Alhambra

The Alhambra is the jewel of ancient Moorish Spain and is one of the country's major attractions and national treasure. It is an oasis of splendor set against the backdrop of mountains and the city of Granada. Alhambra is one of 851 sites worldwide on UNESCO's World Heritage preservation list and is the main tourist attraction in  Granada.

Tickets and admission

Tickets are sold by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, the public body that runs the monument, and its own ticket site is the official channel — resellers charge more for the same allocation. Demand is high enough that booking when you plan the trip, rather than on arrival, is the difference between seeing the Nasrid Palaces and not seeing them.

What each ticket costs

• Monumental Complex, general day tour — €22.27. Covers the Alhambra, the Nasrid Palaces, the Generalife, the Palace of Charles V and the Bath of the Mosque.
• Gardens and Generalife, day tour — €12.73. The gardens without the Nasrid Palaces.
• Night tour to the Nasrid Palaces — €12.73.
• Night tour to the gardens — €8.48.
• Dobla de Oro — €30.48, or €23.06 at night. Adds the Andalusi monuments in the city below.
• Andalusian Monuments visit — €8.48.

Collecting the ticket

Tickets must be collected at least one hour before the time marked for the Nasrid Palaces. They can be printed at home or carried as a QR code, but when they are drawn from a ticket office, a dispenser or a terminal, the person who booked has to collect them with the identity document used for the booking. Children under 12 go free, and their tickets must be acquired at the same time as the paying ones rather than at the gate.

Opening hours

The monumental complex opens 08.30–20.00 from 1 April to 14 October and 08.30–18.00 from 15 October to 31 March, every day of the week. Night visits to the Nasrid Palaces run 22.00–23.30 Tuesday to Saturday in summer, and 20.00–21.30 on Friday and Saturday from 15 October.

The timed entry to the Nasrid Palaces

The Nasrid Palaces are the one part of the Alhambra you cannot drift into when it suits you: the tour can only take place during the time printed on the ticket. Tickets have to be collected at least an hour before that time, and when they are drawn from a ticket office or a dispenser they must be collected by the same person who made the booking, showing the identity document used for it.