Granada Sightseeing Rules You Cannot Skip
An older version of this page had Christopher Columbus buried in Granada’s Royal Chapel. He is not. That single error is a good example of why it pays to check what actually gets buried where before repeating it as fact.
Who is actually in the Royal Chapel
The Capilla Real holds the marble tombs of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, along with their daughter Juana I and her husband Philip the Handsome. Entry runs 5 to 7 euros. Columbus’s remains are a genuinely disputed question between Spain and the Dominican Republic, but Granada is not one of the candidates.
The Alhambra, and the rule that actually matters
Tickets sell out weeks to months ahead, especially around Holy Week, May, and September through October, and this is not exaggeration for effect: the Nasrid Palaces admit visitors only inside a strict 30 minute window printed on the ticket, and missing that window forfeits the palace portion entirely, no exceptions at the gate. Book only through tickets.alhambra-patronato.es. Standard adult admission runs about 21 euros, near 22.27 euros with the online fee, and covers the Alcazaba, Nasrid Palaces, Partal, and Generalife. A passport or ID matching the ticket name gets checked at multiple points, so a reseller ticket at 45 to 70 euros is not a shortcut, it is a risk.
Palace of Charles V
Inside the Alhambra grounds but easy to rush past: a Renaissance palace with a free to enter, 30 meter circular colonnaded courtyard, commissioned in 1527 and designed by Pedro Machuca.
Granada Cathedral
Spain’s first Renaissance cathedral, begun in 1518 by Diego de Siloe, sits next to the Royal Chapel and is worth the separate stop for its Corinthian pillars and gold leaf altarpieces alone.
Monasterio de la Cartuja and Corral del Carbon
The Cartuja monastery, on the edge of the city, has one of the most ornate Baroque sacristies anywhere, carved marble and inlaid mother of pearl. Corral del Carbon, a 14th century Moorish merchant caravanserai near the cathedral, is the oldest surviving Muslim monument in the city and free to walk into, and most visitors walk straight past it.
Verdict: the Alhambra’s timed Nasrid Palace slot is the one rule on this page that actually changes how a Granada trip gets planned. Everything else here is worth seeing but forgiving if time runs short.
One concrete tip: check the exact time printed on the Alhambra ticket the night before, not the morning of, since arriving at the wrong turnstile at the wrong time is a real way to lose the slot entirely.
For guided depth on any of these sites rather than a self guided walk, see the attraction tours guide .