Royal Palace of Madrid
Royal Palace of Madrid
4.5
Historic SitesArchitectural Buildings
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Luxurious, over-the-top rococo palace with over 2,000 opulently gilded rooms.
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Admission tickets
from $43.21
All you need to step foot in the door.
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Plan your visit
The area
Address
Neighborhood: Centro
Expansive plazas, local and foreign crowds, street performers, colorful lights, window shopping, restaurant signs promising the best paella, ham, and churros con chocolate- this is downtown Madrid, a collection of plazas interconnected by a network of side streets. Some of these side streets are wide pedestrian shopping routes, and some are hidden, so it's possible to duck in and out of the bustle as desired. The iconic Puerta del Sol is the giant crossroads of the city and a must-see attraction at any time of the day. The nearby Plaza Mayor, completely enclosed by historic red buildings, is an ideal place to grab a bite to eat outside, amidst scores of tables and people out for a stroll. Plaza Isabel II (also known as “Opera”) is smaller and a good meeting spot, and the stately Plaza del Oriente is the front yard of the Royal Palace. Centro can be touristy (pickpockets are unfortuately not unheard-of here), crowded, and sometimes gimmicky, but it is also the place to experience classic Madrid.
How to get there
  • Ópera • 5 min walk
  • Santo Domingo • 9 min walk
Reach out directly
See what travelers are saying
  • Cody
    Austin, Texas6 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Does not have English explanation for the Royal Arms Museum Area
    Everything was good except from the royal Arms museum which did not have any English explanations so if you cannot read Spanish reserve beforehand online for an English audio guide as you cannot get one on the day of. The free time after 4PM or something will get a huge line (I got out about 4:30 PM) and there will be many street sellers with some aggressive marketing techniques to get you to buy stuff from them so I would recommend just paying the 15 Euros to enter. Also another reason is that the palace walkable areas inside are pretty thin so not a lot of room for maneuverability.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 21, 2023
  • AppletreeGirl
    Essex, United Kingdom248 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful palace, stunning rooms.
    This is a stunning place, beautiful architecture and rooms that will take your breath away with their opulence. By an “avoid the queue” ticket online and you can walk straight in. The audio guide was good but not quite accurate about where to start. Once inside the palace though it worked well. Well worth a visit.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 21, 2023
  • nick9874
    Florida200 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A definite stop to see in madrid
    We enjoyed our visit here. The audio tour was ok but some of the path was closed. I imagine you could download a tour on your phone in advance for less than 6 euro. It was interesting to hear the history and see the placement with the current royal family. Buy tickets in advance to avoid the line. Be careful with beggars in line. We witnesses a good Samaritan giving coins only to be chastised by an older woman wanting more since he exposed bills in his wallet.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 25, 2023
  • Emily
    London, United Kingdom395 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful & Impressive building.
    Beautiful & Impressive building. Long queue to get in and was quite busy (Sunday Afternoon), but was still able to see the décor. Staff were very friendly & helpful and spoke English. Signage within in both Spanish & English, providing some interesting commentary. Worth a visit.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 25, 2023
  • Umesh99
    191 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    One of the must visit place in Madrid.
    We went there in Summer, so naturally, it was really hot. My advise is if you are going to summers don't forget to take 2-3 liters of cold water with you. Palace is really great, so well maintained. Definitely worth to visit.
    Visited July 2022
    Written March 26, 2023
  • Toby
    Paignton, United Kingdom37 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Would go and see if in Madrid
    We visited here in early March and really enjoyed it. We are glad we got to see it. I think it may have been worth a guided tour if you're really into that, but just idly walking round was enough for me and my girlfriend. It was fun seeing all of the stuff, and a nice surprise Sorolla exhibit was a definite plus. It definitely elevated our trip, despite the extra ticket price. Overall, it was a fun experience that I am glad we went and saw.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 28, 2023
  • lozbad
    Bristol, United Kingdom47 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Definitely worth a visit
    I arrived here an hour before closing - and boy did they like to keep reminding me about that, very bluntly. No discount for this though, even though they clearly felt it wasn't enough time. The armory was already closed as well. Although you don't get to see all of the palace, what you do see is incredibly opulent and in very good condition. If you don't do the audio tour there was a board in each room (one English, one Spanish) that gave a brief explanation of where you were and what you were looking at which was sufficient for me.
    Visited March 2023
    Written March 28, 2023
  • HolidaymakerfromHove
    Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom1,605 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Madrid Royal Palace……….
    We prebooked our tickets well in advance of our trip. We were very glad that we did as the line to pay on the day was very long even though it was still quite early. We use get your guide to pre purchase tickets like this. We skipped the line and entered the palace. We did not pay extra for the audio tour. We used a DK top 10 guide book to highlight the must see things in the palace. The staircase inside the palace is magnificent. There is a one way system in place which worked very well. We saw lots of elaborately decorated rooms, various artworks including Goya and Stradivarius violins. We spent just under two hours in the palace. When we left the queue was even longer to pay on the day. Highly recommended. Pre book a skip the line ticket.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written April 1, 2023
  • Paul and Tracey B
    37 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Royal Palace
    Beautiful Palace. We booked ahead so shipped the queue. You can have a great audioguide in chosen language with comfortable over est ear piece and a mini tablet with pictures. Also written information on Spanish and English in each room for the main things. Nice café and shop. Friendly staff.NB Sorolla exhibition and Kitchen exhibitions are separate so need to book separately for these.
    Visited April 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written April 6, 2023
  • Aliciaa-9-9-9
    Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom44 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must see in Madrid
    Must see in Madrid. Changing of the Guards is a nice to see - with few guards and some on horses. Every Wednesday and Saturday from 11am to 2pm (except on days of official events or inclement weather). From 1 July to 31 August, due to the heat, it is held from 10am to 12 noon.
    Visited March 2023
    Written April 7, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
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353
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MrsBaum
Leeds, UK754 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
Gorgeous but no photos inside which I always deduct a point for. It’s really unnecessary as if someone doesn’t go to a place because they’ve seen one of my photos, they weren’t going to go anyway. There were a couple of lovely snaps that I could then have shown my dad which I now can’t. Palace rooms are beautiful though and worth the visit.
Also the guy on the security line was a bit full of himself insisting that there was a gap between people before putting their bags through the X-ray. Just not needed when you are together.
Written February 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Noel Mifsud
Malta15 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Given the rich history in Spain, this gem is worth visiting when on holiday!

With the doors opening at 10:00, I'd recommend that you visit this palace at around this time in order to avoid the ever-increasing queues throughout the day.

The tour should take you around an hour or so and has various interesting attractions to observe. I'd recommend purchasing the audio tour as the information allocated is quite sufficient.

For those opting to not take the audio guide, the information placed is not well-detailed, which is quite a shame.
Written March 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ianm752014
Miramont-de-Guyenne, France8 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Couples
We went late morning midweek and queues for tickets were quite short. We would have bought tickets online but it is not possible to buy consession tickets that way because they insist on seeing your id. Over 65s tickets are half price, so we saved ourselve €15 by queueing for a few minutes. We chose not have a guide and having heard two of the guides talking bored and heavily accented English during our tour we were pleased with our decision.

You can wander around the large open area inside the palace as long as you want but once you start the tour it is a one way street and we got through quicker than expected. I think you could go round again though if you were keen.

The opulence of the royal rooms was breathtaking. Money was clearly no object and the best craftsmen of the age had clearly been brought in from across Europe and beyond. And really, for us, that was it. We saw what the super-rich did with their money a few hundred years ago.

You're not allowed to take photos and there are lots if staff around to enforce the rule.

We had two small but unpleasant interactions with the staff. First, after completing the tour of the rooms we found ourselves at the large, wide and open "way in" door where two staff members were chatting. My wife had passed into the courtyard when they noticed us and pointlessly insisted I walk an extra 50 yards to exit via the "way out"door and join her. Second, despite prominent No Smoking signs and it being illegal a staff member was smoking inside one entrance to the palace and filling the wide corridor with an unpleasant stench.
Written May 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cody
Austin, TX6 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
Everything was good except from the royal Arms museum which did not have any English explanations so if you cannot read Spanish reserve beforehand online for an English audio guide as you cannot get one on the day of. The free time after 4PM or something will get a huge line (I got out about 4:30 PM) and there will be many street sellers with some aggressive marketing techniques to get you to buy stuff from them so I would recommend just paying the 15 Euros to enter. Also another reason is that the palace walkable areas inside are pretty thin so not a lot of room for maneuverability.
Written March 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lucd13
Sydney, Australia51 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021
I'm one of those monarchists who has to tour any and all castles and palaces I'm ever near and wow! this one tops the cake. One of the most opulent, extravagant, yet incredibly tasteful palaces I've seen.
Starting at the armoury with it's impressive lances and suits of armour, through to the palace interior itself with its gilt everything, impressive clocks and statues and even the floors catch your eye.
The only disappointment was how few of the rooms were open to the tour. The day I went, only the kings apartments, queens apartments, the chapel and the throne room were open. Given that this palace is known as the largest residential palace with over 3000 rooms, one expects to see more rooms than we did. However, we did see the most important ones and they were all immaculately presented.
I recommend allowing for extra time to be able to take in both the rooms and their contents, but also all the frescoes on the ceilings which are incredibly large and detailed.
One other point - don't fret about online tickets being sold out. I went on a day with partial closure (didn't open 'til 12h - may explain why so few rooms were open), meaning many online slots were sold out, but on the day, the line for those without tickets was four times as long as my queue and they all still got in. You'll be covered if you miss out online.
Written November 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

beatrice390
Indonesia312 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Family
With more 3.400 rooms and covers the area of 135.000 m2, it’s nearly double the size of Buckingham Palace, made this stunning Royal Palace of Madrid known as the biggest palace in Western Europe.

Built in 18th century by Bourbon Dynasty, unbelievably this palace still well kept till now.

Used to be official residence of the Spanish royal family but is now mainly used for ceremony or banquet.

This palace can be reached either by metro lines number 2 and 5 (Ópera station) or bus lines 3, 25, 39, or 148.

Worth to make a visit if you’re around.

Note:
1. No picture is allowed inside the palace.
2. Free entry from Monday to Thursday, start after 4 pm to 6 pm.
3. Buy ticket upfront online because the queues extremely long.
4. There’s changing Guard ceremony held on Wednesday and Saturday if the weather permitted.
Written March 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ludor
Iasi, Romania2,988 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Beautiful palace, white many interesting rooms, full of art, objects and amazing decoration. In February it was quite easy to get a ticket directly from museum (10 minutes of queue) and it was not very crowded. Unfortunately, taking photo is forbidden.
Written March 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jill
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023
One of the best things to do in Madrid! Strongly recommend buying tickets in advance, but if you are unable to do so and must wait in line, do know that it moves pretty fast! We waited for only a total of 20-25 mins.

The palace is truly astounding. We did not pay for a guide or any audio equipment, but found the Rick Steves Madrid book to have everything we needed to learn! Make sure you check out the view of the gardens on your way out. I would plan for approx 2 hours here.
Written February 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Darren T
Staplehurst, UK231 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
A long weekend in Madrid and this was on our itinerary very early on. It is impressive in and out (especially inside - jaw droppingly beautiful in places).

We’d purposely got here just before 10 (when it opens) and the queues weren’t bad at all and when we got in, we were able to get around really easily. You could see by the time we left (after about 90 mins) it was already busier.

Fascinating and steeped in history. Lovey place. Unclear when you could and couldn’t take photos (be warned!), it didn’t just detract, it just meant people were getting caught out!

Well worth a visit if you are here for sure. And the finest collection I have ever seen of Stradivarius/Stradivarii!!
Written February 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andrew B
Madrid, Spain31 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2019
I went on a prebooked tour and certainly learnt a lot visiting the palace this way. The guide was very good, very knowledgeable and friendly. However, the tour itself was quite rushed with not a lot of time to just look around and soak up all the amazing furniture, art works, treasures and decorations.
There were many tour groups inside the palace, and one group followed another, walking along like a trail of ants. I would not like to have been there in peak season.
Having said that, the interior of the palace is absolutely amazing. As expected everything in the rooms is lavish and luxurious, full of colour and richness.
Whilst I probably wouldn’t go there again, I did learn a lot and got a bit of an insight into how the royal family of the time lived.
Written February 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Royal Palace of Madrid

Frequently Asked Questions about Royal Palace of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid admission prices can vary. Entrance tickets currently cost $43.32, while a popular guided tour starts around $5.54 per person.


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