Granada Full-Day Tour from Costa del Sol

Having booked the trip and then read some of the reviews (rookie mistake) I was a little concerned about how the trip would be; I needn’t have! Francesca, our guide for most of the trip, and Dolores (Lola) who guided us around the Alhambra, were an absolute delight. Diego, our driver, was the strong silent type but dealt with an issue with rear door which initially prevented him from starting the bus after our first comfort stop, admirably. Granada and the Alhambra have long been on my bucket list. I was not disappointed. Please don’t let any of the negative comments put you off booking with Julia Travel. If you read the instructions about which tour, which language, the need to pre book tickets for the Alhambra, Nasrid and Generalife, the need to input your passport details when booking as well as the need to bring them with you when you go to the complex and the amount of walking/steps there is no reason that you shouldn’t have a fantastic day like we did.

Either these people are incompetent or just horrible people. I booked a Granada day tour from Malaga with Alhambra included 3 months ago. They took my money February 26th. I received a confirmation with ticket on that February date. Julia Travel cancelled my tour the day before the scheduled date of May 22nd. This is one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had. Totally unacceptable.

I found the tour operator is not very communicative, didn't reply to my email. The tour bus arrived 40 minutes late to collect us. The guide and driver took another 5 minutes cigarette break after that. I found the guide was very rude and curt mannered when we are asking questions. But he had strange sense of humour and cracking jokes when explaining the journey details. Looks like he has good command of different languages, but what a shame he wasn't very friendly when he was asked information. When we enquired if bus can stop in city centre as we have to walk 15 minutes from the pick up stop, he was very blunt saying we will only drop you where we picked. He could atleast say it politely. After getting down the bus I thanked him, he didn't even acknowledge or atleast didn't even make eye contact. Normally the tour guides will be quite warm and friendly and make your day very enjoyable with their sense of humour.

The bus arrives 25 minutes late. The description of the excursion suggests that we will see the akan ta. That is not the case. The guide gets rid of us at the first opportunity without explanation. Why sell an excursion that is not one? I could have rented a car and made the same trip. It is almost a fraud. I have canceled my other trips with you.

Be very careful when booking this tour! We thought we were getting the full day tour of the Alhambra and gardens but we did not. Apparently we chose the "on your own" tour, which we would never have done if we had known. It was a 13.5 hour day with a lot of walking and browsing shops and restaurants that were overpriced. The tour guide was frazzled and disorganized and was no assistance to us whatsoever. While I am sure the Alhambra is memorable, it seems like an ordeal to try to get tickets for admission. The tour with the tickets is considerably more expensive, as we found out too late.