aren’t as great as realizing that people had to stand in the heat for 2 hours while i had to stand for less than 3 minutes!
Beautiful photos!
Totally agree!
The Alhambra is still my all-time #1 favorite sight in Spain. I went there first in cold, rainy November and then came back in May and couldn’t get over how beautiful the whole complex was with all the spring flowers blooming (mainly the heavenly wisteria). Your wide-angle shots are the bomb, and major props to you for waiting so long to get tourist-free photos! That’s commitment!!!
haha yeah 😀 to be honest I never had to wait more than 5 minutes, so it’s really not so bad even in peak season!