My 10 Favourite Destinations: Number 7

I find it really hard to decide which order my favourite places are in but always associate it with how happy I was in that destination, how much there is to do there and whether the hype matches reality. Honestly I normally like all places I go because my love of travelling makes me seek new adventures,  meet new people and do the things that interest me. Not everyone will agree with this being fairly low on my list but there are 6 other places that I loved more

Enough rambling, here is mi número siete ( a little hint!) :

Granada, tierra soñada por mí! ( literally Granada, a land I have dreamt of)

This wasn't so much a choice of destination, my languages university course involved spending a year here at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation. Everyone around me would tell me I was so lucky to be going there for a year but to begin with I wasn't overly keen on this city. But now, as I look through my photos, I realized I have many happy memories from here.

Why I love Granada:

- You get free tapas when you buy a drink and they are scrumptious ( this doesn't happen in most parts of Spain).

- It's near the mountains and it's near the beach. It's a win-win situation

- It's a vibrant city with lots to do for young people. There are plenty of bars where you can have a quiet drink and many clubs open until 6am!

- It's steeped in history, lots of interesting places to visit and see. Even my Faculty was an old, beautiful building. This is it below:

What to do:

1. Obviously, first on my list is to spend a day at the famous Alhambra Palace. It is essential to buy a ticket in advance, you can't just show up as it is very unlikely you will be lucky enough to get in. The walk there is up a steep hill but if you aren't in a rush and the weather is nice, I would recommend it. If not, there are shuttle buses that take you up or I think the taxi is quite cheap too. There is so much to see and I would recommend buying a ticket that lets you in to see everything such as the Patio of the Lions (pictured below) . From certain points, you get wonderful views of the city.

2. Go to the Parque García Lorca- wonderful for taking walks around. This is where Garcia Lorca's family home is situated and is worthwhile seeing.

3. If you like religious places, visit the Cathedral located on Gran Vía. You can see it in the picture above and it is a very nice building. I have never been in as it was always booked up.

4. Go to Calle Elvira and experience the nightlife- many good times were had in this area. If you like clubs, then I recommend Granada 10. This is where we usually ended up as it has Erasmus nights every week. If you are a student, this is a must!
 
5. Spend a day at Sierra Nevada. You can get a bus from the main Bus Station. Even if you don't like skiing, it is well worth a visit. The resort is wonderful and there are areas where you can do sledging if you don't like skiing and there are many fabulous restaurants. Here is one of my photos but it does not do it justice:

6. Spend a day at Salobreña, a village made up of white houses. Take a walk up to the Castle, which is situated at the very top and offers fantastic views. Then walk back down to Playa de la Charcha or Playa de la Guardia. I always preferred the first one as it was quiet and peaceful. There is a great wee bar there called The Rocks.

El peñón ( the rock) - Playa de la Charcha

 

Salobreña Castle

 

 

We also spent a day at Almuñecar beach but I wouldn't recommend it really. The beach is made of stones which makes it uncomfortable to lie and when we were there it was really windy. Plus, there wasn't much else to do there.

 



7. Visit the Alpujarra villages. This is an absolute must even though the drive there is horrific and full of windy roads. Just don't look out the windows and you will be fine. My friend Lily and I spent 2 days up in these villages. We got off the bus at Lanjaron, a cute little village on the way there. Mainly we got off because this is where Lanjaron water is made but it turns out it's just an ugly factory.

Next we went to Capileira, the highest village in the Alpujarras. We stayed at Hostal Atalaya which I really recommend. We took a look around the village and visited the Pedro Alarcon museum, who was a famous Spanish writer.

There wasn't much to do at night so we took a walk down to Bubion, another village that we had passed on the way up and we knew it had a bar. We went into bar Fuenfría ( I only know this because my friend takes photos of everything). We met some people there who told us there was a party at the Casa de Cultura. So we spent the evening there dancing and drinking with total strangers but they were very welcoming. The only problem was we had to walk back up to Capileira which is a half hour walk when you are sober and longer when you are drunk and it's dark. I don't recommend this part.

The next day we went back down to Bubion to see it properly in the daylight, it's really pretty. Both villages are all whitewashed and there is a pretty little town square and church. From here we were to walk down to Pampaneira which we could see was a fair trek from Bubion on a really warm day. So we made a shortcut down the hillside. Pampaneira is nice for having a meal in, it has some great restaurants and great for buying souvenirs. I wouldn't spend a lot of time in the Alpujarras unless you have a car. Two days was more than plenty for us, even including all our adventures!

8. Take a tour bus around Granada. I did this in my final week there and was astounded by how many different places I hadn't seen such as the Plaza de Toros and the old University. Even if you don't get off the bus, it's great to experience Granada fully.

9. If you are a student, go to a botellón. In certain areas, you are allowed to drink outside and groups of people congregate here before going on to clubs.

10. Visit Nerja, another coastal town which has very nice beaches and is like a typical tourist town. I spent a week here with my family and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are probably lots of other things to do in Granada but here are my main ones. I was lucky enough to have lots of time to explore Granada and the surrounding areas. It is somewhere I will definitely return in the future and which is suitable for all. Hope you have enjoyed reading my post and if you have any suggestions for Granada please leave a comment for others,

Nikki

P.S. all photos are my own in all of my blog posts. I would never post information about somewhere I haven't been.