Arriving in Madrid in May looking for Hostals in Granada and BCN

Also anyone has any info on trains from Granada to BCN

Also should I buy my ticket in the states for the Alahambra or are the lines not to long.

The lines can be very long at the Alhambra. If you arrive early in the day and plan to stay all day, there should not be any problem. When you enter the complex they give you a ticket with an appointment to enter the Casas Reales, the most famous areas. You can't enter any time other than the one on your ticket. As for train schedules and tickets, check www.renfe.es. I would bet that it would be better to take a bus or plane from Granada to Barcelona.

Sorry I forgot your original question. There are lots of hostales in both cities. I stayed in the Hostal Viena, which is very small, but in the shadow of the Alhambra. I believe the same people have another as well. In Barcelona, check MadridMan\'s Barcelona hostals , or check Sandra Gustafson's Cheap Sleeps in Spain or Let's Go Spain , both available at bookstores.

Hostal in Granada: Hostal Landazuri Cuesta Gomerez 24, phone: 95 82 21 406 Rooms are a little worn, but clean and safe. Very close to bus stop for buses to Albayzín and Alhambra.

Definitely reserve entry to Alhambra early if you know when you will be in Granada. You can reserve online here or, I just found out, you can go to any BBVA bank branch in Spain and reserve a ticket. The fee is the same for both.

They are experimenting a little with crowd control. The entry time on your ticket is an entry time to the Palacios Nazaries. You must enter the Palacios Nazaries within this half hour window. Once you are inside, you can linger as long as you like. Similarly, if you have a morning entry time (before 14:00), you may enter the site at any time in the morning and stay as long as you like. The ticket may say you need to leave by 14:00, but the reality is that, other than Palacios Nazaries, no one is checking ticket times once you are in. If your entry time is after 14:00, you can´t enter the site before 14:00.

Hope that helps!

Granada is wonderful! I stayed at Hostal Meridiano last summer & loved it. It's within walking distance to everything and is clean, quiet, inexpensive... Just do a search on this site to get their website.

Reserve your tickets from the states.. or check if wherever you're staying can make the reservations for you. This is what I did and it was a HUGE time saver... I went right on Semana Santa and the lines at the Alhambra were making the local paper's headlines... it was THAT bad.. but I had my reservations I skipped the entire line and headed straight for the reserved tickets window, picked up my tickets, payed them and was inside in no-time. Instead of making a 2 hour line i was in in 2 minutes.

I loved Hostal Nuevas Naciones. Very, very clean and operated by a really sweet family. The bathroom is HUGE by Spanish standards and you share it with only 1 other room (a cleaning lady cleans it between uses)! Phone, TV, comfortable beds: http://granadainfo.com/nuevas/granadahostal.htm

It's on a little street near the Gran Vía, so you get quiet at night but are steps away from taxis and the Alhambrabus. Additionally, there is a bakery on the corner that sells delicious cortados (espresso and milk) and apricot/custard pastries for breakfast.

As for Alhambra tickets, there's no need to wait in line. You purchase tickets with a designated time that you enter. I would purchase it the day before or early in the day, and schedule it for dusk, when the Alhambra is absolutely magical and quiet (by then, the tourist buses have left).

Be careful making online reservations. See this Alhambra tickets thread.

You can also purchase tickets to the Alhambra at any bank branch of BBVA.

Ooops I see vicki has already given this one...sorry for the dupe.

We just got back...and my group was too big (we were 6) to get tickets online. The max is 5. Got there the Monday after Semana Santa and headed to BBVA for Alhambra tickets. No luck. The earliest available was the following Sunday. We were leaving Wednesday, so I ran up to the Alhambra, waited in line over an hour, and found out that tickets are only sold at the window for THAT DAY. no tickets in advance. I was assured that I could get tickets the next morning. SO, I was up early, but not early enough, for the 8:00 opening of the ticket window. I could not believe the length hours, and when I made it to the front, the line was even longer behind me than it had been when I started!
Next surprise...foolishly, I had expected to use my debit card. Nope, cash only. I was 10 euros short for 6 tickets, so they held the tickets and sent me to the cash machine downstairs. Broken. Sent me to a hetel up the street. Broken. I ran to the cemetary at the top of the cuesta, where there was another cash machine. which worked. Gracias a dios. and the tickets were still waitng for me. Whew!!
So, learning from my experience...cary cash, get tickets in advance if possible, but remember there's a ticket limit online...
Good luck.....
PS....It was worth the wait...