Arriving into Grenada via the Alsa bus was the most direct from Malaga airport. We also used the…read morebus as our backup to get to Cordoba after all the high speed trains were cancelled. Arrival and departures took place on the lower level along with a restaurant, lottery ticket booth and relatively clean bathrooms. Taxis and uber rides were caught outside the upper level. Ticket counters were here as well and always had long lines. Booking online was so much better and if you created a with ALSA they also provided a discount on the fares. Buses pulled in and out of the bays on the lower level and the schedule board was handy to figure out which one had our departing bus. Arrival from Malaga airport was ahead of schedule but our bus to Cordoba was delayed by half an hour. Unfortunately the schedule board dropped the destination once the original departure has passed even if delayed. Overall convenient and inexpensive option for heading to other parts of Andalusia and Spain.

We arrived at this station, about 15 min from the historic center to get our bus to Malaga. The…read morestation has two levels, where the bus platforms are in the lower level. There is signage about arrival and departure information all over the station. We took ALSA for our trip. ALSA stands for Automóviles Luarca, S.A. and it operates bus and coach services in Spain and other countries across Europe, including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine. It also has operations in Morocco. The bus was on time, it was clean and it was air conditioned.

Two routes through Cordoba. Both routes start at Calahorra Tower. One is a mini bus that goes…read morethrough the old parts of town; the other is a big double-decker bus that goes through the newer parts of town. The mini bus driver was great -- he pointed out stuff because the audio guide wasn't clear about what we needed to look for. The bus stop signage is awful. When we got on near the Roman ruins, we asked half dozen locals for the location of the stop and got 6 different answers. We never saw a sign and just ran for the bus when we saw it. After lunch, we found a tiny sign for this bus inside a city bus stop and waited there. Of course, the bus blew by and didn't stop there. The driver waved, though. The timing of the bus means you spend more time waiting for the bus than on the bus. Our pamphlet said the bus comes every 40 minutes during the off season (and you get to guess what's off season and what's not). One of the staff said that by 40, they meant 60. By watching the buses at a convenient lunch spot, we determined they really meant 80.

Beware of booking a tour with this tour company: GrupoXplorer.com…read moreI booked a tour online with this company a couple weeks ago for a three hour tour of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain for my party of three people. I paid for the tour with my Visa card. The company confirmed my payment and booking reservation and gave me a date and time frame to meet our tour guide at a local hotel where we were staying. The tour guide NEVER SHOWED UP. I tried several times to contact the company by phone before the tour time to confirm our tour but they never answered my call. The following day I finally reached a company representative and explained how they had failed to meet my group for the tour they had promised, and that I would like them to refund me the full amount of the failed tour. The representative told me send the company an email requesting a refund. I did so immediately. However, the following day I received an email from the tour company telling me that they would not refund me any of the tour cost. I then contested the charge on my Visa card. Visa shortly thereafter credited my Visa account, and stated that the matter was "Pending Investigation". Bottom line: Taking money from someone with the promise of a service and then failing to provide the service and not refunding the cost of the service is fraud. So beware of this company.

I am thoroughly disgusted with this company…read more I was looking forward to this tour very much, seeing that I only had one night in Granada specifically to tour the Alhambra. I pinned the location as recommended by my email and I arrived 30 min early. I waited and waited for a bus with clouds that never arrived. I looked for someone with the xplorer blue logo but did not see anyone. My boyfriend and I then decided to make an international customer service call only to become more dissatisfied. The woman on the phone was not helpful, she insisted we find Carlos but how am I supposed to know who Carlos is? I paid a lot of money for a guided tour of the Alhambra so of course I don't know my way around. I finally found an official Alhambra staff and requested he speak to the customer service woman on the phone. He lead me in the right direction. At this point it was 6pm for a 5pm tour and the woman on the phone kept insisting that we wait 5 more minutes until the tour guide meets us along with the rest of the group. 15 min later the guide arrived. I insisted that I get my money back because by this time I was so upset and in tears. The woman on the phone was not helpful. She was not sympathetic. Bottomline: Do not book a tour with Grupo Xplorer. Book Alhambra at least 60 days in advance and just buy the audio guides. If you were late to purchase a ticket as I was just hire a freelance guide from another company. (Most of the tour companies seem to hire freelance guides anyway)

Shore excursion from Celebrity Infinity. Bused from Malaga port to Granada. Dropped off across…read morethe street from Neptuno Shopping Mall. Rest of bus passengers took taxi into city center. Instead of seeing more of what tourists see we ended up spending our 4 hours seeing what a local family might see on a Sunday. We pretty much walked and explored much of a few city blocks another definition of aimless wandering and experiencing life in part of Granada. What to do? Stepped into a pet store cuz of the cute display of toys in the window. Something for fur Bebe and grandpup? Why not? Hubs asked the Spanish speaking shop employee for a lunch recommendation. She asked, drink? I hand motioned eat. Giving us directions in Spanish we did our best at what seemed like go straight, turn left then turn right. Arrived at a pretty cafe for outdoor and indoor dining. We chose inside. We asked for English menu and hooray they had one. According to ship recommendations for ham I chose melon and ham, flan and a Coke Zero. Hubs had a generous portion of garlic pork and potatoes, dessert and regular Coke. I tried a piece of hub's pork, so moist, tasty and lots of delicious sauce. Another bus passenger returned early to our rendez vous pick up spot. He had gone by taxi with his wife into city center to a better mall. He said all he did was wait while his wife shopped. They didn't have lunch only dessert. The wife was happy with her purchases of a coat and clothing. I kinda envied her shopping escapade but enjoyed our time our way in Granada.

I decided to do a quick trip to Granada, to see the Alhambra again....with its famous gardens and…read morebuildings, it was really a beautiful landmark to visit. The city of Granada lies along the Genil River at the northwestern slope of the Sierra Nevada, 2,260 feet above sea level. The city's name may have been derived either from the Spanish granada ("pomegranate"), a locally abundant fruit that appears on the city's coat of arms, or from its Moorish name, Karnattah (Gharnāṭah), possibly meaning "hill of strangers." As the seat of the Moorish kingdom of Granada was the final stronghold of the Moors in Spain, falling to the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I in January 1492. One of Spain's most frequently visited tourist centers, Granada contains many notable architectural and artistic monuments. The city is the see of an archbishop, and at the center of the city stands the Gothic Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación, containing the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real) with the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella and a display of heraldic decoration. The cathedral is profusely ornamented with jasper and colored marble, and its interior contains many fine paintings and sculptures. My tour guide took the group around the tight pedestrian streets of Old Town and I enjoyed the colorful walls and gardens. The city is one of the few in Spain, where you get free tapas with every drink !

The buses were on time. The driver were professional and the ride was direct and smooth. Be early…read more These buses really do leave on time. There is a large indoor seating area if you get there early and you will also find a cafeteria with sandwiches and expresso. It would be nice if they had healthier options and larger capacity restrooms but overall a good experience.