Where to Stay in Granada

The commercial heart around the cathedral, the Royal Chapel and the old silk-market lanes of the Alcaiceria, spreading out to the wide Gran Via and Plaza Nueva. Ordinary city streets, plenty of hotels, and the point from which every other district is a short walk.

Good to know: The practical choice and the one to take if you arrive with a suitcase, since the Albaicin above it is stepped and largely car-free. Less atmospheric than the old quarters, and the streets nearest Gran Via get traffic noise. Plaza Nueva at the eastern edge is the best position in the district.

The old Moorish town climbing the hill opposite the Alhambra, a UNESCO-listed maze of white houses, walled gardens and cobbled lanes too narrow for cars. The Mirador de San Nicolas at the top gives the view of the Alhambra against the Sierra Nevada that put the city on postcards.

Good to know: Beautiful and genuinely hard work. Streets are steep, stepped and cobbled, taxis stop at the edge, and small minibuses do the rest. Wonderful if you travel light and are staying a few nights; a poor idea with a heavy case, bad knees or small children. Book somewhere that explains how you reach the door.

The district on the lower slopes between the centre and the Alhambra, once the Jewish quarter, now the best place in Granada to eat and drink. Campo del Principe fills with tables in the evening, and the streets are covered in the work of the city's best-known street artist.

Good to know: The pick a lot of returning visitors make: more character than the Centro, far less climbing than the Albaicin, and the strongest tapas scene in the city. It does slope, just gently. Closest district to the Alhambra entrance on foot, which matters when your ticket has a fixed time.

The hillside beyond the Albaicin where the Roma community carved homes into the soft rock, still lined with whitewashed cave dwellings and the venues that perform zambra, the local style of flamenco. Prickly pear on the slopes and views down the Darro valley.

Good to know: The most distinctive place to sleep in Granada and the least convenient by a distance. It is a long uphill walk from the centre, poorly lit at night, and cave rooms are cool in summer but can be damp. Stay one or two nights for the experience, not a week as a base.

The wooded slope leading up to the Alhambra itself, where a handful of hotels sit among the elms with the monument at the top of the path. Quiet, green and several degrees cooler than the city in summer.

Good to know: Perfect if the Alhambra is the whole point, since you can be at the gate before the first coaches. The catch is real: it is a fifteen to twenty-minute walk downhill into town and a much harder one back up, and there is nowhere to eat up there. Best for one or two nights either side of your ticket.

The modern residential districts spreading south and west of the old city, with apartment blocks, everyday shops and local prices in the bars. Flat, quiet at night and a bus or a twenty-minute walk from the cathedral.

Good to know: The sensible choice for families, drivers and anyone on a budget, because parking is possible and rooms cost noticeably less. There is nothing here a visitor would seek out, so treat it as somewhere to sleep rather than somewhere to be. Buses into the centre are frequent.

The blocks near the train station north-west of the centre, with functional hotels and hostels priced for people passing through rather than staying. Flat, safe and about twenty minutes' walk or a short bus into Plaza Nueva.

Good to know: Worth it only for an early train or a tight budget. There is no reason to spend an evening here and you will walk or bus into town for every meal. Granada is small enough that the saving is rarely worth the daily commute unless you are counting every euro.