Where to Stay in Granada: Hotels by Area and Season

Central Granada is the obvious base for a first visit. Almost everything on a sightseeing list is within roughly a mile: the Alhambra and its Partal palace, the Generalife gardens, the cathedral, the Royal Chapel, the Madrasah, the Palacio de Dar-Al-Horra and the Archaeological Museum. Staying here means you can walk to the Alhambra in the morning, rest through the afternoon heat and head back out in the evening without thinking about transport. The city also has the University of Granada, so it has a lived-in, year-round feel rather than a purely tourist one.

Alfacar, about 4 miles from the city with fewer than 5,000 residents, and Monachil, around 6 miles away with just under 6,000, suit travellers who prefer a small town to a city street. Both are 17 to 20 minutes from the airport by road. You give up the stroll to the sights, so car hire, which you can compare here, makes far more sense if you choose either.

In the city, expect city hotels in the urban sense: places chosen for location first, close to the historic sights and the cathedral quarter, where the appeal is walking everywhere rather than a pool and a sunlounger. Granada is a sightseeing city, not a beach resort, so think of it as somewhere to sleep well between visits.

Monachil and Alfacar are small towns, so accommodation there tends to be smaller in scale and quieter, better for travellers who want calm evenings and are happy to drive into Granada for the day. Check the hotel listings on this page for the current mix of properties in each town before you settle on an area.

Timing shapes everything. May, June, September and October are the best months, with highs between 24°C and 30°C. July and August reach around 35°C, which makes daytime walking hard work, while March is the wettest month with roughly 115mm of rain. Winter days peak at about 13°C to 15°C and nights fall to 3°C, so pick a hotel with proper heating if you go then. The spring and autumn months are popular, and school holidays generally push demand up, so book early for those dates.

Because Granada airport is only 13 minutes from the city, a city break is easy to arrange as a package, with flight and hotel together; you can compare package deals from several providers here alongside hotel-only prices. If you want a day at the coast, the port of Motril is about 29 miles south, and tours and tickets for the Alhambra and beyond can be compared on this page too.