We feel like Granada might be one of Spain’s best-kept secrets. North African Moorish architecture, the stunning 13th century Alhambra Palace (the most visited attraction in Spain), and the beautiful mountains of the Sierra Nevada as backdrop.
It means Granada is one spectacular mountain city. With some frankly incredible viewpoints – and we think we’ve found the best view in Granada.
it took us a while. The labyrinthine streets of Granada are steep and narrow, there are winding stairways everywhere, and terrific storms brew and break there. The whole city has more of a brooding atmosphere than other parts of Andalusia we had been to, like Seville.
But we did our research (ie we walked absolutely everywhere) and found the view we thought was frankly awesome. We found the best view in Granada.
This viewpoint itself is called Mirador de San Miguel. And from it you can see the Alhambra, the whole of Granada and beyond, as well as the Sierra Nevada mountains.
And the route we made up to get to Mirador de San Miguel is oddly interesting. It goes past another viewpoint, Mirador San Nicolas, which is the first and classic lookout over the Alhambra. And we snaked through Sacromonte too, the Roma district of Granada that is all scruffy charm.
So this is the route to the best view in Granada.
The walk is just 2km so we’ve included only rough directions below to give you a feel for it; if you want to do it, follow the map.
It’s best to walk early on a clear morning, like we did. That way there’ll be no one on the otherwise busy San Nicolas lookout. Really – absolutely no one. Plus you’re more likely for the mountains to be clear of cloud too.
How to get to the best view in Granada:
Ok so again here’s the map.
We started at the bottom of Calle Calderería Nueva. It’s a famous street packed with those traditional north African teahouses, shaded with huge shop awnings with a church at the top.
Next to this church is a staircase, on the left. And from then on it’s all up steps and alleyways (use the map) as you literally begin to climb the city. Eventually there’s a grand square with tapas bars and an impressive church called Iglesia de San Miguel Bajo.
There are views of the city here that we found interesting; not the old centre but out to the west, modern neighbourhoods and more mountains far away. If you wanted, you could climb the church tower for a different perspective of the Alhambra too.
Out of this square, follow signs (and our map) up to the Mirador San Nicolás. It’s pretty popular: we did this route in the middle of the day too, and the stream of buses and people gave us a heavy clue where to go.
This viewpoint is so flat and wide, and we reckon it could hold hundreds of people if necessary. And the view of the Alhambra is gorgeous, the buildings and spires standing out in front of huge rolling mountains. It’s so cool it quite honestly feels like it could just be an elaborate mural someone has put up there to fool you.
But this isn’t the best view in Granada – that’s where we’re going next.
From the Mirador San Nicolás, we continued to Sacromonte. It’s an old grizzled neighbourhood – our Lonely Planet guidebook even warned us not to come here at night. But we found it a quiet warren of white walls and leafy back gardens. You really have to follow our map -right, up, hard left etc etc- to get through the maze.
Because you’re looking for this street, it’s called Calle Cruz de la Rauda. Once you find it, it’s 100m up to a little paved area by some houses. And there, on the left leading uphill, are some steps. And that staircase really is the secret, the hidden way up to this magical view.
These stairs are concrete and look kinda forgotten about. Pretty faded now, we could see they were once painted black and white like piano keys. As we began walking up the keys, the narrow buildings abruptly stopped and the staircase forged out onto an open grassy hill. Around us were vegetable plots and gardens. It was cold that morning, and completely deserted but for a couple of dog walkers. Granada was getting smaller and smaller beneath us.
The stairs led us past the oddest little cluster of cave houses. Whitewashed stone with tiny doors and windows carved out of them. These are the semi-famous stone houses of Granada, and not far away is a museum all about them.
At the top of the stairs there’s a left past more little houses and the paved path’s end. Here turn right uphill. And this is where we actually found the best view of Granada. It’s breathtaking: not only could we see the whole of the city but we were standing above the Alhambra and next to the giant snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada as well.
Hey presto, views for days.
So for all the people who messaged us asking how we found that view of Granada we posted on social media, here it is.
Have you visited Granada? Leave us a comment below.
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