The top tips for visiting the Real Alcazar de Sevilla are to buy skip-the-line tickets online in advance and to see the palace complex in the late afternoon to avoid tour groups.
The Real Alcazar palace complex in Seville is one of the top sights to see in Andalusia and indeed Spain. It is a deservedly popular attraction but a bit of planning makes it easier and more pleasant to visit the site. The best tip is to buy tickets in advance, whether standard skip-the-line tickets or tours. The number of visitors allowed inside at any given time is limited so it is generally busy all day mid-mornings are more popular with tour groups. Visit first thing in the morning is the most pleasant but late afternoon when the complex gradually empties is also a great time to visit. Limited information is posted inside the Real Alcazar – take a good guidebook, get the audio guide, or book a guided tour.
Buy Real Alcazar Tickets and Tours Online (2025 Prices)
Buy tickets for the Real Alcazar online in advance. The small surcharge is more than worth it even on quiet days and a brilliant investment on busy days.
Book tours in advance to ensure availability on dates and times that are convenient. A great option is the first entry tour. It is expensive but the group enters the Real Alcazar an hour before general visitors.
Ticket prices for the Real Alcazar (including the gardens) in Seville (2025):
- €15.50 — Standard Real Alcazar admission tickets.
- €6 — students and European Youth card holders aged 14 to 30 (from any nationality)
- €6 — visitors over 65 (EU nationals only)
- Free — Children up to age 13 (book a time-slot reservation too if planning on using the skip-the-line queue).
A visit to the royal bedrooms adds €5.50 per visitor, including for small children. Many will find it not worth the price or extra arrangements. It is certainly not the most impressive palace interior in Europe.
Night visits in summer are around €7 and do not include the whole complex.
Only 750 visitors are allowed inside the palace complex at any given time. Even with time-slot reservations, short waiting times may be necessary on very busy days.
It is possible to buy tickets at the Real Alcazar in person by credit card payment only and only for use on the same day if time slots have not sold out online. (Tickets sell out weeks in advance during the peak season.) The onsite ticket office is in the Patio de Banderas, the courtyard at the exit rather than at the Puerta del Leon entrance gate.
→ See Buying Tickets for the Real Alcazar in Sevilla for more details on ticket options.
Free Monday Tickets for the Real Alcazar in Seville
Free admission is possible during the final hour on Mondays. It is essential to “buy” a free ticket online. These free Monday tickets (Lunes Gratuito) are available several weeks in advance and “sell” fast.
The free admission time slots are only for the last hour and final half-hour on Mondays. The last admission in effect gives visitors only 15 minutes before the complex starts to close down. To prevent the reselling of free Monday tickets, the names of visitors must be given at the time of reserving the free time slots.
Adding the Royal Apartments Tour to the Real Alcazar
The 15 rooms of the royal bedrooms (upper floor) are not included in the basic ticket for the Real Alcazar. It is seen on an audio-guided tour with very strict time-slot reservations.
If buying the royal apartment tour (Cuarto Real Alto) online, the time printed on the ticket is the time visitors must be at the entrance door on the second floor. Enter the Real Alcazar any time before that time on the day leaving at least half an hour spare. Once this tour has started, it is not possible to catch up or visit later.
Many consider the €5.50 surcharge for the royal apartments hefty for little, especially when familiar with or planning to see other royal palace interiors in Europe. The furnishings are mostly from the 19th century with the true attraction of the Real Alcazar the Mudejar palace covered by the standard ticket.
Tips on the Best Times to Visit the Real Alcazar in Seville
The best times to visit the Real Alcazar palace complex and gardens in Seville are like for most top tourist sites in Europe first thing in the morning (9:30) or towards the end of the day (final two to three hours). (An expensive early morning VIP tour enters the complex an hour before regular visitors are allowed in.)
Try to avoid the Real Alcazar on weekends and holiday periods. The complex is generally busiest from around 10:30 to mid-afternoon.
Afternoons are generally the quieter time of the day to visit the Real Alcazar. The palace is particularly busy with tour groups in the mornings and early afternoons.
Allow at least an hour to see the palace complex and another hour for the gardens. It is easy to spend much more time in either. Both are photogenic and pleasant places to linger longer. Light conditions for photos are generally best early morning, or late afternoon in the winter months.
If entering first thing in the morning, skip all sights at the entrance and go directly to the Patio de las Doncellas and Salon de los Embajadores inside the Mudejar Palace of King Pedro (10 & 15 on the current free map). Then retrace to see the sights nearer the entrance.
Tips on Visiting the Real Alcazar Palace and Gardens in Sevilla
The entrance to the Real Alcazar is through the Lion Gate across Plaza Triunfo from the cathedral. It is allowed to stay inside the palaces and gardens until closing time, as long as visitors don’t exit the entire complex (at Patio de Banderas) — re-admission tickets are not available.
The Real Alcazar palace complex and gardens in Sevilla may be visited without a guided tour. However, very little information is posted making a good guidebook, audio guide, or guided tour almost essential to appreciate the intricate details and history of the complex.
The free map, available at the entrance, is handy to not miss any of the rooms open to the public inside the big labyrinth complex. It has very little other information. A free audio guide is available on the official website.
There are usually no one-way systems or restrictions in which order the various palaces and rooms are visited. Visitors may retrace steps and visit rooms and different palaces multiple times – a good idea if groups hog rooms – most move on fairly quickly.
Only the optional royal apartment tour (Cuarto Real Alto) must be seen at a specific time and with an audio guide.
The highlights of the Real Alcazar are the architecture and fixed decorations. Most of the rooms, except for the optional royal apartments and bedrooms, are unfurnished. The most impressive parts are often the ceilings and higher wall sections that remain clearly visible even when the palace gets full.
Food and Drink at the Real Alcazar in Sevilla
Food options are surprisingly limited given the high number of visitors and the physical size of the palace complex and gardens. The cafeteria in the park serving basic snacks and drinks is the only café in the complex.
Toilets are available off the Patio de la Monteria before entering the main Mudejar palace, near the café and at the far end of the garden.
→ See also a description of the highlights when visiting the Real Alcazar and tips on buying skip-the-line tickets.
More on Visiting Seville in Spain
- Visit the Real Alcazar Royal Palace and Gardens in Seville, Andalusia
- Tips on Buying Tickets for Visiting the Real Alcazar Palace in Seville
- Tips on Visiting the Real Alcazar Palaces and Gardens in Seville
- Visit Seville Cathedral — The World’s Largest Gothic Church
- Buying the Cheapest Seville Cathedral Skip-the-Line Tickets and Tours
- Book Cheap Tours of the Roof of Seville Cathedral
- Book Seville Tours and Tickets at Get Your Guide
- Buy Seville Tickets at Tiqets
