53410SOU
Sightseeing should include:
Alhambra Palace inside visit
Generalife Gardens stroll through
Summer Palace inside visit
· Call or text your local guide at least 48 hrs in advance to reconfirm the time of your visit. Entrances are purchased months in advance and are timed. It is impossible to make a change. **Please keep an eye on timing during the day to ensure you are punctual**
· If you are unavoidably detained, contact the area office immediately. IF YOU ARE LATE, YOU MISS YOUR TOUR.
· Passports are now a requirement for entering the Alhambra.
· The fixed timed entry ticket is for the visit to the Palace complex buildings. The Generalife gardens can be visited either before or after the Palace – discuss with your guide in which order you want to visit the gardens – you may need to adjust your timings for the day if you do the Gardens first. If you intend to walk down into town after your visit (instead of using the bus) then visiting the gardens first saves you doubling back on yourself and avoids a lot of extra walking. However, check with your guide as this is may not be possible depending on the time of your entrance slot.
· Maximum group size is now 30 pax. If your group is larger, then they will be split up equally in two halves and will have two guides. Make sure your group is aware of which group they will be in prior to arrival.
· Please make sure everyone in your group has their whispers sets before heading out on sightseeing ( and that you have the microphone/s for the local guide)
· The guide will have the tickets for the group Check the total number of entrance tickets allocated with the guide before starting tour to double-check whether the TM has been allocated one (it is not always guaranteed that you do). In that case, make sure the group knows where you are meeting once the guide leaves them.
· Alhambra tickets are now personalized with the name and passport number of each pax. Tickets must, therefore, be distributed before you head to the entry gate. You might want to enlist the teachers´ help with this as they know their students better.
· Once inside the Alhambra the group must stay together throughout the visit as there are now guards on every door, scanning tickets.
For this reason, they must keep hold of their individual tickets and passports for the duration of the tour.
· Guide is paid with voucher – please check the final numbers and sign.
On arrival the driver will leave you at the bottom of the turn-around in the parking. Arrange a meeting time with your driver (about 2.5 hrs later) and get their mobile number in case you need it. Continue down to the ticket office area where your local guide will be waiting for you. Please keep your ACIS folder out so you are easily visible.
If you arrive early, use the time to distribute the tickets and passports. Give them time to use the bathrooms which are downstairs, just to the left of the ticket office. If your guide has already arrived, there are bathrooms just inside the Alhambra complex. The bathrooms in the ticket office building get very congested and it can take ages for the whole group to go.
If you are having lunch in the area, there are several restaurants -. There is also a nice picnic spot in the area
Inside the ticket office, there is also an Andalucía tourist office. This is a great place for maps and other information.
As buses are not allowed to wait in the pick-up/drop-off area, a good rule of thumb is to call your driver when the group has finished their tour. It generally takes drivers 10 to 15 minutes from the time you call them until they arrive.
After the visit, drive back into Granada the bus will drop you on the Paseo de la Bomba which is a 10 minute walk to the centre.. Arrange a meeting time with your driver.
Walk the group over to the Cathedral (point out the entrance to the Royal Chapel to the side of the Cathedral – note opening times and prices for those who would like to go back in their free time), back through the medina and into Plaza Bib Rambla. There are lots of choices for lunch on the plaza. Give your group free time and arrange a regrouping time.
You will not need to make a stop en route to Nerja, so you can make a later departure from Granada.