Advice on visiting Real Alcazar and Cathedral in Seville

I don't know how seasonal visitor levels are in Seville, but I don't know that summer is high season, given how miserably hot it is likely to be at that time of year. You probably were not there at the busiest time of year.

I visited Seville during Holy Week 2019, which was in April. I followed Rick's advice and booked my Alcazar visit online. I did that just a few days ahead (probably not more than 48 hours in advance) and had no trouble at all. There were plenty of people there, but it wasn't massively crowded. I don't remember the time of my visit, but it probably wasn't first thing in the morning, because I'm a slow starter. It would probably be smart to avoid local holidays and the surrounding days, because a lot of visitors to major sights are locals, or at least not foreign visitors.

For the Cathedral I again followed Rick's advice and went first to the Church of El Salvador, which sells a combo ticket.

I wouldn't recommend just showing up at either the Alcazar or the Cathedral, because I observed very long lines at both, but waiting until you are settled in Seville should be perfectly fine.

There are separate tickets to the private (royal) apartments in the Alcazar. Those apparently do sell out very early, but I have read nothing to suggest that they are so great that it's worth jumping through hoops to see them--quite the contrary.

IF you don't have Rick's guidebook, I highly recommend it. He is very good at providing logistical tips to help you maximize your time.

I booked in advance and included the royal rooms this December. I found that I enjoyed the Royal rooms and was glad that I included them. It helped set the background for what I saw down on the first level when I toured there after the Royal Rooms. Both my sister and I agreed that if anyone really had to live in the Royal rooms, it would be pretty miserable. Quite confident that there is a whole other wing where the Royal family actually stays when in Seville. A few of the highlights were the formal Dining area where state receptions are held, the balcony that looks down on the Hall of the Ambassadors, the royal reception room and the King's official office. A few new rooms had just been added to the tour.

If you are interested in the Royal rooms (and why not?) you probably should reserve in advance.

We were in Seville last September. Bought tickets online 1 & 2 days before. Had entry times of 0930 & 1000. There were lots of people but the small groups were not a problem. The buildings are large enough to accommodate a LOT of people. Both places, there were large (20 to 35 people) guided groups that were a problem as they clustered in front of things and stayed too long. I suspect they were getting lengthy descriptions & history of everything visible. We enjoyed both places and were overwhelmed by the amount of detail everywhere produced by the skilled labor. And the huge quantities of gilt surfaces and golden objects in the cathedrals, even minor churches! I guess it paid to have lots of cheap/free labor and a few gold mines in those days.

Do make time in the evening to visit the modern shopping areas: between Santa Catalina church, the "Mushroom" and El Cortes Ingles; and along Velazquez and/or Sierpes avenues. That is where the "Paseo" is after dark. The stores are open late as they usually closed for the afternoon. Lovely city and friendly people.

We visited Seville in September 2017. On the day we arrived, we noticed the lines for the Real Alcazar were enormous. So we ordered our tickets online for the next day for the 9;30am time slot. We arrived about 30 minutes early and the line for people with tickets was already quite long. So you can wait until you arrive in Seville, but definitely make your reservation a day or two before you want to visit.

For the cathedral, we did not order tickets online. The cathedral opens at 11AM so we were there by 10;30am, and the line was already getting very long. So I think ordering your tickets a day or two in advance makes the most sense.

Thank you for all the information! Sounds like getting them online a few days in advance is the way to go.

I’ll be the contrarian and say wait until you get there. Since you’ll be there two weeks you can go to the sites one day to see if there are any lines. If so, since there, buy your tickets for the day you want to visit. March isn’t high tourist season so there may be no lines at all and you’ll be able to walk right in.

Has anyone had any luck using the official website (https://www.alcazarsevilla.org/en/) to book their tickets for the Alcazar? I am going to Seville in February and I cannot get to where I can purchase tickets! I have seen a lot of comments from other forum entries about people having trouble with their credits cards on the website, but I can't event get to the purchase screen! I must be doing something wrong...

1/9/2023 UPDATE: I had to purchase the tickets using my phone. I couldn't clear the cache and accept the cookies required to get everything to load on a computer for some reason. I was able to purchase the tickets. Now that I figured that out, if you know a specific day you'd like to see the Alcazar, buy tickets in advance because you'll have that sense of security and planning. If you don't know and you have the time, try purchasing them in person. It might add to the experience!

We were there in January 2015 and did walk up tickets twice for Alcazar as well as Cathedral. While you may be right about Seville being "discovered," I would think March would still be pretty quiet. I mention going to the Alcazar twice because I think you should wait and see what the weather is like. The first visit was a very overcast day. It was all beautiful and amazing, but the second visit was in brilliant sunshine and it made all the difference. The palace was designed to harness light and it shows. So if you can wait and know your visit/ticket purchase is on a pretty, sunshiny day, I'd go that route. The Cathedral is less dependent....

Heads up that the ticket to the cathedral includes entry to the church of San Salvador—I think it has to be the same day, but not 100% on that detail.

While the cathedral is built to impress, or overwhelm, with its size, this boroque jewel box is all about opulent detail.

On our Seville trip, we visited the cathedral but the Alcazar was closed because the king was in town and staying there. I'm not sure how they would handle tickets sold in advance if the king decided last-minute to visit.