Generalife
The Generalife: the summer palace, its water, and why it is a separate ticket
The Generalife is up the hill from the Alhambra proper, it is counted separately on every ticket, and it is the part people skip when they are running late. It is also where the water architecture the Alhambra is famous for is most completely visible.
Quick answer
The Generalife is the Nasrid summer palace and its gardens, on the hill above the main complex, and it is a separate part of the ticket. Every tour on this site includes it. Most three-hour tours spend about forty minutes there, usually at the end, and most finish at its exit — which is a long way from where you started.
The Generalife, at a glance
- What it is
- The summer palace and gardensbuilt for the Nasrid court to escape the heat
- Where
- Up the hillseparate from the main Alhambra complex
- On the ticket
- A separate partincluded on all fifteen tours here
- Time there
- About 40 minuteson a three-hour guided tour
- Usually
- Last on the routeand the tour ends at its exit
- The thing to look for
- The water staircasehandrails that are running channels
- Best months
- April to Junewhen the planting is at its fullest
- Winter
- Bare, and some fountains offbut far fewer people
- Walking
- Uphill, on stonethe steepest part of the visit
- Cancellation
- Freeon every tour here
What the Generalife is for
A working garden, not an ornamental one
A cooler summer house, a working farm, and a gravity-fed water system that still runs.
The name comes from the Arabic jannat al-ʿarīf, usually translated as the architect’s garden or the noble garden. It was built in the early fourteenth century as a retreat for the Nasrid sultans: a place a few hundred metres from the palaces but high enough, and green enough, to be several degrees cooler in August.
It was also a working estate. The terraces below the palace were orchards and vegetable gardens that supplied the court, and the whole thing was built around an engineering achievement rather than a decorative one: the Acequia Real, a channel that brings water from the Darro river several kilometres upstream and delivers it at a height that lets it run, unpumped, through the entire complex.
That is the thing to understand about Alhambra water. It is not ornament added to architecture — it is the reason the architecture works. Channels cool rooms, pools double facades, and fountains are placed where the pressure from the gradient will drive them. In the Generalife you can follow the whole system from one end to the other, which you cannot do anywhere in the palaces below.
What to look for
Four things in forty minutes
The water staircase, the channel court, the view back, and the cypress walk.
The Water Staircase. A flight of steps with running water in the handrails — channels cut into the stone parapets on both sides, fed from above. It is the single most quoted piece of design in the Generalife and it takes thirty seconds to walk past if nobody tells you it is there.
The Patio de la Acequia. The long courtyard with the channel running down its centre and jets arcing across it from both sides. The arcs are a nineteenth-century addition; the channel is original.
The view back. From the upper terraces you look across at the Alhambra itself, with the Albaicín beyond it and the Sierra Nevada behind. It is the view on most of the postcards and it is taken from here, not from inside the palaces.
The theatre and the cypress walk. Later additions, and the quietest corner of the whole site. If your tour finishes early, this is where to spend the spare ten minutes.
Every trip, current fare
Every tour, all of which include the Generalife
Fifteen tours, all three hours, all covering the Generalife as well as the palaces. Some tickets sold elsewhere do not.
| Tour | Length | Price | Group | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granada: Alhambra & Generalife Fast-Track Guided TourFast-track entry, and 8,529 reviews behind it | 3 h | $57 | Standard | $19.00 | 4.7 · 8,529 |
| Alhambra: Nasrid Palaces & Generalife Gardens 3-Hour TourBuilt around the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife | 3 h | $57 | Standard | $19.00 | 4.7 · 1,341 |
| Granada: Tour of Alhambra, Generalife, and Nasrid PalacesAll four parts of the complex in three hours | 3 h | $59 | Standard | $19.67 | 4.4 · 2,370 |
| Granada: Alhambra Guided Tour with Nasrid Palaces & GardensThe whole complex with a guide, our top pick | 3 h | $60 | Standard | $20.00 | 4.6 · 2,284 |
| Granada: Alhambra, Nasrid Palaces, & Generalife Guided TourA capped group, which matters in small rooms | 3 h | $66 | Small group | $22.00 | 4.6 · 258 |
| Granada: Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces Small Guided TourA small guided group through the palaces | 3 h | $97 | Small group | $32.33 | 4.6 · 158 |
| Granada: Fast-Track Alhambra & Nasrid Palaces Guided TourFast-track entry and a longer window | 3–4.5 h | $105 | Standard | $28.00 | 4.8 · 438 |
| Granada: Full Alhambra Premium Guided Tour with TicketsThe full complex, rated 4.9 | 3 h | $107 | Standard | $35.67 | 4.9 · 1,129 |
| Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces Guided Tour with TicketsTickets bundled, rated 4.9 | 3 h | $108 | Standard | $36.00 | 4.9 · 1,236 |
| Granada: Private Full Alhambra Tour with Nasrid PalacesA private guide, and the cheapest one here | 3 h | $148 | Private | $49.33 | 5.0 · 178 |
| Alhambra with Nazaries Palaces Private TourA private tour built around the palaces | 3 h | $152 | Private | $50.67 | 5.0 · 16 |
| Alhambra: Private Guided Tour with Nasrid Palaces TicketsA private tour with the tickets included | 3 h | $153 | Private | $51.00 | 5.0 · 269 |
| Alhambra: Full Private Tour with Official Tour Guide and TicketsA full private tour with an official guide | 3 h | $164 | Private | $54.67 | 4.9 · 10 |
| Granada: Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces Private TourA private tour at the top of the market | 3 h | $306 | Private | $102.00 | 4.9 · 246 |
| Granada: Alhambra, Nasrid, and Generalife Private TourThe full complex privately, everything included | 3 h | $317 | Private | $105.67 | 4.9 · 327 |
Most tours end at the Generalife exit, which is a long way from the city. Plan how you are getting back down before you start.
How long you need→Practical
Six things about the Generalife specifically
It is a different kind of walk from the palaces.
- It is uphill
The walk from the Partal gardens up to the Generalife is the steepest part of the visit, on stone, usually at the end of three hours. Worth knowing if that is a problem.
- It is the least shaded part
Cypresses along the paths, but the terraces themselves are open. In July this is where a hat earns its keep.
- April to June is when it looks like the photographs
The roses and the bedding are at their fullest and every fountain is running. In January it is bare and several are switched off.
- The exit is not the entrance
Most guided tours finish here, which is a twenty-minute downhill walk from the city or a bus ride from the car park.
- It is where the crowds thin
Almost everybody prioritises the palaces. By the time a group reaches the Generalife it has usually spread out.
- If you are short of time, do not skip it
It is the only place in the complex where the water system is legible end to end, and it is already in your ticket.
Common questions
The Generalife, answered
Is the Generalife worth visiting?
Yes, and it is already in your ticket on every tour here. It is where the water architecture the Alhambra is famous for can be followed from one end to the other, which is not possible in the palaces below.
Is the Generalife included in the Alhambra ticket?
On every tour on this site, yes. Tickets sold elsewhere vary: the general admission includes it, but some cheaper combinations do not.
How long do you need at the Generalife?
About forty minutes on a guided tour, which is enough to walk the Patio de la Acequia, the Water Staircase and the upper terraces without hurrying.
What is the Water Staircase?
A flight of steps with running water cut into the stone handrails on both sides, fed by the same gravity channel that supplies the whole complex. It is the most quoted piece of design in the Generalife.
Is the Generalife the same as the Alhambra?
It is part of the same site but a separate complex, up the hill: the summer palace and its gardens, as opposed to the fortress and the royal residences below.
When do the gardens look best?
April to June, when the planting is at its fullest and every fountain is running. Autumn is the best light; winter is bare but far quieter.
Go deeper
More on visiting the Alhambra
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The tourThe Alhambra guided tour
What three hours with a guide actually covers, and in what order.
The palacesThe Nasrid Palaces
The timed slot, what is inside, and the ticket that leaves them out.
VerdictThe best Alhambra tour
Fifteen tours ranked for one decision, with a straight answer at the end.
PrivateA private Alhambra tour
What a private guide changes, and what it does not.
Skip the lineSkip-the-line at the Alhambra
What fast track actually skips, and what it cannot.
