The Alhambra is a city of palaces on the Sabika hill above Granada: residences, gardens and a fortress built by the Nasrid sultans from 1238 onwards, and later lived in by the Christian kings. The name comes from the Arabic al-Ḥamrāʼ, “the Red One”. Since 1984 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the Generalife.

One rule shapes the whole visit: you enter the Nasrid Palaces only at the time printed on your ticket. The Alcazaba, the Generalife and the Palace of Charles V you can wander whenever you like, from 8:30 until closing; at the palaces, the resellers warn, anyone who turns up late does not get in. The official tickets also sell out early, so it pays to buy them as soon as you have your dates.

What do you see, in the hour they let you into the palaces?

A city on the Sabika hill

The hill was inhabited before, but the Alhambra you visit was the work of a single dynasty. In 1238 Muhammad ibn Nasr took Granada and founded the Nasrid dynasty; for two and a half centuries he and his successors built the fortress here, along with the palaces of the court, the walls, the aqueduct and an urban quarter. The complex is about 740 metres long.

the alhambra on its hill above granada seen from the mirador de san nicolas, with red towers among the trees and mountains behind

There is more than one theory about the name. One ties it to the full name al-Qal’a al-hamra, “the red castle”; another derives it from the founder’s nickname, “the Red”, after the colour of his beard.

In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs completed the conquest of Granada, and the cross and the banner were raised on the Tower of Comares. The Alhambra became a residence of the kings of Castile, who added a convent, a church and a palace.

The Palace of Comares and the Court of the Myrtles

The route through the Nasrid Palaces starts in the Mexuar, the oldest hall, but at their heart are two palaces, and the first is the Palace of Comares. Ismail I, who reigned from 1314 to 1325, began it, Yusuf I continued it and Muhammad V finished it in 1370.

the patio de los arrayanes at the alhambra, with the long pool of water between two myrtle hedges and the tower of comares reflected at the far end

At the centre of the palace lies the Patio de los Arrayanes, the Court of the Myrtles: a pool that fills most of the courtyard, between two myrtle hedges that give the court its name. Stand at one end and look at the water: you will see the Tower of Comares reflected in it.

Inside the tower is the Salón de los Embajadores, the Hall of the Ambassadors, the largest and highest room in the palace. Look up: the cedarwood ceiling, inlaid with woods of different colours, represents the seven heavens of Islamic tradition, and there are one hundred and five stars.

the wooden ceiling of the salon de los embajadores at the alhambra, a great square of inlaid stars above arched windows and stucco walls

The Palace of the Lions

Muhammad V had the second palace built during his second reign, between 1362 and 1391. It was a palace in its own right, with its own entrance: the passage that now links it to Comares dates from the Catholic Monarchs.

Why are there twelve lions on the fountain?

Nobody knows for certain. The fountain is a marble basin held up by twelve lions, and there are three readings, none of them confirmed: the signs of the zodiac, the bronze sea of Solomon’s temple, which an inscription on the fountain refers to, and an image of paradise.

the patio de los leones at the alhambra, seen between the slender columns of the arcades, with the lion fountain in the middle

One thing, however, the restoration did settle. For a long time it was written that the lions came from an older palace, that of an eleventh-century vizier. The analyses carried out during the restoration say the opposite: lions and basin are fourteenth-century, of the same Macael marble and made together. The lions were taken down in 2007 and put back in place in July 2012.

The halls open off the courtyard. In the Hall of the Abencerrajes, which was the sultan’s bedchamber, look at the dome: it is made of mocárabes, the small honeycomb niches that hang from the ceiling like stalactites.

The Palace of Charles V

What is a square Renaissance palace with a round courtyard doing in the middle of the Nasrid palaces?

It is the signature of the new owner. Charles V decided to build it in 1526, the year of his wedding in Seville and of his stay in Granada, and gave the design to Pedro Machuca. Work began in 1533, and it was paid for with taxes levied on the moriscos, the converted Muslims, in exchange for permission to keep some of their customs.

the round courtyard of the palace of charles v at the alhambra, with its two-storey stone colonnade and paved floor

The Alcazaba and the Generalife

The Alcazaba, the citadel, is the military part of the complex, with its walls and towers.

The Generalife is something else: the sultans’ villa with its gardens. An inscription says that Ismail I had it remodelled in 1319. Its main courtyard is the Patio de la Acequia, with a long water channel down the middle.

the patio de la acequia in the generalife, with the water channel between flower beds, the fountain jets, white arcades and a bougainvillea in flower

The jets of water that cross above the channel, though, are not Nasrid: they were added in the nineteenth century. Originally there was probably a single fountain in the middle.

Which ticket to choose

The official ticket to buy is the general day visit, which includes the Nasrid Palaces. The gardens-only ticket costs less and does not include them: it is the right ticket only if you have already seen the palaces.

Away from the official website, check what you are buying. On Tiqets the Alhambra skip-the-line ticket costs 16 euros and covers the Alcazaba, the Generalife, the Palace of Charles V and the Partal, but the Nasrid Palaces are an option you choose when you buy, together with the time slot. The guided tour with the Nasrid Palaces already includes them, and lasts three hours.

Resellers ask for the name and ID number of every visitor: bring your passport or ID card with you.

Practical information

Details checked on 29 October 2026 on the official website, alhambra-patronato.es. Prices and opening hours change: check again before you leave.

TicketsThe general day visit costs 22.27 euros online and covers the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces, the Generalife, the Palace of Charles V and the bath of the mosque. The ticket for the gardens and the Generalife palace costs 12.73 euros. The night visit to the Nasrid Palaces costs 12.73 euros, the night visit to the gardens 8.48. The reduced rate is for European Union residents over 65, Youth Card holders and people with a disability of 33% or more: the document must be shown at the ticket office when you collect the ticket and on the day of the visit, and without it you pay full price.
BookingTickets are sold online until 23:59 the day before, with a maximum of ten per person. You enter the Nasrid Palaces only at the time printed on the ticket; the rest of the complex can be visited from 8:30 until closing.
Opening hoursFrom 15 October to 31 March the Alhambra opens every day from 8:30 to 18:00, from 1 April to 14 October from 8:30 to 20:00. The night visit to the Nasrid Palaces runs from 15 October to 31 March on Fridays and Saturdays from 20:00 to 21:30, and from 1 April to 14 October from Tuesday to Saturday from 22:00 to 23:30.
ClosuresThe Alhambra is closed on 25 December and 1 January.
Free admissionChildren under 12 go in free, but their ticket must be booked together with the adults’ tickets.
Getting thereThe entrance is on Calle Real de la Alhambra, on the hill above the centre of Granada.
BookThe Alhambra, skip the lineBook the AlhambraAffiliate links

After the Alhambra, the stop that explains it best is the Mezquita of Córdoba, the other great monument of al-Andalus. In Seville, the Real Alcázar shows what a Christian king made with craftsmen who also came from Granada. And in Zaragoza there is another Islamic palace that became a Christian royal residence, the Aljafería.

Photographs from Wikimedia Commons: the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolás, by Jebulon, public domain; the Court of the Lions and the Patio de los Arrayanes, by Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0; the ceiling of the Salón de los Embajadores, by José Luiz, CC BY-SA 3.0; the Patio de la Acequia, by Jebulon, CC0; the courtyard of the Palace of Charles V, by José Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY-SA 4.0.