Planning accommodation in Granada

Activities (plan in progress)

Apart from the wedding, we want to organize some activities to share more time with all of you that are willing to stay a bit longer in Granada. When dates are getting closer we will give more details and ask you to confirm if you are participating in any of them.

Wednesday 17^th: Tapas crawl! We will start about 8 pm and try to complete the 12 tapas challenge in the downtown bars. Prepare your stomachs and livers!

Saturday 20^th: Post-wedding Paella Party. Starting around 15 h.

Sunday 21^st: Day trip to Alpujarra or Costa del Sol.

Accommodation

Apartments. There are many nice apartments to rent in the city center and the nearby Albayzin (alternative spelling Albaicin) neighborhood. Albayzin is a lovely area in a hill with views to the Alhambra castle, so most of you probably would like to stay in this part of the town. Just a few things to be aware:

- It is a hill, which means that distances in google maps could be deceiving. I recommend to pick places limited to the area south of Cuesta Alhacaba and west of Cuesta del Chapiz if you don’t want to climb up and down for half an hour every time you want to go to the center. Elvira street has many night bars on it, so if you want a quiet place don’t get something right in that street.

- Plaza Nueva, which is in the valley, will be our meeting point for activities the days around the wedding. We are staying very near to Plaza Nueva, in the hill of the Alhambra.

- Also, in Albayzin streets are not only steep but also paved with small stones, better go for comfortable shoes. Even those girls really skilled in wearing high heels will find it challenging. Just put some comfy shoes in the handbag  to get home! 

- Some streets are very narrow (like 1 meter wide!), and therefore dark and scary at night. It is not really a dangerous area, but better go for relatively “large” streets (those that can fit at list one car :)) or locations really near to one of these streets.

Other neighborhoods also recommended are: Realejo-San Matias and the streets around the Cathedral and Plaza del Carmen.

Sacromonte neighborhood, although quite a special place to visit during the day, is not recommended as a place to stay. It is a steep hill, but even further from the city center and at a night could be a bit dangerous to walk around. 

Some websites offering nice apartments are: www.airbnb.com; www.veoapartament.com

Hotels: We will post later a short list, we are hoping to get some special price for the wedding.

Moving around

Granada city center is rather small, almost everything is walking distance. Also, be aware that many streets are very very narrow, finding a place to park could be a daily challenge and in some areas traffic is restricted to only taxis and locals. Therefore we recommend to forget about renting a car, at least the days you are planning to stay in Granada. It could be of course handy to have a car if you are planning to visit small towns and the andalusian countryside. If your plan is to visit main famous cities (Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada), buses and trains might be also a good comfortable option, as these cities also have packed city centers with nightmare parking.

On the day of the wedding, we will organize buses and taxis to take you to the wedding venue.

What to do in the town

•  Alhambra. It is the most visited monument in Spain! Better book your tickets in advanced through www.ticketmaster.es. The “Alhambra General” ticket is probably the best choice. The visit might take you around 4 hours (no less than 3 hours), so better book half of your day for it. T:  Access to the Nasrid Palace is only allowed at a particular time (you chose it when buying the tickets), so it is important not to miss it. For the rest of the monument and gardens you can chill out and visit any time of the day you have the tickets for (opening hours from 8:30 to 20:00). 
•  Albayzin. Just get lost in the maze of its streets, but make sure that you end up in Mirador de San Nicolas, where you have the most astonishing views of the Alhambra. 
• Turkish baths Hammam Al Andalus. http://www.hammamalandalus.com/ Really beautiful spa decorated as if you were in the baths of the Alhambra. Perfect plan for relaxing after the visit to the monument. It is necessary to book in advance, swimming clothes are mandatory (they sell standard sizes over there). They have prices for groups. 
• Tapas Tapas Tapas. Of course this is Spain and that means TAPAS. But some special rules work in Granada: First and golden rule, tapas are free! It comes for free with any softdrink, beer or wine that you order. Second, if the bar tender forgets to serve you a tapa, you have the right to claim it (yes, even giving him an angry look). Third, if you order a large tapa from the menu (Raciones) or you order a meal as in a Restaurant, the free tapa is tacitly cancelled (so…be patient!). Fourth, even though it is a “gift” of the house, in many places they have a menu of tapas to choose, but others they just have a “first”, a “second”, etc and usually bests tapas are 2^nd or 3rds (a good trick to make the clients to order more drinks)
•  Teterias. They are Moroccan-style tea shops located in the streets Caldereria Nueva and Caldereria Vieja. Not only for teas but also good fruit and milk shakes and even Shishas. The time to go is from 5 to 9 pm.