Budget · 3-hour walk · Granada
The Albaicín in three hours
The riverside lane under the Alhambra, the Arab baths, the viewpoint every postcard is taken from, and the tea houses on the way down.
The Albaicín was the Moorish town before the Alhambra was built, and it still keeps the street plan of one: lanes too narrow and steep for cars, whitewashed walls hiding gardens, and a view across the Darro valley at every turn. This route climbs it from the bottom, along the river first and then up to the viewpoints, and comes down through the lanes of tea houses. Go in the morning or late afternoon; the climb is hard work in the summer heat.
The route, stop by stop
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Plaza Nueva
Granada's oldest square, laid out in the sixteenth century over the River Darro, which still runs in a tunnel beneath it. The Real Chancillería, the old royal court of appeal, closes its north side.
10 min here Walk here → -
El Bañuelo
Eleventh-century Arab baths on the Carrera del Darro, among the best preserved in Spain, with star-shaped skylights in the brick vaults. Entry is covered by the Alhambra's Dobla de Oro ticket.
20 min here Walk here → -
Paseo de los Tristes
The riverside walk below the Alhambra's northern walls, named after the funeral processions that once passed along it to the cemetery. The café terraces here look straight up at the Comares Tower.
15 min here Walk here → -
Mirador de San Nicolás
The terrace in front of the church of San Nicolás, looking across the valley at the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada behind. It is free and packed at sunset; the garden of the Great Mosque next door, opened in 2003, has the same view and fewer people.
30 min here Walk here → -
Plaza Larga
The market square of the upper Albaicín, with fruit and vegetable stalls in the mornings. The Arco de las Pesas, an eleventh-century gate in the Moorish wall, opens off one corner.
20 min here Walk here → -
Calle Calderería Nueva
The steep lane of teterías, Moroccan-style tea rooms, and shops of lamps and leather that runs down to Calle Elvira. Stop for mint tea and pastries at the end of the climb.
25 min here Walk here →
More walks in Granada
More in Granada
Every walking route in Granada, the full Granada guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.