Our neighbours have just got back from Granada, where they of course visited the Alhambra. They said the queues were shocking, and even met some people in their hotel who failed to get in. Can we book tickets in advance? Lynne Booth, Middlesbrough

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: It seems odd, but getting to Granada on a last minute low cost flight is simplicity itself, but thanks to the enormous number of people who head for the Alhambra every year, turning up at the gate to buy a ticket will mean a long queue, and possible disappointment.

To take the stress out of the exercise, you need to book in advance. Just visit the official website, www.alhambra-patronato.es, where you pay £10 per adult (£7 for the over 65’s, and free for children up to 12). The quota of tickets for each day is strictly limited to 2,100 in the morning, 3,300 in the afternoon, and 400 in the evening.

This does mean that you have to specify a particular day, and whether you want to visit in the morning or afternoon, but there’s no other way. You’ll get a booking reference, and then can collect your tickets when you arrive in Spain, at any branch of the BBVA (Banco de Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), or at the Alhambra ticket office. You’ll need your passport to do this.

Once you are inside, you can roam around to your heart’s content, and stay as long as you like too, until the site closes at 8pm (6pm in winter). If in doubt, get the best value and buy a morning ticket and have the whole day there, if you like.

However, for the Nasrid Palace, you get allocated a time to visit. Make a note of this, as you won’t be you have to show up there within 30 minutes either side of this. There are also a smaller number of evening tickets, which cover just the Nasrid Palace, so you would only ever want to do this in addition to a daytime visit.

You can get an official local guide from Guias Granada (00 34 958 22 5245), where three hours with a guide and a group of up to 30 people costs for £38.50, or get a private guide for £122 per couple, or group, through www.alhambra.org, or www.alhambragranada.info.

Good guide books include the Rough Guide to Andalucia (£12.99), Lonely Planet's Andalucia guide (£12.99), and the Michelin Green Guide to Andalucia (£14.99).

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