This was the third time we have visited the Alhambra and it always lives up to expectations. However although visiting in March when we would have expected it to be quieter than mid summer it was very busy. While they limit the tours to the Nasrid Palaces to specific time slots it is really frustrating to be pushed and jostled by large groups of Chinese tourists who must always swarm together from room to room. My advice would be to watch if there is a large bus party in your time slot and stay at the end of the queue. Once you are in the Nasrid Palaces there is no time limit so you can wander through the rooms while the large groups charge ahead. Book ahead because there is a limit on the number of people allowed into the Nasrid Palaces and make sure you are in the queue at your time slot or you will not get in. Reception at our hotel booked the tickets for us and all we had to do was exchange the print-out for tickets at the gate. We entered the Alhambra about 9:30am and our time slot for the Nasrid Palaces was 12:30 so we had plenty of time to wander around the rest of the site. We visited the Gereralife gardens after the Nasrid Palaces. In total we were at the site for about 6 hours. “Book Tickets well ahead of visiting”:https://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/info/ticketsale.asp
The Nasrid Palaces are stunning but there will always be renovation happening so you may not always be able to get photographs because of scaffolding in some rooms. Our favourite part is the Generalife Water gardens above the main Alhambra complex. Be careful if you are walking to or from the site we encountered a few groups of aggressive beggars who tried to thrust a bunch of Rosemary into our hands and then demanded we pay for it. After the first episode we made sure we hurried past the others.
There is a 5 euro senior discount but they may ask for proof eg passport.
