37.09° N · 3.40° W
Spain's highest ski resort, above Pradollano: 112.5 km of pistes, snowshoeing up to the Veleta and snow without skiing, 31 km from Granada.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Skiing and snowboarding · 112.5 km and 139 runs · From 2,100 to 3,300 m · Lift pass with dynamic pricing by day
Guided snowshoeing · 3 to 5 h · From the University Hostel to 3,100 m · From €65 per person in groups of 4 to 10
Snowboard and freestyle · About 60 features · S, L and XL levels · Mini park and Kidspark for beginners
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From January to March, with the best snow; April brings sun and spring snow. It opens in late November if there is snow.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
A car gives you freedom of timetable and lets you come down to eat in Granada or Cenes. In return, the A-395 gets busy at weekends and with snow it may require chains.
Without a car you can ski just as well: the bus from Granada drops you in Pradollano and everything else is on foot or on the town bus. There is no road to keep an eye on and no parking to pay for.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Sierra Nevada has room for those who ski and those who do not: a nursery, a snow garden, themed runs and an amusement park in the snow. What tires children most is not the slope, it is the wind up high: stay at mid-mountain.
With teenagers, Sierra Nevada offers plenty of challenge: long red runs, one of Spain's big snowparks and, on some Saturdays, night skiing.
Sierra Nevada is the snow plan for a group of friends in the south: more than a hundred kilometres of pistes, a snowpark with modules of several levels and night skiing on some Saturdays, at the foot of the slopes and with budget accommodation. Sierra Nevada works best when the group splits up: those who really ski, to the high pistes; those who prefer freestyle, to the snowpark; and those who want something else, to the snowshoes. Sleeping next to the slopes saves on cars and time, and apartments with kitchens let you have dinner together at home. If anyone in the group doesn't ski, guided snowshoeing or sledding in the Mirlo Blanco snow park, at the foot of the Río run, are alternatives.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: The resort's own hotel in Plaza de Andalucía in Pradollano, next to the Al-Ándalus gondola, with single, double, quadruple rooms and a junior suite.
Why we like it: A three-star apartment hotel with 72 studios and apartments with kitchens in Plaza de Andalucía, 50 metres from the gondola, with direct access from the covered car park.
Why we like it: A hostel run by the Junta de Andalucía at Los Peñones, next to the slopes, with rooms for 2 to 6, apartments, a buffet and ski hire.
Services for this trip
Areas, for any way of travelling
| Area | Who it's for | Average night |
|---|---|---|
| Pradollano | Hotels, gondola and Mirlo Blanco | |
| Borreguiles | Beginners, restaurants and schools | |
| Hoya de la Mora | Albergue Universitario and routes to the Veleta |
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the Sierra Nevada menu, from €14.90, or a rice dish of the day if you arrive before the rush
What to order: the Mediterraneum menu (€85) for the whole table, or à la carte the octopus roasted over holm-oak smoke and the suckling lamb
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
36.95° N · 3.36° W
By carOn footCar-free
37.30° N · 3.14° W
37.44° N · 4.20° W
By carBy bike
37.91° N · 3.00° W
By carOn footLuxury
Tips
With dynamic pricing, the same-day ticket office is the most expensive.
You save the A-395 queue and the parking.
At 3,000 metres and in Andalusia, the sun burns even when it is cold.
That is where the easy pistes, the snow garden and the restaurants are.
Sierra Nevada is Spain's highest ski resort: you ski between 2,100 and 3,300 metres, beneath the Veleta, and the base, Pradollano, is 31 km from Granada. That makes it unique in the south: you can ski in the morning and have lunch in the city, or go up by bus from Granada's station for €10 return.
A large area: 139 pistes and 112.5 km of marked runs, with 23 green, 55 blue, 54 red and 7 black, and 1,200 metres of skiable vertical drop, the largest in Spain. It is served by 23 lifts, including two gondolas, and 459 cannons make snow on 37 km of pistes when it doesn't snow. There is a large snowpark, Sulayr, on the Loma de Dílar, cross-country and ski-touring circuits, and on some winter Saturdays, night skiing on the Río piste. You have it all on the page for skiing in Sierra Nevada.
Sierra Nevada sells the lift pass with dynamic pricing: it changes by calendar day and by when you buy it, and it is cheaper online and in advance. There is no fixed published rate, so check the price for the day you are going on the resort's website before you head up. Car parks are free in the pre-season and charge a daily price in winter.
There is plenty to do. In Pradollano, the Mirlo Blanco is a snow park with a rail-mounted roller coaster, slides, tubing and trampolines, with no lift pass: the Mirlo sledge costs from €7. For walkers, guided snowshoeing up to the Posiciones del Veleta, at 3,100 metres, with Nevadensis: three to five hours from the Albergue Universitario, from €65 per person with snowshoes and a qualified guide.
By car, along the A-395, the sierra road: about 31 km and 40 minutes without traffic. On Saturday mornings and on Sundays on the way down, queues form. With snowfall, the DGT (traffic authority) may require chains or winter tyres: check the status on 011 and the A-395 cameras on the resort's website, and carry chains.
By bus, Autocares Tocina leaves Granada bus station at 8:00 and 10:15, at 15:00 at weekends and public holidays, and at 17:15, stopping at the Paseo del Violón. It returns from Pradollano at 9:00, 16:00 and 18:30, and at 13:00 at weekends. It costs €10 return.
From Málaga, Jaén, Almería or Córdoba you reach Granada by motorway and from there along the A-395: doing it as a day trip is possible from Jaén and Málaga, but from Córdoba or Almería it is worth sleeping a night.
In three car parks with 3,932 spaces: the covered one beneath the Plaza de Andalucía, with 2,644, which exits next to the gondola; Los Peñones, with 750, next to the Inturjoven hostel; and Las Sabinas, with 513, next to the High Performance Centre. The resort's website shows occupancy in real time. A town bus links Pradollano, Los Peñones and the Albergue Universitario for €2.
The season starts in late November or December, when there is snow or cold enough to make it, and usually closes in April. January, February and March are the most reliable months. In April there is spring snow and sun, and fewer people midweek. If you can, avoid the December long weekends, Christmas and the Andalusia Day long weekend, 28 February: the pistes and the road fill up.
In Pradollano, the resort itself has the Hotel Telecabina and the Apartahotel Trevenque, on the Plaza de Andalucía, at the foot of the gondola, with bookings from 4 December 2026. The Albergue Inturjoven, at Los Peñones, is the budget option. For eating on the pistes, the Central Grill at Borreguiles has a menu from €14.90; on the way down, Ruta del Veleta, in Cenes de la Vega, is open on Sunday at lunchtime.
Questions
About 40 minutes by car along the A-395, about 31 km.
Yes, Autocares Tocina from the bus station: €10 return.
It has dynamic pricing depending on the day and the purchase date; check the day's price on the official website.
Normally in late November or early December, depending on the snow.
The Mirlo Blanco park, guided snowshoeing up to the Veleta or a stroll around Pradollano.
With snowfall, the DGT may require them on the A-395: always carry them in winter.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/sierra-nevada
