I was very happy for the 3 weeks I spent in Granada, and wish I’d been able to spend more.   My classes were excellent, Granada is cheap, beautiful, and there is lots of climbing.  Most of all though, I met people whom I felt I could call good friends.  This is probably the #1 factor for any place I like to stay for a while.

Where to Stay

So, I stayed at Hostel One Granada for almost my entire trip here.  This was in fact my cheapest option for the period of time that I was there, but in hindsight I would have been far more comfortable had I put more effort into finding a shared apartment with someo of the other Spanish students.  I think somebody snored in my room about 40% of the nights I was there.  I made a couple attempts to stay with a CouchSurfer, but it was a big fail in Granada.  The big bonus was that Eva, Luckio, and Lidia took me in as family, and generally made me feel very at home & loved.  This was especially nice during the 5 days I had the stomach flu and could barely eat.  Eva made me apples with butter, sugar, cinnamon which managed to keep me alive for a few days when I could barely eat.

Where I studied

I studied at a school called “Don Quijote”, and intensive Spanish school which was a partner school with Enforex.  This was rather important because I was able to seamlessly continue my studies from Alicante with a new batch of students.  It cost me about 130 euros a week to study, and classes went from 9am -> 130pm everyday.  About 20hrs of study a week, as well as living in a place where only Spanish was spoken allowed me to progress rapidly.

The Life

When you’re not staying up until 4am drinking, having tapas, and staring at the gorgeous views of the Alhambra, Granada has a great deal of highly athletic people around.  There is a great running trail which heads up towards the Sierra Nevada and follows the course of the river.  I took a day and mountain biked to Guejar Sierra, which is a gorgeous town halfway to the Sierra Nevada.  There’s almost always something going on in town, and the things to see are endless.

The nightlife

Oh man, how many days did I stay up until 3am?  I think I missed my morning class at least once a week because of this.  So many students, so many people going out, and everything is cheap!  Hard to go wrong in Granada.  Hit the Chupiterria for 1 euro shots, go to Babylon for some small venue DJ, or up on the hill for clubbing until 7am with awesome night views of the Alhambra.

The Climbing

This was by far the best & easiest place that I was able to find climbing partners.  There is a tiny tiny indoor venue for climbing in town, and one climbing shop.  But the community is well connected, and they go out all the time.  It’s populated, and the students typically have free time in the afternoon to go climbing.  The closest climbing area by far is Alfacar, which has lots of good sport climbing to keep you busy.  After that I recommend the somewhat sandbagged Los Cahorros.  Angel and I were able to go climbing most afternoons at Alfacar which is like 30min by car from Granada.

What made Granada great

The longer I stayed in Granada, the more great friends that I made.  The pace of life was extremely relaxed, and I always met fun & interesting people to spend my time with.  This place is small & less expensive than the other spanish cities, and the impact on the culture is huge.  People have time to meet with you, hang out, and become your friend.  Most folks are students, so, they have a pretty down to earth attitude.  I hope to return some day.