Alhambra Small Group: the Water System, the Medina and the Nasrid Palaces

Three hours on foot through the Alhambra and the Generalife, in a small group, with the entry queue skipped.

The route runs in the order the site was built rather than the order of the postcards. It opens in the Generalife, where the guide explains the gravity irrigation system that brought water up to this ridge and distributed it by fall alone. The system has been restored and still waters the gardens, which is why they are green in an Andalusian August. Understand that first and the rest of the Alhambra reads differently: every pool and channel further up the hill is part of the same piece of engineering.

Then the Medina, the walled town inside the walls, where the court and the nobility actually lived. Its narrow streets are the closest thing on the site to ordinary medieval life, and the free-admission buildings are here.

The Alcazaba comes third, the oldest structure on the hill and a military fortress.

The Nasrid Palaces close the visit, which is the right way round: Comares, the Mexuar and the Court of the Lions land harder after you have seen what they were built on top of.