Sacromonte, Granada: the Museo Cuevas, the Abbey and the flamenco caves, with prices and winter hours

💡 The Short Version: The Sacromonte is the quarter of cave houses above the Darro valley. The Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte is €6, open every day 10:00 to 18:00 until 28 March (last entry 17:40), with 11 original caves. The Abbey is €7, open 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 17:00, and visits stop for the 12:00 Sunday Mass. A cave flamenco show is €26 with a drink at María la Canastera and from €28 at Los Tarantos. The C34 minibus runs up from Plaza Nueva, and the walk is uphill. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the walk with entry to the Museo Cuevasad is from €30 and the sunset walkad from €15 (GetYourGuide).

What it costs and when it is open

Winter hours run from 26 October to 28 March; summer hours start on 29 March. What to book before you go to Granada has the closed days for the rest of the city.

The museum’s own ticket page is sacromontegranada.com; GetYourGuide sells the same ticket at the same €6. The Abbey’s ticket is on the Archdiocese’s shop, ticketsgranadacristiana.com, which also sells the six-monument ticket: see the Granada monasteries.

The Abbey of the Sacromonte on its hillside. Photo: Pepepitos, Wikimedia Commons.

Tours worth paying for

The Sacromonte is easier with a guide for the climb and the history. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

Albaicín and Sacromonte walk with the Museo Cuevas

From €30 · 2.5 hours · up to 20 people · 4.9 stars from 330 reviews

Granada: Albaicín-Sacromonte Walk with Museum of Caves Entryad is run by Lolita’s Tours with an official guide, in English or Spanish, and the price includes entry to the museum, which is €6 on its own. It meets in Plaza Nueva and goes up by bus. Cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.

Albaicín and Sacromonte sunset walk

From €15 · 2 to 2.5 hours · 4.9 stars from 3,633 reviews

Granada: Albaicín and Sacromonte Guided Sunset Walking Tourad walks the Albaicín to the San Nicolás viewpoint and then the Sacromonte. It does not include the museum. The start time follows the sunset, and the listing warns of steep hills and stairs.

What to see

The Sacromonte is a hillside of caves dug into the clay, and its tickets are few: a cave museum, an abbey and the flamenco rooms. Allow half a day with a show in the evening.

Whitewashed cave houses on the Sacromonte hillside. Photo: Giorgiomonteforti, Wikimedia Commons.

1. The Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte. Its Barranco de los Negros site has 11 original caves, a botanical garden and a view of the Alhambra. The caves are furnished as kitchens, stables and workshops for basketry, ceramics and weaving, and one part is about flamenco. The audio guide is free in Spanish and English, and there are hand guides in French, Italian and German. Allow an hour or more.
2. The Abbey of the Sacromonte. The abbey was built from 1609, after remains attributed to San Cecilio, Granada’s patron saint, were found on the hill in 1595. Beneath the church are the Holy Caves, and a museum off the courtyard holds paintings by Sánchez Cotán, Goya and others. The caves are not wheelchair-accessible. Allow about an hour.
3. A cave show. María la Canastera performs the zambra, a cave style of flamenco, and says it is 70 years since its foundation. Los Tarantos was founded in 1972 and seats about 190. Both run an hour. Flamenco in Granada compares them with the other caves.

The order that works: go up in the morning, take the museum and then the Abbey before its 13:00 break, and keep the evening for a show. On a Sunday the Abbey takes visitors only before 11:30 and after the Mass. What to skip: nothing, but the museum and the Abbey together are long if you are also climbing from Plaza Nueva.

A reconstructed cave home in the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte. Photo: Eunostos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Practical information

• Getting there: on foot from Plaza Nueva or the Albaicín, uphill; the María la Canastera cave puts it at 20 to 30 minutes. The C34 minibus runs from Plaza Nueva, and its climb to the Abbey runs at set times only. The C34 is the operator’s Sacromonte line and the C31 its Albaicín line. The minibuses take a city-bus ticket: see Granada public transport.
• Cars: access with your own vehicle is limited to hours set by the municipality, and the area is reserved for residents at other times.
• The Abbey’s rules: silence and decorous dress, no food or drink, photos without flash or tripods. It is closed to visits during services.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: the Abbey’s 13:00 to 15:00 break, and going on a Sunday around the 12:00 Mass.

The Albaicín is the quarter below, with the Mirador de San Nicolás, and the Albaicín walk is the numbered route to it from Plaza Nueva. Flamenco in Granada compares the caves and the tablaos, the Granada monasteries covers the Abbey’s ticket with the Cartuja and San Jerónimo, and Granada walking tours compares the guided walks. Free things to do in Granada lists what costs nothing. For a bed, see where to stay in Granada.