The widest walkable view
The highest point reachable on foot above the old city, and the view beats anything lower down.
Palickap — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Giorgiomonteforti — Public domain · rheins — CC BY 3.0 · AndyVolykhov — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small chapel on the hill above the Albaicín, the highest point you can reach on foot over the old city. The building is plain and modest, and the real reason to climb is not the chapel but what you see from it. The view takes in the Alhambra, the Albaicín, the plain of Granada and the Sierra Nevada in a single frame, considerably wider than the famous Mirador de San Nicolás lower down. There are also far fewer people, which is a noticeable difference at sunset. The price is the climb: the route is long, steep and mostly unshaded, and takes around half an hour from the middle of the Albaicín. In summer heat it becomes genuinely hard work, so choose early morning or the hour before sunset. The spot is open, free and without facilities. Take water, and note that the path is poorly lit after dark if you come down late.
The highest point reachable on foot above the old city, and the view beats anything lower down.
Mirador de San Nicolás fills at sunset; up here there is space even in season.
Early morning or before sunset — climbing in midday heat is genuinely hard.
Summit of San Miguel hill, above the Albaicín, Granada
Casa del ChapizTwo adjoining sixteenth-century Morisco houses on the Albaicín slope, today a si5 minutes walk4.1
The Grand Mosque of GranadaGranada's Grand Mosque is a standing historical event: the first congregational 7 minutes walk4.7
Palacio de los CórdovaA Renaissance palace below the Alhambra hill in Granada, surrounded by gardens o7 minutes walk4.4
Mirador de San NicolásThe San Nicolás lookout is "the world's most beautiful sunset" by a testimony at8 minutes walk4.8
Sacromonte Caves MuseumSacromonte is the legendary gitano mountain: here the Roma dug their cave homes 8 minutes walk4.6About half an hour from the middle of the Albaicín, on a steep, winding and mostly unshaded path. Anyone who finds walking difficult, or travelling with small children, may find it tiring; Mirador de San Nicolás is a much closer alternative with a narrower view.
The path is poorly lit and steeply pitched, so descending after dark needs care. If you stay for sunset, bring a phone torch and try to come down with others or before the light goes entirely.