Unforgettable Alhambra & Generalife: Skip-the-Line Guided Tour

Granada Play was one of the most disorganized tour companies I've encountered. We had failed to bring passports for the kids and were told by the unhelpful Granada Play office staff that they could not join. The guide said it was not a problem; we just needed to go through a different gate. Turns out it is not a problem for minors to come in without a passport. The actual tour was more like a quiz, where the guide constantly quizzed us and assumed in-depth knowledge of Spanish history, rather than telling a coherent narrative around the amazing place.

Bait and switch. We booked a tour of Alhambra with Play Granada on Viator and it said it was “instantly confirmed”. The next day Play Granada messaged to say that the tour was no longer available but they had a similar one, (more expensive) included in a “package” that we could book with them directly, taking us outside the Viator channel (so they don’t have to pay commissions, obviously). They would not refund my original booking on Viator (which THEY said was unavailable) until I rebooked with them directly. So we re-booked essentially the same self-led audio tour with them included in the package that also included a separate guided tour of other parts of the city. It was the same tour they said was unavailable from Viator! The self-led audio guide was very basic and uninteresting and we found several other similar free audio guides online that had better info. To be fair, the real-person guided city tour was good, but that was subcontracted to a local guide - Mario, who was great. Another person joined the tour at the last minute and was charged 19 euro. We paid a total of 100 euro each for entrance to the Generalife areas (normally 19 euro directly) with a poor audio guide, and a 19 euro guided walking tour. Play Granadas markup was 60 euro. Play Granada did deliver what they claimed in the end, but their bait-and-switch tactic is unethical and the self-led audio guide is basic and uninteresting. If you can, book tickets directly on the Alhambra site well in advance and get your own audio guide for free from various online sources.

our tour guide was fantastic and very knowlwedeable and friendly. It has a lot of uphill walking, but it was well worth it.

I bought my tickets well in advance. The tickets were supposed to include a Spanish-speaking tour guide and skip-the-line access at 10 a.m. The day before the tour, I received a message saying that the guided tour was canceled because there weren’t enough participants, and that I only had two alternatives: an audio guide or an English-speaking tour at 3 p.m. Because of the time and the language, I chose the audio guide option. That already made me uncomfortable. But the worst part was that the audio guide worked through a QR code that provided information as you moved from one place to another. The access to the information was intermittent, and the connection kept cutting off. I ended up using my own internet to find out what I was actually looking at.

It's a lot of walking and you cover a lot of ground figuratively and literally. Ana, our tour guide, did a wonderful job not only guiding us through the vast grounds of the Alhambra but she also gave us interesting explanations about the different sites and the history behind it. The tour is about 3 hours, but it's well paced. I would definitely recommend!

What a place!! Our tour guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable and constantly keeping the group engaged with historical facts. ! A must do in Granada.

If you’ve got any walking difficulties, this might not be the best tour for you. Very few opportunities to catch up to a time-driven agenda. BUT our tour guide (Clara) was VERY knowledgeable, and presented information in a very coherent way, leading us through the history of the Alhambra. She had a pleasant personality and happily answered our many questions.

We had a blast with Ana as we toured …her expert knowledge and fun personality made it very memorable.

Ana gave us a great overview of the Alhambra and her enthusiasm for the city of Granada was infectious. Thank you Helen Thanks for the great tour Ana watch out for those chestnuts. Phil

We had a wonderful tour through the Alhambra. Quite a bit of walking but nothing too strenuous. Lots of breaks. Our tour guide, Anna, was fun and knowledgeable. It made the experience better having someone explain what you were looking at. Lots of different stories and legends behind the meaning of symbols or named places. Highly recommend.