Royal Palace of Madrid — Attraction in Madrid

The Royal Palace of Madrid, the official residence of the Spanish royal family, is primarily used for state ceremonies. As Europe's largest palace and one of its most spectacular, Madrid's Royal Palace boasts an impressive display of regal opulence, with seemingly endless galleries and ballrooms. Commissioned by King Philip V in 1735 following the fire that destroyed the Royal Alcázar of Spain, the palace's design was inspired by the Palace of Versailles, where Philip spent his childhood.

Occupying an impressive 135,000 square meters of floor space and comprising 3,418 rooms, this royal palace is the largest in Western Europe. The palace was erected on the site of a former Moorish castle, after a fire ravaged the previous Alcázar.

Visitors may examine the palace’s most distinguished chambers, beginning with the monumental Grand Staircase and proceeding to the richly appointed royal apartments of King Charles III. Under his patronage, the palace was reimagined in the Baroque-Rococo style, creating an environment that evokes the sensation of inhabiting a vast Italian canvas. The Gasparini Room stands as the most consummate expression of this aesthetic, featuring a ceiling fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, silk-clad walls, intricately painted stucco figures, and a polychrome marble floor. The palace further houses an exceptional collection of artworks by masters such as Goya, Velázquez, and Caravaggio, as well as a singular ensemble of musical instruments, including the only extant complete Stradivarius string quartet.

Visitors can also marvel at the Royal Chapel, an exquisite space that resembles a miniature cathedral at the heart of the palace. Still used for royal funerals, it remains an active part of Spain’s ceremonial life. From there, continue through a series of remarkable rooms: one showcasing a rare collection of Stradivarius instruments, another displaying the Spanish crown jewels, and finally the majestic Throne Room, where the king and queen continue to host official state functions.

For visitors who wish to make the most of their visit, it is recommended that a timed-entry ticket to be bought in advance through the official Royal Palace website. Guided tours are also available and last approximately 60 to 90 minutes. Please allow extra time for security screening and entrance queues.

The Royal Palace is a place of extraordinary scale and splendor. A visit offers not only a glimpse into Spain’s royal heritage but an unforgettable...

If you plan to go, buy tickets in advance on the website, perhaps several weeks in advance. I bought tickets for 4:30 pm and was able to enter at 4:00 pm with no wait. The line to buy tickets was very long.

It was hard to find the entrance location for the Royal Palace tickets. The website and ticket said different things and when I contacted the company, they kept giving me locations that were not searchable on Google Maps and then finally sent a screen shot of a map that had the wrong place circled.

If you are in the square with the black metal fence where people are taking pictures of the Royal Palace (Google maps will take you to the palace), the building to the right of the fence is where you enter for individual tickets or to buy tickets. There is a separate entrance for group visits around the left side plus another entrance for an Asian art show around the side. I included pictures of where to enter.

It is about 25 Euros a ticket plus 5 more Euros if you want the self guided audio tour on a Samsung tablet with audio. I recommend you get the self guided tour if you don't have a tour guide since you will get a little introduction to each room you can visit.

After you enter the visitor area, to left of where you rent the audio tablets is the bathrooms. Go now, since there will not be in any bathrooms during your tour and we were there over 2 hours. You would think with over 3,418 rooms, the palace would have another bathroom besides in the visitor center but unfortunately not for us.

After you rent the audio tablet, enter the door on your right. The one on the far left takes you to an art exhibit which requires a separate ticket unless you are there during the free hour, around 5:30 pm.

It is definitely worth visiting the Royal Palace and taking at least a self guided tour. The rooms with their magnificently painted ceilings, decorated walls, inlaid intricate floors, and some of the furniture will give you an idea of how royalty lives. The amount of artistry and craftmanship that went into building the rooms, some of which took decades to create, is amazing. You get to see where the dignitaries are received and wait in ante chambers, the throne room, chapel, a few bedrooms, dining area, ballroom, and a number of other...

Situated prominently in the historic centre of Madrid, the beautiful Palacio Real is the largest royal palace in Europe with a floor area of 135,000 square metres and approximately 3,418 rooms.

HISTORY:

The site of Palacio real was originally home to a Moorish fortress originally built during the 9th century. After the recapturing of Madrid by the Christian Kings in 1085, the building was gradually converted into a royal residence known as the Alcazar of Madrid.

In 1734 the original Alcazar was destroyed by a major fire and only a few remnants were saved from the destruction. King Philip V then ordered the construction of a new and grander palace which was constructed between 1738 and 1755.

The palace was used as the primary residence of the Spanish royal family until the Spanish Civil War when the family moved to the Palacio de Zarzuela further out from the centre of Madrid.  While today the Palacio Real de Madrid is still the official residence of the royal family, it is mainly used for symbolic purposes.

TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:

Palacio Real was beautiful to visit and relatively memorable. Guests can explore the main courtyard, the royal armoury and also tour around a number of rooms inside the palace itself in a linear fashion. The tour includes the former royal chambers, banquet halls and more formal reception halls. Towards the end of the tour there was some information and notable photos of the current royal family of Madrid which was interesting as I hadn’t learnt much about them before.

Despite this, the ticket is a little expensive considering the length of the tour and the overall 'impressiveness' of the things on display inside. Two suggestions for similar ‘palace tour’ type experiences which are both cheaper and probably more interesting are El Escorial about an hour to the north of Madrid and the Palacio Real de Aranjuez, an hour south.

Even if visitors to Madrid don’t enter the palace it is still great to walk past the front of the building when touring the city and it is conveniently located nearby to several other prominent locations in the city such as Plaza de España, Teatro Real and the Catedral de Santa María la Real de...