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.

Carrera del Darro

The Carrera del Darro is often called the most beautiful street in Granada, and it is easy to see why. It follows the little river Darro along a narrow, cobbled course at the foot of the Alhambra hill, crossed by old stone bridges, lined with Renaissance mansions, crumbling churches, and the odd tea house, with the towers and walls of the Alhambra rising through the trees directly above. The river is small and green and half hidden, and the whole street has a romantic, timeworn feel, one of those places that looks exactly as it must have for centuries. Along the way you pass old treasures, among them the Banuelo, a beautifully preserved set of eleventh-century Arab baths, one of the oldest and best-kept in Spain, well worth a look inside. Walk slowly here and look up often, at the bridges, the balconies, and the fortress overhead. This is the seam between the two Granadas, the Christian city on one bank and the Moorish hill on the other. Follow the street as it runs east along the water, opening out at its far end into a wider, tree-lined stretch beneath the palace walls.

Paseo de los Tristes

The riverside street opens into the Paseo de los Tristes, a broad and handsome promenade along the Darro directly beneath the walls of the Alhambra, which loom dramatically overhead from here, floodlit and golden after dark. The odd name, the Walk of the Sad Ones, comes from the funeral processions that once passed along it on the way to the cemetery beyond, but there is nothing sad about it today, lined as it is with lively terraces where people sit for a drink under the fortress. It is one of the best places in the city to sit and gaze up at the Alhambra, so close you can pick out the individual towers. This is the turning point of the walk, the lowest and easternmost stretch, and from here the route leaves the river and begins to climb, heading up into the steep white lanes of the Albaicin. Fortify yourself with a drink if you like, because the ascent starts now. Take one of the stepped lanes that lead up from the promenade, and start winding your way up through the old Moorish quarter toward its famous viewpoint.

Mirador de San Nicolás

The climb up through the Albaicin, the old Moorish quarter of steep cobbled lanes and whitewashed houses, ends at the Mirador de San Nicolas, and the view from its terrace is the reason people come to Granada. From the low wall in front of the little church, the whole of the Alhambra spreads out across the valley in front of you, the long red-gold palace and fortress strung along its ridge with the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada rising behind it, a view so perfect it hardly looks real. It is widely held to be the finest view in the city and one of the great views in all of Spain, and it is especially magical in the last hour of daylight, when the setting sun turns the Alhambra to fire and a hush falls over the crowd on the terrace. There is usually a guitarist playing and a scattering of people sharing the moment, and the atmosphere is part of the magic. You have earned it with the climb. Find a spot on the wall, sit for a long while, and watch the light change on the palace across the valley. After the cathedral, the river, and the climb through the old quarter, there is no better place in Granada to end a walk.

Why walk it

Granada is a city that only gives itself up on foot, its two halves stitched together by lanes and stairways far too steep and narrow for anything on wheels. Walking is the only way to feel the strange, wonderful doubleness of the place, to step from a Renaissance cathedral into a Moorish silk market, to follow a hidden river beneath a Moorish fortress, to climb through a white Andalusian village that happens to sit inside a Spanish city. The Alhambra is always there above you, so you can hardly lose your way for long, and the best moments come from wandering off the route into the maze of the Albaicin. Save the climb for the golden hour, wear good shoes, and stop for a free tapa on the way up. If you would rather not make the climb alone, open the Walk With Me live map to see who else is out walking Granada, and share the sunset over the Alhambra with a little company.