The streets of Granada

There is a saying that ‘If you haven’t seen Granada, you haven’t seen anything’. It means that Granada is such a beautiful city that it cannot compare to anything else. Everywhere we went in Spain people told us how lovely Granada is and we simply had to come and see it with our own eyes.

I’m not sure that Granada is the prettiest town in Spain as we have visited so many beautiful places but one thing is certain: it is magical. You cannot fail to notice the atmosphere around you when you walk the streets of Albayzín district, looking over the huge shape of Alhambra. You are swept away by the charm of the white washed houses, the labyrinth of streets, the lovely little squares or the view of the mountains that surround the town. We often go out to explore the many bars where you can get free tapas with your drink and it never fails to show us something new.

We have been roaming around the streets of Granada since we moved here and I would like to show you three different quarters. The first one is Albayzín, where we live. Everywhere you go you can see signs from the Moorish era, patterns, fountains, architecture, it´s all around you. It's beautiful.

The second one is Sacromonte. This is a very interesting little place as many of the houses are caved into the hill itself. This is where the gypsies who came with the conquering Christian troops had settled down. Even though this area is less affluent you can find secrets in every corner. It´s always worth having a peek into the tiny little cave bars or go to see a flamenco show in a carved out ´tablao´ where the maximum number of visitors is 7. 

The third part is Realejo. It lies on the other side of the Alhambra and it used to be the Jewish part. It was called the ´Granada of the Jews´ in the times when the Christian, the Muslim and the Jewish religions were able to co-exist in Granada. When the Christian army arrived to reconquer the town from the Muslims the Jews were expelled and the district got its current name. Nowadays it’s a maze of steep alleys. It´s similar to Albayzín but has a completely different feeling.