Granada

Set at 738 metres (2,421 feet) above sea level where the Darro and Genil rivers emerge from the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada onto the fertile Vega plain, Granada was the capital of the Nasrid Emirate from 1238 until 2 January 1492, the longest-enduring Islamic realm on the Iberian Peninsula. Its dual UNESCO World Heritage core (Reference 314) faces itself across the narrow canyon of the Río Darro: on the southern Sabika ridge rises the fortified red-clay palatine city of the Alhambra and the terraced water orchards of the Generalife, while on the northern hillside climbs the whitewashed medieval maze of the Albaicín and the troglodyte caves of Sacromonte.

Below both medieval ridges extends the monumental lower city transformed after 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II. Within steps of Plaza Nueva and Plaza Bib-Rambla stand the royal Carrara marble mausoleums inside the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real), Diego de Siloé's luminous Renaissance Cathedral, the 1349 Islamic university of La Madraza, the Alcaicería silk market, and the 14th-century Corral del Carbón caravanserai.

Arrive at Granada Railway Station on direct high-speed AVE trains from Madrid (3 hours 25 minutes) or Avant trains from Córdoba (1 hour 35 minutes), Seville (2 hours 30 minutes), and Málaga (1 hour 15 minutes), or ride direct ALSA coaches from Málaga Airport (AGP) Terminal 3 in 2 hours.

Base yourself in the flat Centro Catedral around Plaza Nueva and Bib-Rambla for effortless luggage access and C30/C32 bus stops, choose a riverside mansion along Carrera del Darro and Paseo de los Tristes beneath the floodlit Alcazaba, or sleep in a traditional walled carmen garden house in the Albaicín or Realejo.

Tour the Nasrid Palaces, Court of the Lions, and Alcazaba on an 08:30 morning slot, stroll the Generalife water gardens, inspect the 11th-century brick vaults of El Bañuelo Arab baths, watch sunset from Mirador de San Nicolás, and experience an evening cave zambra in Sacromonte.

Experience Granada's signature free-tapas custom along Calle Navas, Campo del Príncipe, and Calle Elvira, where every cold beer or glass of wine brings a complimentary hot plate, and taste crispy fried aubergines with cane molasses, habas con jamón, and Santa Fe pionono pastries.

Granada's cultural identity was forged by the interplay of Zirid, Nasrid, Sephardic, Roma, and Castilian traditions, celebrated in the 14th-century poetic calligraphy carved across the walls of the Alhambra and revived in 1922 when composer Manuel de Falla and poet Federico García Lorca staged the historic Concurso de Cante Jondo in the Plaza de los Aljibes.