Friday Favorites: Granada Top 5

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The final city on our Spanish honeymoon before we traveled back to Madrid was Granada. Although we were in Granada less time than any other city in Spain, we packed a whole lot into our time there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out our favorite sights in Granada below!

Royal Chapel & Tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella – We didn’t arrive in Granada until midday, so we decided it was a good time to do some informal exploring. One of the spots we knew we wanted to visit was the Royal Chapel and since that didn’t seem like it would take too much time, we decided to do that first thing. We kind of felt like we had done the whole Cathedral thing in Sevilla so this seemed a little more low key. It totally escaped me that part of our tour of the Royal Chapel would include the actual coffins of Ferdinand and Isabella. I was so taken aback by actually seeing their coffins, and unlike the tomb of Columbus, there is no controversy about these remains.

Sunset over Alhambra – This was something we had read about and knew that we wanted to try to take it in on one of our evenings in Granada, so we hoofed it up to the San Nicolas terrace which faces the Alhambra hilltop. We arrived a good bit before sunset, so we decided to relax with beers and a tapa before the sun began to sink in the sky. Our beer experiences in Spain were really mediocre, but sometimes, you just want a cold one instead of a glass of wine and this time, it really fit the bill, but the tapa was outstanding! The anchovies were lightly breaded and fried and served with a side of olives. Then, we stepped over to the terrace to watch the sun sink over the castle. It was a magical moment and the downhill walk back to our hotel was refreshing!

Alhambra – It seems kind of like cheating to list Alhambra as simply one thing to see in Granada! The grounds are huge and include multiple buildings that have been used for different purposes over the years. Alhambra is also one of the first sights you can’t help but see when you arrive in central Granada. Sitting on an impressive hill overlooking the city, it immediately impresses. Alhambra is the last and greatest Moorish palace in Spain. Originally constructed as a fortress at the end of the 9th century, it became a palace in the 13th century and an additional palace structure for Charles V was constructed in the earlier part of the 16th century.

It really is a breathtaking place to visit! We wanted to allow ourselves plenty of time for our visit, so we had an early breakfast at our hotel before we began the trek up to the grounds on foot. It was quite the climb! In fact, we stopped about halfway up for a cup of cafe con leche and a break to give our legs a rest.

We started our tour with Palacios Nazaries. To visit this part of the grounds, you need to buy a ticket with a specific 30-minute window of time. Considering Alhambra gets upward of 8,000 visitors each day, we opted to purchase our tickets before we visited so we wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to get in the gates.

One of the big selling points in the Palacios Nazaries is the Courtyard of the Myrtles, but the spot I really fell in love with here was the Courtyard of the Lions. Some of the setup of the two courtyards is similar, but the foliage in the Courtyard of the Lions set against the white marble and the fountain of the lions really just blew me away. I still go back to those photos when I’m reminiscing about our trip.

The big difference between Alhambra and the palace we visited in Sevilla is style. Alhambra is pure in its Moorish form whereas Alcazar in Sevilla uses the Mudejar style which combines elements of Islamic and Christian art forms. Both were gorgeous but had a totally different feel!

The other sights not to be missed on the Alhambra grounds are Charles V’s Palace, which was constructed in a Renaissance style, but was never totally finished after his death. It houses some great artwork! You’ll also want to spend some time walking around the Alcazaba. The ruins that are here date to the 13th century, but the original structures were probably there since the Roman times when the hilltop first became a fortress. It’s just sort of surreal to be walking among structures from that time.

Olive Oil tour – This is one of those things that we came across, but we weren’t entirely sure we were going to do, but then someone gifted us the cost of the olive oil tour for that specific purpose and we decided to go for it! We were picked up in a plaza close to our hotel by a driver who was to take us out to the site of the tour. When he arrived, he informed us that we would be picking up one additional guest on the way and off we went. It was a bit strange to be sitting in the car of a stranger who was whisking us through the Spanish countryside for our excursion, but it turned out to be a lovely experience. We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some trees, tour a 15th century olive oil mill, and take part in an olive oil (and sherry) tasting. We ended up bringing back several bottles of oil, a lovely jar of olives, and a lovely bottle of sherry. It was an afternoon well-spent for two self-proclaimed foodies!

Albayzin – Not so much a site or a one-stop attraction as the others on this list, the Albayzin is the old Arab quarter in Granada. We spent a good deal of time wandering the Albayzin during our time in Granada. Our hotel was located here and the walk up to San Nicolas terrace to see the sunset took us to the highest levels of the Albayzin. The streets are narrow and there are few cars driving through the quarter. There are a number of shops and restaurants serving Middle Eastern food throughout the quarter. It was wonderful to wander the streets and just get to really experience the historical connection between Granada and the Middle East.

Eating
– Speaking of the connection between Granada and the Middle East, we stumbled upon a wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant when we decided to dine at Arrayanes on our final night in Granada. The menu included a number of tasty sounding dishes, but in the end we decided on a chicken curry couscous and Moroccan lamb meatballs. Both were delicious. The chicken curry dish reminded us of a favorite vegetarian couscous dish we make at home and the meatballs were tender and flavorful. We enjoyed them so much, we have even made attempts to recreate them at home on a couple of occasions. Everything was served with Moroccan bread which made our attempts to finish every last bit of the sauce with the meatballs a little easier! The meal was outstanding!

Hotel
Casa del Capitel Nazari – We also loved our hotel in Granada! Casa del Capitel Nazari is actually a Renaissance palace from the early 16th century. Our room was slightly smaller than the one from our hotel in Sevilla but it was just as nice. We also took advantage of the breakfast that was provided with the cost of our room both mornings and it was both convenient and tasty. The only thing that could make this hotel challenging is that is not easily accessible by car. Our taxi had to drop us at the end of an alley to make our way up to the hotel, but that was the same as in Sevilla. It isn’t a far walk, but it is a little walk nonetheless, so if you haven’t packed lightly, that could be a concern. Still and all, it was a great place to stay and in a wonderful location! We were very happy to have selected it.

So, that was our Spanish honeymoon. Our stays in Madrid, Sevilla, and Granada were all outstanding! I really hope to get back to Spain sometime in the not too distant future!

Be sure to check out more Friday Favorites over at Momfessionals! You can also check out more travel posts and join a great Facebook group by visiting Weekend Wanderlust!