Hoping for some advice about visiting Real Alcazar de Sevilla. We are inclined to book a visit to the royal apartments but have questions: Website says to present at the entrance 60 minutes prior to ticketed time…how does that work? Do you then visit the full complex after viewing the apartments? How much time should be planned for a full visit, including the apartments? Is visiting the royal apartments worthwhile? Thanks for any help.
Posted by
Washington DC
27176 posts
Rick doesn't particularly recommend the royal apartments. I don't remember what language he uses to state that position. If you don't have one of his guidebooks covering the major cities you're visiting in Spain, I recommend that you get one. [It appears that either Rick's advice has changed or what I remember was in someone else's guidebook.]
I recall a post on this forum within the last year or so by someone who went to the royal apartments and enjoyed them. Otherwise, they haven't been mentioned often.
Posted by
OP
NC
247 posts
Yes, we have the 2022 edition of RS Sevilla, Granada & Andalucia in which Rick says of the Royal Apartments “It’s a delightful and less-crowded part of the palace…”. That is what sparked our interest. We were hoping someone has visited recently and can help clarify the logistics.
Posted by
67 posts
Hello,
We visited the Alcazar along with the Royal apartments in May of this year. I agree that the entry instructions are a little confusing. The most important thing is arriving upstairs at the security entrance to the apartments 15 minutes before your tour. The attendant will check your tickets and have you put all your belongings in the lockers provided. (bring a 1 euro coin --- that was a surprise to us!)
The 60 minutes part --- my guess was that this is because the Alcazar has timed entries. So, you can enter up to 60 minutes before your tour (I think we entered a bit more like 75 minutes), walk around, use the facilities if necessary, then arrive upstairs in plenty of time. After the apartments tour, we wandered around the Alcazar for a couple of hours, but you could go faster if you prefer. We had budgeted 4 hours total.
Now, on to the apartments. If the timed entry is not convenient for you to include the apartments tour (which is about 20 minutes plus 15 minutes = 35-40 minutes), then I would say it is ok to skip. My reason for this is that our tour was in Spanish, so we were given a piece of paper with some info in English, and it was not as interesting as it would have been if we understood Spanish. But that's just me. Everyone else in our group would definitely recommend including it.
I hope this answers all your questions. Enjoy!
Posted by
OP
NC
247 posts
Extremely helpful! Thanks so much, SunnyBlueFlax.
Posted by
SE US
2377 posts
SunnyBlueFlax, thank you for that info!
Posted by
Morton
40 posts
We recently toured the Royal Apartments. You really need to be there 10-15 before your tour time. We got there a few minutes before our time and they were waiting on us.
We were only allowed to take our phones on tour and they had to be in our pockets. Everything else had to go into the locker. You are not allowed to take any pictures. We really liked the tour.