Alhama de Granada sits in a dramatic gorge in the hills southwest of Granada, about 55 km from the provincial capital. The town is perched above the Río Alhama, which cuts a narrow ravine — the Tajo — through the limestone plateau. From the bridge over the gorge you look straight down into a slot canyon that drops some 30 metres to the river below.
The town itself is small and unhurried, with a handsome Plaza de los Presos and the 16th-century Iglesia del Carmen overlooking the gorge. The Arab baths, built over the natural hot springs that gave the town its name (from the Arabic al-hamma, meaning hot spring), are still accessible. The springs were known to the Romans before the Moors, and the town retains a layered history that its modest size belies.
Alhama makes a useful stop on a scenic drive between Granada and Málaga, cutting through the Axarquía region rather than the motorway corridor. It is quiet enough that it sees few foreign visitors — mostly Spanish day-trippers from Granada or Málaga.