Alright so I've lived here a couple of months doing a Spanish course and thought Id drop a sheet if anyone's interested.
![[Image: granada2.jpg]](http://www.espana-spain.com/images/granada2.jpg)
Overview: Granada is a smallish city in Andalucia at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range with a population of around 250k. Although the population is small you dont 'really get the small town atmosphere, there is always a buzz in the centre due to the loads of tourists that come mainly for the Alhambra. Its a huge student town and something like one third of the population is students which means there are loads of Spanish girls from other parts of Spain not living with their parents. Also means that its dirt cheap here! Its one of the last places in Spain where you get a free tapas with a drink purchase at the bars and a drink is usually only 1.50 - 2 euros for beer or wine.
One thing is that place is absolutely infested with foreign students. I think its one of the biggest exchange student locations in Europe. This can be a good thing with there being loads of girls from pretty much everywhere but also bad as there are also a shitload of Americans here. I cant go a day walking around town without hearing an American girl say "like"a thousand times while trying to explain one stupid incident. Also unless you are from Bhutan or something your exotic factor will be absolutely zero.
Time to visit: Like most of inland Spain the place is a ghost town in summer and stinkingly hot so avoid between around mid June to Mid Sep. Any other time is fine, can get quite cold in the winter though due to it being in the mountains.
Girls: There are lots of pretty, thin, feminine and petit Spanish girls around but its not like your going to get whiplash walking down the street. They are quite friendly and usually open for a chat, not much bitch shield. Not very easy to lay though as has been said on here about Spanish girls over and over. Lots of student and tourist girls from pretty much everywhere too.
Goes without saying that knowing Spanish will go a long way, although many of the college kids are at least conversational in English. The accent can take a while to get used to though if you learned Spanish elsewhere as they have a very loose way of pronouncing things. They like it when you tell them you prefer the Andalucian Spanish too.
Bars/Clubs
Take your vitamins and make sure to have a siesta because Granada nightlife is LATE, even by Spanish standards. People will go out to tapas bars at 11 or so, then maybe another bar until 3 or 4 and then clubs until 7. There is party pretty much everynight as well, maybe Mon and Tues a bit slow but any other day and you will be fine. Here are a few places below:
Vogue (locals pronounce it Bog-eh): This is the place where people come to hook up in Granada. Its a 2 floor club with indie/electronic downstairs and either rock or techno upstairs. Its not a very glamorous place in fact its dark, dirty and loud but it seems everyone is on heat here. Kicks off around 3/30am and goes until 7. Turns into a massive cockfest at around 430 when swarms of thirst dudes flood in so try get there earlier. Still its pretty easy to pull in here. You can try your luck on the dancefloor or out the front where everyone smokes. If you fail before close you can always try Roosh's afterparty move out the front as everyone hangs around for a while. A Spanish guy I know says he has pulled loads of girls back to his place this way. Quality is all over the place but always some hotties. Its open every night too, I was here on a Wednesday and it was rammed until 6am. Costs around 6-8 euros to get in with a drink included.
La Booga: This is probably my favourite club in Granada. Plays funky soul music and usually a good number of girls in there. Doesnt get going until very late, usually around 4am and goes until 7 as well. Open Wed to Sun and around 8 euros on the weekend with drink, free during the week.
Camborio: This has one of the best locations for a club you will find. Its up on the hill in Sacromonte with a huge terrace offering a glorious view of the Alhambra. Such a shame that this place is cheesy as fuck with horrible music. Its a real tourist and exchange student place, there will be hot students but competition is intense and its a cockfest. The problem with places like this is that not many Spanish girls go here but hoardes of Spanish dudes go looking for the foreign students. Therefore the ratio and dynamics get fucked up. The club Granada10 is supposedly like this too although I havn't been there. At least with Vogue a lot of Spanish girls go there too so its nowhere near as bad. Thurs - Sat and around 8 to get in with a copa.
La Copera Industrial: Big Ibiza style superclub a little out from the centre. If there are any big DJs in town they will usually be playing here. If you are into your beats like me then its reccommended but just for pick up I wouldnt bother. Pretty much all locals though and there are some hot girls. Check the web to see if anythings on, around 15 usually to get in with a drink.
Mae West: Big commercial disco located in a mall nearish to the centre. I actually havnt been here yet, but I've been told its a bit more upscale than the usual places and you need to dress up a bit to be let in. A mix of Spanish and internationals.
Forum Plaza: Also never went here but heard this is the hi-end club of Granada. Heard it is quite hard to get into and you must be on point. Has top talent though apparently.
Planta Baja: More of a bar/disco pre place than an actual club. Runs from 12 until around 4 before everyone goes to a club. Actually has a great layout for pick up as there is a terrace out the front that everyone smokes on, then upstairs is a cool bar/loungey spot, then a dancefloor downstairs. Its not always that full though so can be hit and miss.
El Son: Bar/Pub with a little downstairs dancefloor playing some funky tunes. Open from 12 until 4am so also more of a pre place.
Pub Legend: God this place is awful, I cant stand it. However, it is always filled with exchange students pretty much everynight. No idea why, but nearly all students go here for pre drinks before heading out to a club. If you go though be prepared for the most skankiest bathrooms if you will ever encounter. The piss smell is so strong it will make your head spin.
Bars around Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcon: This is an area down a bit from the centre where there are loads of studenty/dive bars. Most of them are pretty awful, but its a popular place to go out with the student crowd. I would just reccommend wondering around looking for girls to mack on the street in-between venues. Or there is the chupiteria (shot bar) which is always popular with the exchange students.
Other places: There are loads of little small bars all around Plaza Nueva, Albycin and Plaza Trinidad. These places can be good in the early evening (7-10) or lunchtime (2-4) as people catch up for a beer or coffee. Potemkin is also a great little bar next to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas. They do a sweet sushi tapas night on a Wed, great for a date.
Daygame: Try just wondering around central, most places there are plenty of people out and about. The usual haunts like H&M, Zara etc usually have cute girls in them too. Finally in the Albyzin neighbourhood there will be plenty of tourists around, especially at the Mirador de San Nicolas which is the main lookout for the Alhambra.
Where to stay: In the centre of course! I curse myself everyday that I'm living out a bit from town, even if its a nice spot next to the river with a view of the mountains.
Other stuff: The Alhambra is obviously a must see. Lots of outdoor activities to do like mountain biking, kayaking, Sierra Nevada Ski resort is only 40 mins away too.
My Experience: Ill admit I havnt done particularly well here. Got laid a bit and had a few highlights, but overall definitely havnt set the world on fire. I wont blame the place or the girls because I have seen others get laid here, my game just hasn't been up to scratch. Its a good wake up call though that I still have a lot of work to do, I was coasting in London and got lazy. Having shitty logistics hasn't helped either, definitely DON'T get a place out from the centre like I have. Hell if I lived in the centre Id probably just go and troll Vogue 3 or 4 times a week solo at 330am, but its a 45 min walk from where I live so makes it difficult.
Having said that though I met lots of cool Spanish people, went to some crazy parties, greatly improved my Spanish and got my home Spanish flag with a sexy Granadina. Not a complete disaster.
Conclusion: I would say worth a trip for a few days if you are in Spain. If you've got your fundamentals down (decent looking, game, logistics etc) you could do quite well. Not Fisto in SEA well but decent. You will get bonus points for being blonde haired/blue eyed too, always see these guys with chicks. Plus its cheap, beautiful, good food, decent (albeit studenty) nightlife, mostly good weather and other stuff to do around the area. Even for a longer stay it would be quite good, you could easily live off 1200 or so euros a month here.
Other Places around:
Malaga: Spent a weekend here and was pleasantly surprised. It gets a bad wrap but thats mostly because of the airport flying in hoardes of package tourists to the Costa del Sol. The actual town of Malaga is quite nice and has a really buzzing old town on the weekends. The actual bars and clubs I went to were rubbish but it was loads of fun just chatting shit to girls on the street.
Almeria/Cabo de Gata: Wasn't particularly impressed, was a little zone with all the nightlife around it but not that great. Cabo de Gata national park on the other hand is definitely worth a visit as its beautiful. There was even a bit of nightlife in the town of Las Negras as lots of Spaniards go on holiday here. Apparently there are great parties here in the summer.
Overview: Granada is a smallish city in Andalucia at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range with a population of around 250k. Although the population is small you dont 'really get the small town atmosphere, there is always a buzz in the centre due to the loads of tourists that come mainly for the Alhambra. Its a huge student town and something like one third of the population is students which means there are loads of Spanish girls from other parts of Spain not living with their parents. Also means that its dirt cheap here! Its one of the last places in Spain where you get a free tapas with a drink purchase at the bars and a drink is usually only 1.50 - 2 euros for beer or wine.
One thing is that place is absolutely infested with foreign students. I think its one of the biggest exchange student locations in Europe. This can be a good thing with there being loads of girls from pretty much everywhere but also bad as there are also a shitload of Americans here. I cant go a day walking around town without hearing an American girl say "like"a thousand times while trying to explain one stupid incident. Also unless you are from Bhutan or something your exotic factor will be absolutely zero.
Time to visit: Like most of inland Spain the place is a ghost town in summer and stinkingly hot so avoid between around mid June to Mid Sep. Any other time is fine, can get quite cold in the winter though due to it being in the mountains.
Girls: There are lots of pretty, thin, feminine and petit Spanish girls around but its not like your going to get whiplash walking down the street. They are quite friendly and usually open for a chat, not much bitch shield. Not very easy to lay though as has been said on here about Spanish girls over and over. Lots of student and tourist girls from pretty much everywhere too.
Goes without saying that knowing Spanish will go a long way, although many of the college kids are at least conversational in English. The accent can take a while to get used to though if you learned Spanish elsewhere as they have a very loose way of pronouncing things. They like it when you tell them you prefer the Andalucian Spanish too.
Bars/Clubs
Take your vitamins and make sure to have a siesta because Granada nightlife is LATE, even by Spanish standards. People will go out to tapas bars at 11 or so, then maybe another bar until 3 or 4 and then clubs until 7. There is party pretty much everynight as well, maybe Mon and Tues a bit slow but any other day and you will be fine. Here are a few places below:
Vogue (locals pronounce it Bog-eh): This is the place where people come to hook up in Granada. Its a 2 floor club with indie/electronic downstairs and either rock or techno upstairs. Its not a very glamorous place in fact its dark, dirty and loud but it seems everyone is on heat here. Kicks off around 3/30am and goes until 7. Turns into a massive cockfest at around 430 when swarms of thirst dudes flood in so try get there earlier. Still its pretty easy to pull in here. You can try your luck on the dancefloor or out the front where everyone smokes. If you fail before close you can always try Roosh's afterparty move out the front as everyone hangs around for a while. A Spanish guy I know says he has pulled loads of girls back to his place this way. Quality is all over the place but always some hotties. Its open every night too, I was here on a Wednesday and it was rammed until 6am. Costs around 6-8 euros to get in with a drink included.
La Booga: This is probably my favourite club in Granada. Plays funky soul music and usually a good number of girls in there. Doesnt get going until very late, usually around 4am and goes until 7 as well. Open Wed to Sun and around 8 euros on the weekend with drink, free during the week.
Camborio: This has one of the best locations for a club you will find. Its up on the hill in Sacromonte with a huge terrace offering a glorious view of the Alhambra. Such a shame that this place is cheesy as fuck with horrible music. Its a real tourist and exchange student place, there will be hot students but competition is intense and its a cockfest. The problem with places like this is that not many Spanish girls go here but hoardes of Spanish dudes go looking for the foreign students. Therefore the ratio and dynamics get fucked up. The club Granada10 is supposedly like this too although I havn't been there. At least with Vogue a lot of Spanish girls go there too so its nowhere near as bad. Thurs - Sat and around 8 to get in with a copa.
La Copera Industrial: Big Ibiza style superclub a little out from the centre. If there are any big DJs in town they will usually be playing here. If you are into your beats like me then its reccommended but just for pick up I wouldnt bother. Pretty much all locals though and there are some hot girls. Check the web to see if anythings on, around 15 usually to get in with a drink.
Mae West: Big commercial disco located in a mall nearish to the centre. I actually havnt been here yet, but I've been told its a bit more upscale than the usual places and you need to dress up a bit to be let in. A mix of Spanish and internationals.
Forum Plaza: Also never went here but heard this is the hi-end club of Granada. Heard it is quite hard to get into and you must be on point. Has top talent though apparently.
Planta Baja: More of a bar/disco pre place than an actual club. Runs from 12 until around 4 before everyone goes to a club. Actually has a great layout for pick up as there is a terrace out the front that everyone smokes on, then upstairs is a cool bar/loungey spot, then a dancefloor downstairs. Its not always that full though so can be hit and miss.
El Son: Bar/Pub with a little downstairs dancefloor playing some funky tunes. Open from 12 until 4am so also more of a pre place.
Pub Legend: God this place is awful, I cant stand it. However, it is always filled with exchange students pretty much everynight. No idea why, but nearly all students go here for pre drinks before heading out to a club. If you go though be prepared for the most skankiest bathrooms if you will ever encounter. The piss smell is so strong it will make your head spin.
Bars around Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcon: This is an area down a bit from the centre where there are loads of studenty/dive bars. Most of them are pretty awful, but its a popular place to go out with the student crowd. I would just reccommend wondering around looking for girls to mack on the street in-between venues. Or there is the chupiteria (shot bar) which is always popular with the exchange students.
Other places: There are loads of little small bars all around Plaza Nueva, Albycin and Plaza Trinidad. These places can be good in the early evening (7-10) or lunchtime (2-4) as people catch up for a beer or coffee. Potemkin is also a great little bar next to the Centro de Lenguas Modernas. They do a sweet sushi tapas night on a Wed, great for a date.
Daygame: Try just wondering around central, most places there are plenty of people out and about. The usual haunts like H&M, Zara etc usually have cute girls in them too. Finally in the Albyzin neighbourhood there will be plenty of tourists around, especially at the Mirador de San Nicolas which is the main lookout for the Alhambra.
Where to stay: In the centre of course! I curse myself everyday that I'm living out a bit from town, even if its a nice spot next to the river with a view of the mountains.
Other stuff: The Alhambra is obviously a must see. Lots of outdoor activities to do like mountain biking, kayaking, Sierra Nevada Ski resort is only 40 mins away too.
My Experience: Ill admit I havnt done particularly well here. Got laid a bit and had a few highlights, but overall definitely havnt set the world on fire. I wont blame the place or the girls because I have seen others get laid here, my game just hasn't been up to scratch. Its a good wake up call though that I still have a lot of work to do, I was coasting in London and got lazy. Having shitty logistics hasn't helped either, definitely DON'T get a place out from the centre like I have. Hell if I lived in the centre Id probably just go and troll Vogue 3 or 4 times a week solo at 330am, but its a 45 min walk from where I live so makes it difficult.
Having said that though I met lots of cool Spanish people, went to some crazy parties, greatly improved my Spanish and got my home Spanish flag with a sexy Granadina. Not a complete disaster.
Conclusion: I would say worth a trip for a few days if you are in Spain. If you've got your fundamentals down (decent looking, game, logistics etc) you could do quite well. Not Fisto in SEA well but decent. You will get bonus points for being blonde haired/blue eyed too, always see these guys with chicks. Plus its cheap, beautiful, good food, decent (albeit studenty) nightlife, mostly good weather and other stuff to do around the area. Even for a longer stay it would be quite good, you could easily live off 1200 or so euros a month here.
Other Places around:
Malaga: Spent a weekend here and was pleasantly surprised. It gets a bad wrap but thats mostly because of the airport flying in hoardes of package tourists to the Costa del Sol. The actual town of Malaga is quite nice and has a really buzzing old town on the weekends. The actual bars and clubs I went to were rubbish but it was loads of fun just chatting shit to girls on the street.
Almeria/Cabo de Gata: Wasn't particularly impressed, was a little zone with all the nightlife around it but not that great. Cabo de Gata national park on the other hand is definitely worth a visit as its beautiful. There was even a bit of nightlife in the town of Las Negras as lots of Spaniards go on holiday here. Apparently there are great parties here in the summer.
