Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Granada.
Restaurants
Los Santanderinos
Unassumingly located, but an essential foodie stop-off, this incredible restaurant serves artfully prepared Andalucian cuisine to an ever-packed formal dining room. There’s a tapas bar by the entrance too.
1 Calle Albahaca, Granada 18006, Spain
(+34 958 128335)
Parador de San Francisco
Located within the Alhambra walls, and boasting wonderful views of the gardens, this hotel restaurant serves classic local dishes in the pretty courtyard of what was once a mosque.
Calle Real de la Alhambra, Granada 18009, Spain
(+34 958 221440)
Senzone
International, but with a firm not to Andalucian culinary tradition, the cuisine at the Hospes Palacio de los Patos hotel’s minimalist restaurant is exquisitely prepared and presented with artistry.
1 Calle de Solarillo de Gracia, Granada 18002, Spain
(+34 958 535790)
Bodega Castaneda
This attractive, bustling little tavern is one of the most popular tapas bars in the city and a great place to try the local jamón de Trevelez.
1–3 Calle Almireceros, Granada 18010, Spain
(+34 958 223222)
Om Khalsum
Unusually, this popular bar serves tapas with a North African twist – the chef can do impressive things with chickpeas.
17 Calle Jardines, Granada 18002, Spain
Pilar del Toro
Housed in a 19th-century home, this popular tapas bar and restaurant is more comfortable than most, with a sheltered hacienda-style patio and excellent food.
12 Calle Hospital de Santa Ana, Granada 18009, Spain
(+34 958 223847)
Cafés
Lopez-Mezquita Café
This small rustic-looking pastelria on one of the city’s main thoroughfares has made a name for itself thanks its pastries.
39 Calle Reyes Católicos, Granada 18001, Spain
(+34 958 221205)
Kasbah
A Moroccan-style teashop serving super-sweet mint teas, pistachio and almond pastries and hookah pipes with fruit-flavoured tobaccos. If you’re lucky, you might catch a belly dancer performing.
4 Calle Calderería Nueva, Granada 18010, Spain
(+34 958 227936)
Bars and clubs
Copas la Fontana
A large, labyrinthine late-night bar on one of Granada’s most nightlife-friendly thoroughfares, this ochre-hued party hive mixes some excellent, reasonably priced cocktails.
19 Carrera del Darro, Granada 18010, Spain
(+34 958 227759)
El Príncipe
Once a grain warehouse, now one of the city’s most vibrant nightspots, El Príncipe maintains on upmarket policy on both dress and music, with high timbered ceilings and a house/electronica playlist. There’s tapas available into the small hours.
Calle Campo del Príncipe, Granada 18009, Spain
(+34 958 228088)