Early to bed early to rise. The bus to Granada leaves at 10 in the morning. There’s still plenty of time. I took my time eating breakfast, took a nice warm shower, then proceeded to pack my bags. One of my room mates came in and we chatted for a bit. Turns out we’ve been to similar places, he has also been to my home country so we ended up talking about a lot of stuff. I lost track of time. When I glanced at my phone, it was 9:30 AM. Damn. immediately, I got a sense of déjà vu. The bus station was about 20-30 minutes away by walking. I said goodbye, quickly checked out and then ran.

I got there at 9:52 AM. I still had enough time to buy a drink and a sandwich before I boarded the bus. I slept like a baby the night before so I wasn’t tired at all. I was able to enjoy the view for once, good thing I chose a seat by the window. It was a short bus ride, just about 3 hours. As soon as i got off the bus the contradiction was noticeable. There weren’t too many people inside the bus station. When I went outside, there still weren’t any crowds. There was a bus waiting by the entrance and there were only three people inside. That was the bus I needed to take to get to the hostel. Everything went so smoothly. The whole place seemed really laid back for a city, and it was such a welcome change. I had a feeling I was going to love Granada.

Oasis Hostel was located in the Albaycin, the historic part of Granada. If it’s not yet evident by now, I always choose to stay in the historic parts of every city. Not only are attractions within walking distance which would allow me to save money, it seems that you get to know the city more when you stay in the old part of town. Or as a friend says, it feels more “authentic”. From the bus stop in front of the cathedral, the hostel was only about 5 minutes away. It was a renovated old building, with such a chill atmosphere. It’s a huge hostel but it didn’t seem crowded. In fact, even at those times when there were a lot of people in the common areas, it still maintained a relaxing atmosphere. I also chose this hostel because they had activities daily. They have different walking tours each day, so i decided to join the one that was scheduled that afternoon. There were just 5 of us who joined the tour so it was pretty intimate. We just walked around the surrounding areas and made several stops. It lasted for about 3 hours and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about the history of the place. Walking tours can be a hit or miss, especially if you want to enter some paid attractions because these “free” tours generally skip those. Good thing the tour guide was really knowledgeable. It helped that we were also a small group so she was able to focus on us.

After the tour, we were all starving so we decided to have dinner together. Besides the overall laid back vibe, another thing I love about Granada is how they serve Tapas. Order any drink, be it a bottle of beer or a glass of wine, and you’ll also be given free tapas. Order two to three drinks and you’ll be full. That’s extremely cheap dinner right there! But of course nothing beats exchanging stories with fellow travelers over a couple of drinks, so we didn’t stop at two beers. I lost count after our 6th beer. It was after midnight when we decided to head back to the hostel. Everyone wanted to wake up early for the Alhambra.

The Alhambra is the top attraction in Granada, and it’s definitely a must see. It’s next to impossible getting tickets during the peak season if you do not reserve them. They do have some tickets for those who walk in, but i heard you have to be there as soon as it opens at 6 in the morning because they only sell a few tickets. Good thing the hostel can buy tickets for you, you just have to add 2 Euros. What’s 2 Euros if it means you don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn, right?

A ticket to the Alhambra also gives one access to Generalife. They control the number of people entering the Alhambra by setting schedules. Because of this, most people kill time by going to the Generalife first. it’s a huge palace interspersed with beautiful gardens. Even with the crowds, it still seems like a good place to relax. It used to be the Summer palace of the Nasrid Kings and it’s not hard to imagine considering its present day ambiance.

Generalife is beautiful. But wait until you enter the Alhambra. The attention to detail in every room in mind blowing. It’s sure to impress everyone, even those with limited knowledge about architecture. It’s such an amazing place, I couldn’t keep myself from taking more and more pictures.

On my third day, I decided to join another walking tour organized by the hostel. It’s called the Street Art and Caves tour, and it’s supposed to be the best one. Compared to the intimate one we had on my first day, this tour was kind of a jumbled mess. Almost 40 people signed up, so you can imagine how crowded it got as we walked through the narrow streets of Granada. I met a lot of friends during this tour, that was the good part. But in terms of learning something from it? I didn’t learn much about the places we visited. I can’t really blame the tour guide, it’s really difficult to manage such a huge tour group. He seemed competent enough, but the whole tour seemed rush every time we stopped, and he ended up talking mainly to a few people. It was interesting when we visited the caves where the gypsies lived. And the view of the sunset was nice. But I could have visited those places by myself, and i would have probably enjoyed it more since I would be able to linger in those places that I liked. It could have been a great tour if the group was smaller. I just couldn’t recommend this tour if you’ll end up joining such a big group. It would have been better if they split us into two or three groups, each tour guide handling a group of around ten people. Besides the tours that i joined, there are a number of hikes and excursions from the city. There are a number of mountains and trails nearby, so Granada is also a perfect location for those who love the great outdoors.

There are bars around Granada, but I haven’t seen any of the drink til you get hammered type. As I’ve said the whole city exudes a laid back atmosphere. I’m prone to partying every now and then, but strangely drinking beers while eating tapas seemed perfectly fine to me. On one night we went to a Shisha bar, which was totally out of character for me but i had fun that night. Smoking weed must also be a thing because I could smell it in a lot of places LOL. I guess that’s expected in such a laid back place. The weather is perfect, notably cooler than Seville, probably due to the proximity to Sierra Nevada. I wish i could have spent more time in Granada. A week would have been enough, but i could have easily spent more time there. But I had to leave since I had to meet up with friends in Madrid. Granada is definitely my kind of place. I actually wanted to go back the minute I set foot in crowded Madrid.