Sierra Nevada Information

Apres-ski

Sierra Nevada attracts a young crowd, including students from the university town of Granada below, alongside its family visitors, and is one of the more animated Spanish resorts come nightfall. There are dozens of clubs and bars to cater for those looking for a fun-filled night, with prices typically much lower than in the Alps.

Jaleo Bar (tel: +34 605 25 36 38), a coffee bar that converts to a ‘disco pub’ from 2230 onwards, has been one of the most popular venues for many years. Disco Pub Wall Street in the Hotel Nevasur (tel: +34 958 480 350; www.gruporeino.com) is another animated late-night option.

For something a little quieter, La Bodeguita (tel: +34 958 480 400) wine and tapas bar might be more suitable, although there is a karaoke machine that’s wheeled out on request. It’s friendly, rustic and open until midnight.

Eating out

With around 20 separate places to eat – ranging from simple tapas bars to gourmet restaurants – there’s a great choice of dining options in Sierra Nevada.

Among the most popular is the family-run La Antorcha Restaurante (tel: +34 654 345 117), a mixture of traditional Spanish and alpine cuisine, with its signature dish being a kind of ‘meat tree’ with various cured meats and sausages suspended from a branch.

La Muralla (tel: +34 677 413 331) is also good, again a locally run, intimate establishment with a small downstairs bar where free tapas are served to dining guests before they move upstairs for the meat feast, with cooking over an open flame.

The resort’s proximity to the Mediterranean Sea means seafood is something of a forte at several local establishments including La Visera (Pl. AndalucIa, Edf. Montebajo, local 1).

International styles of cuisine are also available, such as delicious pizza at Los Jamones (tel: +34 958 340 124), one of several Italian choices.

Resort Information

Beyond the slopes

There’s a huge range of things to do in the resort away from the slopes, all centrally managed through the Sierra Nevada Club (tel: +34 902 708 090).

The Mirlo Blanco recreation area offers lots of activities, including snow tubes, ski bikes, mini skis and even an archery range.  There’s also a ‘snow coaster’ – akin to a downhill roller coaster – that covers a 450m-long (1,476ft) track over a 250m (820ft) vertical, on which you can speed up to 40kph (25mph).

Other on-snow options include snowshoeing tours, snowmobiling excursions, ice driving lessons (driving a car on the slopes after the lifts close) or mountain biking on snow. For something truly stunning, take a trip up to the Veleta summit by ski cat for sunrise and sunset vistas over the magnificent national park below.

Off the slopes, the YHI Spa in the Meliá Sol y Nieve hotel (tel: +34 912 764 747; www.melia.com) is a major attraction with its rich selection of treatments and wealth of relaxation facilities, including a spa pool and hydrothermal circuit.

Family fun

Sierra Nevada is a very family-friendly resort, with affordable accommodation, suitable dining options, easy access to the slopes and child care and ski school tuition. The numerous green and blue ski run options are perfect for families wishing to ski together. 

Young children can play and learn to ski at three different ‘snow gardens’ while non-ski nursery care (tel: +34 958 481 081) is available for children aged four months to 12 years in Pradollano, near the gondola base station.

Most of the popular non-ski activities are also open to families with young children, including children’s snowmobiling on a small circuit using special kid-sized snowmobiles.

Retail therapy

Although not necessarily a shopper’s paradise, there are about 40 shops in Sierra Nevada ski resort, primarily offering holiday and ski essentials.

For example, visitors will find a handful of ski rental outlets, mini markets and various pharmacies routinely dotting the resort’s streets. However, more consumer-focused stores are available, including electronic retailers and souvenir shops. The greatest concentration of shops is within the central Plaza de Pradollano shopping arcade.

Splashing out

Thanks to warm thermals from the sea below, Sierra Nevada is a great place to paraglide. Take a 15 to 30 minute tandem paragliding flight from 3,000m (9,800ft) above sea level and admire the stunning views of the national park and beyond on your descent to Pradollano.

Hotels

As a purpose-built ski resort, Sierra Nevada unsurprisingly has largely apartment-style accommodation and low- to mid-range hotels. However, some newer establishments have raised the bar on what remains a predominantly 1- to 3-star standard resort, with a handful of 4- and 5-star rated options. 

Luxury

Moderate

Cheap