Hotels near Albaicín

The Albaicín is Granada's old Moorish quarter, a tangle of whitewashed houses and steep cobbled lanes climbing the hillside opposite the Alhambra. UNESCO added it to the Alhambra's World Heritage listing in 1994 as the best-preserved Moorish urban fabric in Spain. The lanes are deliberately narrow and shaded - medieval Andalusi planning designed for shade and breeze, not vehicles - and many homes hide cármenes, walled gardens with orchards and Alhambra views.

Plaza Larga is the everyday heart, with bars, an old gate (Puerta de las Pesas), and weekly markets. From there, Calle Calderería Nueva, lined with Moroccan tea-houses and spice stalls, runs back down toward the centre. The Iglesia del Salvador sits on the site of the quarter's old main mosque, and the Bañuelo on Carrera del Darro preserves an 11th-century Arab bathhouse.

Pro Tip: Walk up the Albaicín in the late afternoon. Going up exhausts even fit walkers in summer - the C31 minibus from Plaza Nueva takes you up effortlessly, and the descent at sunset is the city's loveliest walk.