Granada Walking Tour: A Self-Guided Albaicin and Cathedral Route

Granada is two cities in one, the grand Christian city of the cathedral and the old Moorish town climbing the hills, and the whole place is watched over by the Alhambra glowing on its ridge above. This self-guided Granada walking tour weaves between those two worlds, from the golden cathedral quarter down along a hidden river and up into the whitewashed lanes of the old Moorish Albaicin, ending at the most famous view in Spain. It is one of the most atmospheric self-guided walking tours you can do, under three kilometers, though it saves a real climb for the end. Wear good shoes for the cobbles and the hill, bring water, and time it so you reach the top for the late afternoon, when the Alhambra turns to gold.

Before you set off

Set aside two or three hours, more if you stop for tapas along the way, which in Granada come free with every drink and are a genuine local institution. The route is mostly gentle until the final stretch, a real climb up into the Albaicin to the viewpoint, so wear comfortable shoes with grip for the steep, cobbled, and often uneven lanes. Granada sits high and can be hot in summer and surprisingly cold in winter, so check the day and bring a layer. The lower town around the cathedral is easy to navigate, but the Albaicin is a genuine maze of twisting lanes with no logic to them, and getting a little lost up there is part of the pleasure, since every corner turns up another white house, another hidden square, another glimpse of the Alhambra. Try to time your arrival at the top for the hour or two before sunset, the golden hour when the Alhambra lights up across the valley, but arrive early enough to get a good spot, because you will not be the only one with the idea. And do pause for a coffee or a cold beer and its free tapa on the way up, the local way to break a walk.

Cathedral, Royal Chapel and Alcaicería

Begin in the heart of the lower town, the dense and golden quarter around the great cathedral, where several of the city's treasures sit within a few steps of each other. Start in the Plaza Bib-Rambla, a wide, cheerful square full of flower stalls, cafes, and a central fountain, once used for jousts and markets and even executions in centuries past, and today one of the nicest spots in the city to sit with a coffee. Just off it runs the Alcaiceria, a warren of narrow lanes that was the old Moorish silk market, now packed with small shops selling lamps, ceramics, and spices, a colorful echo of the great bazaar that once stood here. A few steps on rises the Granada Cathedral, a vast Renaissance church of soaring white columns and light, built over the city's old mosque after the Christian conquest as a statement of the new order. Attached to it is the Royal Chapel, the Capilla Real, a jewel of late Gothic architecture built to hold the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, who completed the reconquest of Spain here and lie buried in this very spot. Take your time in this rich cluster of square, market, and monuments, then head northeast out of the lanes toward the square where the two halves of the city meet.

Plaza Nueva

You come out into Plaza Nueva, the oldest square in the modern city and the great hinge of Granada, the point where the flat Christian lower town meets the rising Moorish hills. Despite the name, which means New Square, it is centuries old, laid out over the covered river that still runs beneath your feet. On one side stands the grand Renaissance facade of the old chancellery court, and the square is lined with busy cafe terraces looking up toward the wooded hill of the Alhambra, which now appears above you for the first time. This is where the city gathers, and it makes a natural place to pause and get your bearings before the climb begins. From here two famous streets branch off, one climbing into the Albaicin and one following the river toward the foot of the Alhambra, and you will take the river route first. Have a look up at the towers on the ridge, then leave the square at its eastern corner, where a narrow street sets off alongside a small stone-banked river into the oldest part of the city.