Which parts of the Alhambra can be walked without paying is the question that surfaces whenever the ticket calendar comes up empty. The answer runs on two different clocks, one inside the walls and one out in the city, and only a Sunday lines both of them up.
The Alhambra keeps a free-access zone inside its walls covering the Palace of Charles V, the Plaza de los Aljibes and the Wine Gate. Everything else on the free list sits outside that perimeter and opens on its own schedule, which is where most plans come apart.
What can you see at the Alhambra without a ticket? The Palace of Charles V, the Plaza de los Aljibes, the Wine Gate, the church of Santa María de la Alhambra and the Alhambra Museum are free every day. The four Andalusí Monuments in the city drop their €8.48 joint ticket on Sundays, and the Fine Arts Museum costs €1.50.
The walled precinct has a free zone
Six spaces inside the walls need no ticket: the Palace of Charles V, the Plaza de los Aljibes, the Wine Gate, the church of Santa María de la Alhambra, the mosque baths and the Ángel Barrios museum. No turnstile stands between the street and any of them.
Beyond the walls, in the wooded slope, the Gate of the Pomegranates, the Charles V pillar, the Bibrrambla Gate and the statues are equally open, with the Manuel de Falla house-museum nearby. What still costs money is the trio everyone comes for: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba and the Generalife.
Two museums share one palace, and only one is free for everyone
The Palace of Charles V holds two separate museums on two floors with two different rules. The Alhambra Museum, on the ground floor, charges nothing at all. The Fine Arts Museum of Granada, one floor up, costs €1.50.
That €1.50 is waived for European Union citizens, students, over-65s and visitors with a disability of 33 per cent or above. A visitor arriving on a British, American, Canadian or Australian passport pays it, which follows the same nationality logic as the over-65 reduction on the monument ticket.
It is the only charge anywhere inside the free zone, and at €1.50 it is small enough that the interesting part is not the money but the pattern. Two floors of one building, two admission regimes, and the dividing line is a passport rather than a wall.
Two free viewpoints open only at weekends
The Silla del Moro and the Torres Bermejas cost nothing and open on Saturdays and Sundays only, according to the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife. Their hours do not match each other, which is the detail that decides a Sunday.
The Torres Bermejas keep the same hours both days: 8.30am to 8pm from 1 April to 14 October, and 8.30am to 6pm from 15 October to 31 March. The Silla del Moro follows that pattern on Saturdays but shuts at 2pm every Sunday of the year, in every season.
Four Nasrid monuments in the city stop charging on Sundays
Away from the hill, the Patronato groups four buildings under the name Andalusí Monuments: the Corral del Carbón, the Bañuelo, the Casa Horno de Oro and the Palacio de Dar al-Horra. A joint ticket costs €8.48 from Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays admission is free.
Their hours split by season. From 15 September to 30 April they run 10am to 5pm; from 1 May to 14 September they break the day in two, 9am to 2.30pm and 5pm to 8.30pm. The Corral del Carbón is the exception, open straight through from 9am to 8pm.
Three practical consequences follow for a free Sunday:
- Start high. The Silla del Moro closes at 2pm, so the hilltop has to come first.
- Expect a summer gap. Between 2.30pm and 5pm from May onwards, three of the four city monuments are shut.
- Keep the Corral del Carbón in reserve. Its unbroken 9am to 8pm schedule makes it the one that absorbs an awkward hour.
Which gates let you in without a ticket
Two gates open onto the free zone: the Justice Gate and the Gate of the Carts. On the second of those, according to the Ayuntamiento de Granada, entry is free and there is no control, which is the clearest wording anyone has published on the matter.
From the city, the usual approach climbs from the Gate of the Pomegranates up the Cuesta de Gomérez. Anyone combining the free walk with a paid visit should remember that the Nasrid Palaces run on a printed half-hour slot that no amount of free wandering suspends.
For the parts that do charge, with the €22.27 general ticket and its three release windows, the reference is the full guide to visiting the Alhambra.
Frequently asked questions
Can you visit the Alhambra for free?
Part of it, yes. A free-access zone inside the walls covers the Palace of Charles V, the Plaza de los Aljibes, the Wine Gate and the church of Santa María de la Alhambra. The Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba and the Generalife still require a paid ticket.
Is the Alhambra Museum free?
Yes. The Alhambra Museum occupies the ground floor of the Palace of Charles V and charges nothing. The Fine Arts Museum of Granada, on the floor above in the same building, costs €1.50 and waives it for European Union citizens, students, over-65s and visitors with a disability of 33 per cent or more.
Which Granada monuments are free on Sundays?
The four Andalusí Monuments: the Corral del Carbón, the Bañuelo, the Casa Horno de Oro and the Palacio de Dar al-Horra. A joint ticket costs €8.48 from Monday to Saturday and Sunday admission is free. They sit in the city centre and the Albaicín, not on the Alhambra hill.
Sunday is the only day the free list is complete, and the only one where a viewpoint shuts at two.