Granada walking tours compared: free tips-based walks every day, Albaicín and Sacromonte walks from €14, and the e-bike and Segway tours from €45

💡 The Short Version: Two free tips-based walks leave the fountain in Plaza Nueva every day, the centre at 11:00 and the Albaicín and Sacromonte at 16:00 from October to March, each 2.5 hours in English or Spanish. Paid Albaicín and Sacromonte walks are €14 to €15, and the sunset walk at €15 is rated 4.9 from 3,633 reviews; the walk with entry to the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte is €30. E-bike tours start at €45. No walk includes an Alhambra ticket, and none of the free tours takes a pushchair or a wheelchair. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices in euros. Or book now: the sunset walkad is from €15 and the Albaicín and Sacromonte e-bike tourad from €45 (GetYourGuide).

The tours compared

Ratings on GetYourGuide are 4.9 from 3,633 reviews for the sunset walk (Lolita’s Tours), 4.5 from 825 for the Special Plans walk, 4.8 from 204 for the historic centre walk and 4.9 from 330 for the Museo Cuevas walk. Each lists free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

The free walks

Tips · daily · 2.5 hours · Spanish and English · booked on the operator’s site

Walk in Granada runs both walks, with the price left to you. They meet at the fountain in front of the pharmacy in Plaza Nueva, and the guide carries a red umbrella. Each runs with at least five adults, a booking is limited to eight people, and larger groups book a private tour.

Plaza Nueva, where the walks start. Photo: Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

• Granada Esencial, 11:00. It goes from Plaza Nueva by the Madraza, the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel to Plaza Bib-Rambla, the Alcaicería and the Corral del Carbón, then San Gregorio and the lower Albaicín. The operator rates it low difficulty.
• Albaicín and Sacromonte, 16:00 from October to March. The start is 18:00 in April to June and September and 20:00 in July and August. It climbs from Plaza Nueva by the Albaicín’s cisterns to the Mirador de San Nicolás, the Cruz de Rauda and the Camino del Sacromonte, and returns by the Paseo de los Tristes. The operator rates it medium difficulty.

The Neptune fountain in Plaza Bib-Rambla. Photo: Kolforn, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Neither walk takes pushchairs or wheelchairs. Luggage can be left at the City Locker in Plaza de las Descalzas, three minutes from Plaza Nueva. The operator asks you to bring water, comfortable shoes and sun cream (Walk in Granada).

Paid walks

The sunset walk

From €15 · 2 to 2.5 hours · Lolita’s Tours · English and Spanish · 4.9 from 3,633 reviews

The Albaicín and Sacromonte sunset walkad starts in Plaza Nueva, or at the other meeting point the listing offers, and goes through the Albaicín to the Bañuelo, the Mirador de San Nicolás and the Mezquita Mayor, with an optional stop in the Sacromonte. A private option is listed. It cancels free up to 24 hours before, and the listing says it is not suitable for visitors with mobility impairments.

The standard Albaicín and Sacromonte walk

From €15.14 · 2 to 2.5 hours · Special Plans · up to 25 people · 4.5 from 825 reviews

This walkad starts at Plaza Isabel la Católica and goes by Plaza Nueva, the Aljibe de Trillo, the Placeta del Comino and the Plaza de San Nicolás to Plaza Larga and the Sacromonte, then back by the Cuesta del Chapiz, the Paseo de los Tristes and the Carrera del Darro. An official guide leads it in English, French, German or Spanish.

The centre and the caves

The historic centre and lower Albaicín walkad is from €14 for 2.5 hours in a group of up to 30. The Albaicín, Sacromonte and Museo Cuevas walkad is from €30 for 2.5 hours and includes entry to the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte, which is €6 at its own ticket desk (the Sacromonte page has the museum). No listing includes the Alhambra: a guide there is an Alhambra guided tour with the ticket in the price.

Calle Calderería in the lower Albaicín, with its teahouses and shops. Photo: José Luis Filpo Cabana, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

On wheels

TourBike runs its tours from Plaza de Cuchilleros 12, next to Plaza Nueva, in groups usually of fewer than six, with guides who speak English, Spanish and often French. Riders from about 9 who ride confidently can join, the smallest adult bikes fit from 150 cm, and a tour cancelled for weather is cancelled free. Granada is built on hills with steep, narrow, cobbled streets, so you need to be comfortable braking and starting on a slope; the motor does the climbing (TourBike).

The first, second, fourth and fifth are TourBike’s, the third is Explorer Granada’s, limited to 10 people, and all list free cancellation up to 24 hours before. TourBike also runs a Sierra Nevada tour of 5 to 6 hours; the Sierra Nevada page covers the mountain.

Doing it yourself

The Albaicín walk and the city centre walk are self-guided routes with a map, the stops in walking order and the days each one is open. The Albaicín and the Sacromonte have the viewpoints, the streets and the closed days, and free things to do in Granada gathers what costs nothing. The hop-on hop-off train covers the centre without a guide. Flamenco in Granada has the cave shows that follow a sunset walk.

Before you go

• Meeting points: the free tours and the sunset walk start at Plaza Nueva; the Special Plans walk starts at Plaza Isabel la Católica. Check your confirmation.
• Shoes and hills: the Albaicín is cobbled and steep, and the free Albaicín and Sacromonte walk is rated medium difficulty.
• The one thing that ruins a free tour: a booking of fewer than five adults. The tours run only with at least five.

What to book before you go to Granada lists the closed days, and things to do in Granada puts the walks in context. Is the Granada Card worth it? has the sums for the churches a walk passes. Where to stay in Granada compares the areas.