Granada Pro Tips
In this article we will cover some helpful Granada pro tips. The intention is to share some of our personal experiences to make your life a tiny bit easier when visting our favorite city and home. We are always adding to this, especially the tapas (favorite eating spots) section. Click on a word below to hop directly to that section.
Siesta
Siesta is a very real thing! While some shops and restaurants in the center will stay open all day, most places close for siesta. For stores, that means approximately 2pm to 6pm. And for restaurants it’s like 4pm to 8pm.
This means a few things:
-Generally don’t expect to get anything like banking or shopping done after 2PM and before 6PM. And for some shops and banks Summer hours are only 10-2pm and they don’t open in the evening.
-Most grocery stores close for siesta, but many convenience stores will stay open and also Carrefour Express (groceries) locations in the center will stay open all day.
-It’s hard to get a meal between 4pm and 8pm. After lunch, most restaurants don’t open their kitchens until 8PM. This is less true in the center, where quite a few places stay open because of the many tourists, but you might want to check before heading to a restaurant for dinner.
Eating Pro Tips
Breakfast (Desayuno)
A typical Spanish breakfast is coffee and a tostada. A tostada is just bread, like a Spanish baguette, so the fun and personal part is what you choose to have on your tostada. You can have anything from just olive oil (aceite) or butter (mantequilla) to, depending on the spot, salmon and avocado. Common orders include cheese or jamón serrano (like prosciutto but a little stronger) or both together – so you’d order con queso, con jamón, or con queso y jamón. It’s also very common to get a tostada con tomate, by which they mean a crushed tomato pulp that they spread on the bread. So if you order a tostada con jamón they might ask you “con tomate?” as it’s kind of assumed that you’d have that.
Also, they may ask if you want “media” or “entera,” meaning do you want half or a whole one. And sometimes they’ll say media o una, which is the same question. So if you want a half you’d say, for example, “media con tomate y queso” and if you want the whole thing you’d ask for “una entera con aceite y jamón.” You don’t even have to use the word Tostada 🙂
Tapas Explained
Unlike the rest of Spain, restaurants and bars in Granada will serve a pretty significant tapa which is included (free) with your drink order. Depending on the spot, the tapa could be as small as a little piece of bread with something on it, or as much as a small plate of paella or fried fish. In most cases you don’t have a choice of tapa – you get what you get – but it’s becoming more common for places to ask if you eat meat or even to give you a choice (still not very common).
The exceptions are that if the kitchen is closed – generally from 4pm to 8pm or very late at night – you may get something less interesting, like a plate of potato chips or some olives. But if you get to know the places that serve tapas all day you can eat well without ever ordering a meal!
Also – tapas are assumed if you order a beer or wine, and usually also if you order a soft drink or sparkling water. However, if you order a stronger drink it’s common not to be offered a tapa. It seems to be a new thing to offer candy or candy and nuts when you order a gin and tonic, but that’s generally in the kind of place that specializes in gin and tonics.
Raciones
A “ración” is a big plate of a single thing, generally served with no sides. Often you can order a Media Ración (half portion) or Entera – the same principle as the tostada. If you’re with a bunch of friends and want to eat family style, you can order a couple of Raciones and share. Kind of like ordering Chinese food in the States. Raciones can be anything from Calamares (fried squid) to Carne en Salsa (meat in sauce), Alitas (chicken wings) or anything really.
Favorite Eating Spots (with map links)
*** Many places close certain days of the week and/or close for siesta (no food from 4 – 8pm), so you should check if they’re open before heading out.***
Bodegas Castañeda – link
This is the exception to the rule as this place is usually open during siesta! So Pro Tip as this place is generally very crowded, the secret here is to just brave the crowd or to go during off-peak hours (from about 4pm to 7pm). The actual tapas are pretty good, but what’s fantastic is stuff that would be considered tapas in the US (but which you pay for). We recommend the Montaditos, and especially the Bacalao Macerado. Also they have some great local Vermouth which is very refreshing.
Bar Los Diamantes – link
This is a fried fish spot that has a few locations around the center of Granada. The tapas are generous and unlike some places, the tapas consist of actual menu items. The raciones are also quite big and it’s some of the best fried fish we’ve had.
Bar Los Altramuces – link
Hungry but want to save some money? This place has huge tapas! Maybe they prioritize quantity over quality just a bit, but the tapas are actually pretty good, and the food from the menu is great typical Spanish fare. It’s located in Campo del Principe in the Realejo neighborhood, very close to the Center. The tables outside fill up fast, but there’s almost always a table inside, which can be nice when it gets hot out.
Ras Cafe Bar – link
Located on the Carrera del Darro very close to the Peña la Plateria, this place has great tapas, and one of the best Tortillas Españolas in town. It’s one of our favorite spots, and the menu is also great. Don’t let the name fool you though, it’s not a café but rather a bar/restaurant. Tell Fernando we sent you.
Taberna Jerez – link
Located in the Realejo, Jerez always has flamenco playing and lets you choose your tapa. We recommend the Jamón Asado, but they’re all really really good. It’s hard to get a table, but who cares?
Peña La Platería – link
Though they don’t do flamenco during the summer months of July or August (except for shows associated with the Guitar Festival), the bar and restaurant are generally open to the public and the tapas are surprisingly good. You might just get a mini bocadillo, but also might get something inspired (like asparagus wrapped in bacon and fried!). Come for the flamenco and stay for the tapas. Or the other way around.
Buying a Guitar
Granada probably has more guitar makers than anywhere else in the world, and yet it’s not as easy as you might think to buy a guitar here. The reason is that almost all makers are one-person operations that make just a couple of guitars at a time, and most of the guitars are made to order. This means that it’s not so common for a maker to have a finished guitar lying around for you to try, much less to buy. And oddly enough, there is no Guitarra Center here where you can try out the guitars of the various makers.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find a guitar, just that it’s not something you can count on. Your best bet is to get in touch with a few makers before you arrive to see if anyone will have a guitar for sale or perhaps one for you to try so you can decide if you want to order one.
Student models – less expensive ones made in larger workshops – are a different matter. There still aren’t as many shops as you might expect, but there are certainly a few. In Granada you aren’t likely to find any of the bigger names like Alhambra or Esteve or Camps, but you can find very decent flamencos for a lot less than luthier-made ones. And we always recommend that while here you take the guitar to a maker to get a great setup, which can make all the difference. Ask us and we can put you in touch with someone who can do that work while you’re here.
Getting Around
Granada is a walking city, but there are a lot of hills, and it gets hot. So we understand if you want alternatives to walking. There are three main alternatives: city buses, taxis, and the hop-on-hop-off bus. Rideshare is starting to be a thing here, but we haven’t had great experiences and wouldn’t count on it, especially for anything that’s time-sensitive. There are buses that go all over the city, including into the Albaicin, and many buses leave from Plaza Nueva. You can check out the bus routes here. For the center, including the Albaicín, Alhambra, Sacromonte and Realejo, you’ll be looking at the C30, C31, C32, C34 and C35 routes.
Taxis are really quite affordable in Granada, so we won’t judge you if you choose to take a very short cab ride to avoid a very hot walk up a long hill!
La Alhambra
If you’re in Granada you really don’t want to miss visiting the Alhambra – it’s just spectacular. But tickets need to be bought well in advance.
Tickets:
This is the official site for buying tickets.
Any other site is a reseller and will be more expensive. That said, resellers may have availability if the official site is sold out for the day you want.
We highly recommend you get the “Alhambra General” tickets, This includes scheduled entry to the Nasrid Palace, which we consider a must-see. Also included in the ticket are access to the rest of the Alhambra, including the Carlos V palace and the Generalife gardens.
If tickets are not available you can still wander around lots of the outside and even parts of the inside of the Alhambra, but there are certain parts you won’t be allowed to visit without a ticket.
Free areas include:
-Alcazaba: The oldest part of the Alhambra, the Alcazaba is a fortress area with towers offering panoramic views of Granada and the surrounding countryside. Access to the Alcazaba is included in the general admission ticket to the Alhambra, but there are some areas within it that you can visit for free.
-Plaza de los Aljibes: This large courtyard area, located near the entrance of the Alhambra, is free to enter and offers beautiful views of the Nasrid Palaces and the city of Granada.
-Gardens and outdoor areas: While some of the gardens within the Alhambra complex require a ticket for entry, there are also many outdoor spaces and gardens that are free to visit. These areas are perfect for leisurely strolls and enjoying the scenic beauty of the Alhambra.
