Ski in the morning, swim after lunch: a Sierra Nevada day

On a clear winter morning you can be riding a chairlift above Pradollano and, a few hours later, walking on the sand in Almuñécar. The drive is roughly 100 km each way, and the sea in January sits around 15 °C. Here is how the day works, and where the sums are less comfortable than the brochures suggest.

Before you go: the sums

Salobreña to Granada is about 68 km by road, around 50 minutes. Granada to the resort is about 32 km and roughly 45 minutes, most of it climbing. Add the two and you have roughly 100 km and under two hours of driving, door to car park, without stops.

That is the whole trick of living on this coast. The mountain is close enough for a day out, not a holiday. Most winter weekends you can choose between the slopes and the seafront the night before, simply by looking at the forecast.

The route

From Salobreña take the A-7 to the junction near La Gorgoracha, where the A-44 begins. The A-44 runs north towards Granada and joins the city's western ring road, the GR-30. Follow the brown Sierra Nevada signs off the ring road onto the A-395, the mountain road that climbs to Pradollano.

When the season runs, and what a pass costs

The 2026/27 season is expected to run from 28 November 2026 to 25 April 2027. The resort's pages confirm the season but not the exact dates yet, so treat those as provisional until it announces the opening. The early-booking offer, 20% off season and long passes, ended on 15 October.

Lift passes are where prices move most. At the ticket office an adult day pass sits at roughly 52 to 60 euros, depending on the day. Treat that as a rough guide rather than a quote, because prices vary by channel and by demand. Buy online the evening before, and avoid Spanish bank holidays and weekends if you can. The car park and the lifts are a different place on a Tuesday.

Altitude, kit and the car

Pradollano sits at about 2,100 m and the top station reaches about 3,300 m, a vertical of roughly 1,200 m. Dress for the top, not the village, and certainly not for the coast you left in a T-shirt. Sun cream matters more at altitude than the forecast suggests.

Chains are not needed on most days, but the access road can require them after heavy snow. Petrol stations on the way sell them, so keep a set in the boot from mid-November.

The main car park, Plaza Andalucía at the entrance to Pradollano, has 2,664 spaces over four floors and is open 24 hours. The height limit on the lower levels is 2.20 m, which matters if you hire a van.

The day, hour by hour

Here is a day that works. Leave early, get the first runs in before the queues build, and come down before the light goes.

1. 07:30

   Leave the coast

   Coffee to go in Salobreña, then the A-7 and A-44 north while the light comes up over the mountains.

2. 08:45

   Pass Granada

   The GR-30 ring road, then the Sierra Nevada signs onto the A-395.

3. 09:30

   First runs

   Park in Plaza Andalucía, collect your pass, and take the first lift up before the queues build.

4. 13:00

   Lunch on the mountain

   A good moment to check the road and the weather before the descent.

5. 14:30

   Last run

   Stop while your legs still work, because the drive down needs attention.

6. 16:00

   Down to the coast

   Allow as long for the descent as for the climb.

7. 17:30

   Walk the beach

   Sunset on the seafront. Brave souls swim, and everyone else takes their shoes off.

The sea off Almuñécar averages about 15 °C in January and February and about 16 °C in December. That is a short, bracing swim, not a relaxed one. By June it is above 20 °C, and in August it touches 25 °C, which is the season to plan a swim around.

Off season: Mulhacén and the Alpujarra

Between late spring and autumn the same mountain is for walking. Mulhacén, at 3,479 m the highest peak on the Spanish mainland, can be climbed in a single day from Capileira or Trevélez, two of the Alpujarra villages on the southern side of the range. The southern flank is long but gentle, with no technical sections.

The Alpujarra is a separate day out rather than a stop on the ski route. The villages sit on the south face of the Sierra, while the ski road climbs from Granada on the north side.