While living in Valencia for a month we decided to visit Granada which is a 5 hour drive from Valencia. Granada just as Seville is also in the Andalusian region of Spain and it is right in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. During the summer it could get very hot and dry reaching temperatures around 40C degrees.
We had not planned on going to Granada and it was a last minute getaway. We left July 20, 2019 and returned July 22, 2019. We had been recommended to visit Granada by many people on the camino and also by our Airbnb host from Seville, so we thought well it’s not that far and renting a car for 2 days cost us $70 from Eurocars in Valencia.
We got a Smart car which was very small but very comfortable and did the job. This brings me to renting cars in Spain. Be careful when renting a car in Spain, we had 2 very bad experiences. One, was in Santiago de Compostela in the north of Spain. We had finished our camino and wanted to have a road trip all the way to Valencia so we made a reservation online with Enterprise and thought well that was inexpensive and easy. Once the day came we show up to pick up the car and the lady tells us they have no cars that they have ran out! Off-course we were frustrated Santiago even spoke to someone in charge and they just simply don’t care. You can imagine how angry we were. On the bright side we were not in a hurry but it is still so disappointing. We ended up going to another nearby car rental company named Sixth that did have a car but we ended up paying double what we were supposed to! Our road-trip was not so pleasant after that since we were already out of budget, lost time, and had to drive 9 hours to Valencia!! All we wanted to do was get to Valencia and return the car. Our second bad experience which ended up being good at the end was in Valencia, renting the car to go to Granada. We made the reservation online and the same thing happened, they had no cars! We could not believe it!! Now we were in the southern part of Spain and same exact situation, we get there and they don’t have the car!! Needless, to say we walked out of there furious and went to Eurocars which was very close and the girl helped us get a car. We had to wait 45min for one to come in which was the Smart car but that was fine with us plus she was so helpful and it was a cheaper car than the other one we were supposed to have. Our recommendation would be to make your reservation and call ahead of time to make sure they have your car ready when you get there or go to the office to reserve a car there directly. They kept saying their online system is not reliable and they are not sure why they let people make more reservations online.
Back to Granada, to start, the drive there is amazing, the views from Valencia are very entertaining and specially if you take the route that passes through Benidorm. The highway and tunnels are in very great condition. In Granada we stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Granada. It is situated in walking distance to all points of interest with many options of restaurants. We recommend including breakfast at the hotel since it is buffet style with many options. The pool was disappointing since it is very small but the spa made up for it! We loved the spa and even used the gym the two days we were there.
The Alhambra is a must go if you are thinking of visiting Granada. Home of many Arab Sultans, this palace and fortress was also a runner up to be considered as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Buy your ticket online in advance for 14 euros. There are four main areas you can visit when you go to the Alhambra; the palaces, the military zone or Alcazaba, the city or Medina, and the gardens of the Generalife. You will also get one of the best views of the city from here. I would recommend to spend at least half a day there if not more.
The tapas are very good here and the best part is that for every beer, wine, or drink you order you get a tapa and these are usually really good! We ended up not having dinner one night because we had ordered 2 beers each and that was enough food for us!!
Don’t forget to go to flamenco show, for 25 euros you can experience some of the best shows.
During our getaway we had time to enjoy the hotel, walk to some of the bars, walk around town, ate tapas, went to the Alhambra, visited the cathedral, and some of the plazas and shopping areas which are all very close to each other. This is a very beautiful city worth visiting. Don’t forget your comfy shoes to walk everywhere, and bring your camera as you will be taking lots of pictures.
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