What to see at the Alhambra of Granada

The Nasrid Palaces hold the best-preserved part of the entire monument. This area brings together three palaces dated between the 14th and 15th centuries, where you can appreciate the palatial side of the Alhambra through the plasterwork, interior architecture, tilework and decoration that the guide describes as unique within the complex.

It is also the largest part of the tour and the area where you enter the sultans' former residence. Here you can better follow the decorative, structural and intellectual dimension of the complex, with poems on the walls, work on materials and colour, and a more direct sense of palace life within the Alhambra.

The Partal is part of the Alhambra's palatial area and is known for its relationship with water, vegetation and views within the complex. It is one of the areas that helps you understand how architecture, garden and landscape come together in the Nasrid part of the site.

Within the tour, it acts as a transition stretch between the main areas and completes the picture of the complex beyond its best-known spaces. Its value in the visit lies in how it connects the palatial area with the monument's open surroundings and in the image it projects onto the landscape.

The Alcazaba is the oldest, military part of the Alhambra. This is where the site's defensive role was concentrated, along with the garrison quarter, home to the elite army in charge of watching over and protecting the complex.

In this area, the visit focuses on a more strategic reading of the monument. The Alcazaba shows how the surrounding land was controlled from the fortress and how military life was organised within the palace-city, in contrast to the residential, palatial part of the rest of the site.

The gates and towers are part of the complex's defensive story and help you understand how access to the palace-city was controlled. This part relates mainly to the Alcazaba, where the old watchtowers are preserved and where you can see remains of the wall that protected the city.

In this area, the visit shows how the site's defences were organised, what materials were used to build tall walls and towers, and what role the army played within the Alhambra. It's a useful part for rounding out your understanding of the monument beyond the palatial and garden areas.

The Generalife is the sultans' estate and summer palace within the monumental complex. It is linked to nature, relaxation and the old Nasrid-era orchards, a part of the site that changes considerably with the seasons due to the vegetation and Granada's climate.

In this area, you'll learn about the creation of the palace, how the orchards were organised, and the changes the space has gone through over time. It also covers the period after its conversion to Christian use and the restorations carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries, which help explain the Generalife's current appearance during the visit.

The Palace of Charles V is the great 16th-century transformation within the Alhambra. It was built by order of Charles V as his official residence and stands out for architecture already removed from the Nasrid period, linked instead to the Renaissance.

Within the tour, this area gives a clear view of a different phase of the monumental complex. Today it houses museums and exhibitions, and serves as a way to understand how the Alhambra also incorporates the later Christian period within the same site.

The medina, also known as the Secano, is the part of the Alhambra where ordinary people lived within the site. This is where the palace-city's everyday life was concentrated, with an estimated population of 4,000 people at its peak.

This area helps you understand that the Alhambra was not organised solely as a palace or fortress. It also included spaces for living, movement and daily activity within the complex. In this part of the tour, archaeological remains of that old town are preserved, rounding out your understanding of the site beyond its palatial and military areas.