Granada by night

We arrived in Granada very early in the morning, so after we had our first quick run around the city, and had been to the Alhambra, we went back to the AirBnb we were staying in to leave a few things we had bought there. We were so tired that our siesta that was meant to last a few minutes turned into... nearly two hours! When we woke up, it was already dark. We decided to go out again anyway to do another tour of the city because we would only be in Granada for a day.

Our AirBnb was located right in the centre and our room had a balcony with a magnificent view: we were shocked when we saw aaaaall the movement in the streets, the people, the cars that passed by and the Christmas lights. Guess how much one night here cost us... €27 for two people! Amazing, don't you think?

The view from our balcony. What d'you think of that, ey?

With the perfect location, it would have been a sin not to go out again. I wanted to go to the Cathedral because we had seen that it opens during the evening on Sundays, so we headed straight towards there, pausing here and there to take photos and look at some shop windows.

Something that caught my attention was the noise from the street because there were so many people outside. And above all, we saw loads of shops that were open! In France, Sundays are basically dead. But here, in Granada, a city smaller than Lyon... there was so much life and movement! I liked this a lot, I'd forgotten this feeling of going out into the street in the middle of a Sunday and see everything open and lit up.

When we arrived at the Cathedral, it was already closed. It closed at 6:45pm. However, this didn't stop us from admiring the buildings on that street. There was one that I liked a lot: the Madrasah of Granada. Although it was built during the time when Granada was occupied by Arabs, it was later remodelled to be in a Baroque style. As always: I spent a few minutes looking at it, discovering and admiring its details, even the smallest ones.

A photo of the Madrasah of Granada. I liked that street in particular, also it was one of my favourite buildings in the city.

We walked down Calle Gran Vía de Colón and took advantage of the bus stop to check the timetables and how frequent the transport was that we would have to take the next day to get to the bus station (our next stop would be Seville! ). Luckily, there was a contact point that we found on the bus stop we were at. After asking what routes we had to take to get to the bus station the next day, and we made the most of this opportunity by asking him some other recommendations as well about places we could visit, if there was anything else left to see in Granada.

This was another of the buildings that I liked a lot... such beauty and elegance!

The guy asked us if we'd been to the Albaicín. We said no and he sounded surprised... He told us we have to go there right now! He told us that there was a bus route that passed exactly where we were (in front of the Cathedral) and it would take us directly to where we needed to be. He told us to get down from the Mirador de San Nicolás.

So we did: we took bus route C1 to start our little nocturne walk through Granada. Like on other occasions, we didn't have much of an idea of what we would see (he only told us that we would see a panoramic view of the city and the Alhambra). In the end, it turned out to be even better when the minibus started its journey, we had a very pleasant surprise!

We passed through the park where the column and behind that some fountains with lights that changed colour were... it was such a shame that we didn't have that much time because I would have preferred to get off there and see the monument and its beautiful fountains from closer up! It was the Plaza del Triunfo.

The bus route that we were taking continued going upwards through tiny, narrow and steep streets. This part of the city seemed very picturesque and enchanting... I'm sure that a nighttime walk through it would be magical! (and, with the right person... very romantic as well! ) We went up a slight hill and from there we could see the city of Granada from up high... a view that deserves to be on a postcard!

After some more twists and turns, the driver told us that we had arrived at the San Nicolás viewpoint, and that we only had to climb a few steps to get there. So we did it and we arrived at the famous viewpoint from which the city dominated, and just in front of us we had a view of none other than... Alhambra!

The view of the Alhambra, from the Albaicín's view point... simply beautiful! (Although I remember that it was quite cold) This view and this moment, is one of the most beautiful memories I have from our trip to Granada.

We stayed and enjoyed the beautiful view for a few minutes. There were several people there but not too many to make it impossible to walk pass them. Also, there was a guy playing Spanish classical guitar. His music added to the Bohemian atmosphere of the place. I think that the San Nicolas viewpoint is the ideal place for a romantic date or simply going for a walk for a while with friends. It seemed like a busy place to me, as I saw a few groups of young people that were chatting and having a beer.

I also saw that there were a few cafes around the outside and two of them had terraces that also had a view of the front of the Alhambra. They were already closed but I'm sure that having a coffee there would be unforgettable. Perhaps not so much for the taste, but for the majestic view that you would have from there.

We walked a little bit through the streets next to the viewpoint and we saw some houses in this area that had been painted white. I also saw a sign indicating that this was the neighbourhood that you'd find the Centre of Islamic Studies in Granada. With its Arabic past, it didn't surprise me that the city has an institution like this, it's a part of its history.

Another thing that caught my eye in the area of the Albaicín was the cobbled streets. This gave the streets a particular touch, it really embellished the area. Although, a there were a lot of steep streets... you have to be careful when walking through them! I nearly slipped when I was climbing up towards the San Nicolás viewpoint, so bear that in mind!

When we arrived, the sky was a little bit cloudy, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds. But a little while later, it shone through to further beautify the landscape. I think that if I lived in Granada, the San Nicolás viewpoint would be my favourite place to be. I'm sure that I would come up here to lose myself in my thoughts whilst admiring the incomparable panoramic view.

The photo doesn't quite capture how big and stunning the moon looked that night. It's a shame that we couldn't walk down towards the centre, despite how pleasant the beautiful walk would have been. I remember a family with two children did do that walk to get back to the centre.

We were there for a little over half an hour. Perhaps we would have been able to stay a little big longer if it had not been so late, and it had gotten really cold. I saw that there were people walking back to the centre on foot. I'm sure that it was a very pretty walk, but we were already tired so we decided to take the minibus again to get back to the centre quickly. We were lucky that we didn't have to wait very long until another minibus showed up! By the way, a small coincidence happened: we took the same bus there and back! Hahaha!

We set off on our way back and we passed the same places as we did the first time. I saw the Jardines de Triunfo again (and it made me want to get off the bus and walk through them again! ) and we went back down the Gran Vía de Colón. We arrived at the stop by the Cathedral and we got off the bus.

This is a photo of the buildings neighbouring the Cathedral... I have to come back to Granada to go inside the Cathedral, the fact I didn't left me wanting to even more!

Before going home, we decided to walk again through the streets adjoining that of the Cathedral and we were able to find new buildings (beautiful, clearly! ) and better appreciate the small details that we hadn't seen before. After that, our built up fatigue from this ridiculously long day (that had started at 6am!) and it was beating us, so we finally went back to our AirBnB.

Although we only had one day in Granada, we made the most of our hours there. We couldn't go inside the Alhambra, we only went to the parts with free entry, and afterwards we went for a little nighttime walk. This trip left us wanting to come back. I hope that we do it soon... because I love Granada!

A sparkling little tree in the streets on Granada... purple, my favourite colour!

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