Full Day to Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens from Torremolinos

Alhambra is a fascinating place, incredible architecture and interesting history. Our guide, Christina, was very knowledgeable and obviously loves her job. We were on our own in Granada without any real guidance and were told we needed to eat lunch during our free time. Many restaurants were not open until it would have been too late to eat before getting back on the bus. We walked almost 8 miles so wouldn't advise anyone not in good walking shape to take this tour.

I was going on holiday in Torremolinos and knew it was possible to do a day trip to the Alhambra from there. The Alhambra had been on my bucket list for a very long time and it did not disapppoint - it is very impressive. My choice of trip was limited to that run by Julia Travel as that was the only one advertised during an off-season week in November. The reviews of it were a little mixed, so I was a bit wary, but the trip itself ran as expected without any hitches. The good: Julia Travel has an office in Torremolinos so it was easy to turn up and confirm the trip two days before it was scheduled as requested. They also offered a pick up point very close to my hotel when I did this, which was a great improvement on the one I had been told about at the time of booking which would have been an hour's walk away. I had booked this trip some months in advance as this is a very popular tour and can fill up quickly. The tour bus was modern, comfortable and arrived on time. The Alhambra itself was stunning and the guide was extremely knowledgeable. Our guide used a wireless microphone and transmitter and issued everyone with a receiver and headpiece at the start of the tour so it was easy to hear everything they said. The not so good: It's a 2.5 hour coach journey from Torremolinos. Pick up is early morning, around 7:30am. The coach was very full, and made multiple stops to collect people on the way there and drop them off on the way back which made it an extra long trip. There was also a 20 minute stop mid-way in both directions at athe same motorway services where staff desperately tried to sell everyone massively overpriced local produce, which was a waste of everyone's time. On arrival in Granada around 11am we were left to our own devices and told to come back to a meeting point at 1:30pm so that we could be transported to the Alhambra for 2pm. Entry to the Alhambra is strictly controlled and everyone had to have an ID document with them. This was scanned multiple times by Alhambra staff as we moved between different parts of the complex. The tour itself took around 2 hours and felt very rushed. Friends who have visited expressed surprise that it was so fast as there is so much to see there. Given how long it takes to get there and back and the amount to see we really needed longer and a more relaxed schedule for the tour. I found I often became separated from the group as they were moved at high speed between different parts of the Alhambra and I wanted to pause and look at some of the amazing architecture rather than move on at speed. There was no time to visit the museum or some parts of the complex, which was a bit dissappointing given how much the trip cost and how long it took to get there and back.

We loved it! It is worth going to see the Alhambra and the excursion itself is very good because before the visit we stopped in the center of Granada and it was great, we will repeat for sure...