Royal Alcazar

We took a tour and wished we had not. In my opinion, it's much better to learn about it in advance, and then go at your own pace.

It was 2011, but we just walked up, got a ticket, and visited it at our own pace. Granted it was late October when we visited, but it wasn’t crowded at all. We prefer to go at our own pace rather than that of a tour guide.

We did not do a tour but did do the upper Apartments which was fascinating. We almost missed it. Actually missed our time because the time on the ticket was to get into the rest not the apartment. That was small print that we missed somehow. Luckily they let us in with another group.

Now I wish we did a tour for the rest because I am seeing pictures that are showing things we did not see that I wish we had. My fault for not planning our time there better. We only had one full day in Seville & rushed it a little.

Enjoy

thanks everyone, I'm really torn on this. I'm sure whatever we do we will be fine ; )

We visited on our own and had a great time. We had the 2:30 pm entry and stayed till near closing time. Make sure you bring a map if you go without a tour as there are a lot to see

In the past we have tended to visit sights on our own, using the Rick Steves Guidebook for information. But on our recent trip to Spain we took several group tours, and learned much more about what we were seeing than we would have on our own. We went with Sevilla Walking Tours, recommended in the RS Guidebook. They have an upper limit of 12 per tour--there were only 6 on our tour. You can purchase the ticket yourself or have them do it. A private tour would be wonderful if you want to splurge.

We did not do the upper apartments, although they sound very worthwhile. If you take a tour of the Alcazar, I would ask your guide for the Alcazar how to handle the timing.

Good luck making your decision.

it's the one site we are all interested in learning about.

We all have our interests. Mine is ballet. I will do whatever it takes to see a ballet when I'm visiting a city, including rebooking a flight to stay an extra day for a performance, or getting up at 1am to buy my ticket. And I will pay the price for the seat with the view that I want.

If it's in your budget to splurge on one truly memorable thing for your trip, it sounds like a Private Before Opening Tour at the Alcazar might be it! If necessary, adjust some other options to save money.

And if it factors into your decision making, the tour of the upper quarters is limited to a small number of people anyway - perhaps it's 20, though I don't recall that detail.

I agree with CWsocial’s reply. And yes, the upper rooms are very nice to see. You can’t take any items into that part of the tour, including a phone, but there’s little lockers at the start of that section.

My husband & I went in October 2017, and it was crowded on our own. I went again in February 2025, had the timed ticket for the first time slot for the upper rooms, and I was able to walk through most of the other rooms before it was crowded. On the way back through the rooms after walking slowly through the gardens, it was very busy.

Be in line at least 30 minutes before your entrance time if you decide to not take the private tour.

Reminder to avoid the audio guide app sold at the entrance.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/entry-to-sevilla-real-alcazar