If you have spent any time around this corner of the internet, then you know I have a thing for UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE sites; it is a bucketlist items to see all of the ones on the list currently. There are about 1092 by the latest count including THE stunning Generalife palace in Granada. We spent a week in South of Spain one December - the intention was to split our time with three days in Seville and three days in Granada but the forecast was all rain in Granada and we did not want to bother with that . Instead, we scrapped our plans for Granada and decided to do a day trip instead. We were up at a VERY ungodly time to catch the train to Granada. The train ride is about eight hours round trip. In hindsight doing a day trip was not the smartest move on our part. Our tickets into Alhambra was booked for 3 p.m. - the visit to Generalife is not timed and you can get in anytime on ticketed date. After a brief tour of town and nourishment, we took a cab to the entrance; picked up our ticket and kicked off our tour.

Tickets to just Generalife costs about 14 euros. If you have time, I recommend getting the combo Alhambra/Generalife ticket. it is better value for money.

The entrance to the palace is the beautiful Generalife gardens which incorporates elaborate moorish garden design with water; music and light features. I dont think it gets the credit it deserves because of how stunning the adjacent palace (The Alhambra) is - I think most people visit Generalife after time in Alhambra and because of how elaborate and overwhelming the Alhambra is - it clouds seeing the beauty of Generalife. I am glad we saw this palace first. The Generalife palace was the summer palace of the rulers of the Emirate of Granada.

The grounds is a collection of gardens ; the building is minimal (compared to other similar buildings/palaces) in this region of Spain. Although there are few influences of the Christian invaders, Generalife still reflects (very much) the Arabic stamp and influence from the time the region was ruled by arabs. It is said this was the rest palaces for the rulers at time and that is evident in the design. While the palace structure is stunning; I recommend spending most of your time exploring the gardens - it is so beautiful. I am going to stop trying to convince you now and let pictures tell the story.