Timing and Tips for Finding the Entry Point for Cuarto Real Alto at Royal Alcazar Sevilla

One more quick note from the Royal Alcazar website:

"The selected time will be the time of entry to the Upper Royal Room. Since it is necessary to pass through security checks, entry to the monument will be 60 minutes before, through the Lion's Gate."

It doesn't say "unless your ticket is for 10am, in which case you'll only have entry 30 minutes before ..."

I wish I could help! But I didn’t take the upstairs tour either time I have been there. I did stop and ask, though, last time - just in case they had last minute availability. I don’t recall that it was difficult to find.

Mainly I am just bumping this up so hopefully someone with REAL information comes along.

Thanks, TexasTravelMom, I appreciate the bump ;-) I can understand the difficulty with last minute availability....I can see that some of the 20 tickets for each timeslot are already selling out for some dates in November.

I found another place on the ticketing website where it states the access 60 minutes prior:

"La hora seleccionada será la de acceso al Cuarto Real Alto. Dado que es preciso pasar los controles de seguridad, la entrada al monumento será 60 minutos antes por la Puerta del León."

I can always wander by a day or two prior, or worst case, just show up at 9am. Though I'd rather have the extra half hour for my hotel breakfast, which begins at 8am! You know I love my hotel breakfasts ;-)

I hope you get answers, following, as I was also planning to purchase this ticket soon for our February trip to Seville.

I was there in March 2024.

First, check the Rick Steves guidebook. There is a map of the Royal Alcazar which clearly shows the entrance to the Cuarto Real Alto. Map is quite accurate. It is not far from the main entrances - certainly not more than 5 minutes stroll. It is signed; I saw the sign, but I have read comments from some visitors who missed the sign.

I am an early arriver. I showed up about 30 minutes before my Cuarto Real Alto time - mostly to be certain I knew where I was going. You climb a flight of stairs to get to the tour waiting area. Very kind, helpful employees. I was told to come back 15 minutes before my tour, but in the meantime I was encouraged to return to the ground level and look at some exhibits in neighboring areas.

I can't be certain of your other question, but I doubt that you can enter before 9 AM. I had a later morning entry time. There was a queue and they allowed only those within 60 minutes of their stated entry time to enter. If it was me (it is not!), I would probably arrive around 9:10 - 9:15 to queue expecting a 9:30 admission. (Unless I was up early and concerned and then I would be there at 9 AM - I am a worrier.....) I see your concern with the 9:45 arrival time for the Cuarto Real Alto waiting time. I don't think you have to worry. I can't think that November, unless a holiday, will be packed. As much of this is speculation based on my sole experience - if you find definitive advice elsewhere, take that!

The Cuarto Real Alto tour didn't start until the stated time - 10 AM in your case. Early arrival is to get instructions on using the audio equipment - the tour is via audio only, led from room to room by a guide and followed by a guard. No loitering! The 15 minutes gives the staff plenty of time for relaxed instructions, storage of bags in the lockers, etc.

I was also planning to purchase this ticket soon for our February trip to Seville.

Tammy (aka diveloonie), when I checked ticket availability late in September, they were only available through the end of October. Now, October 2, they are available through the end of December. So I can't judge whether they normally release 1 month at a time or two, or if it varies by season. In any case, February isn't available yet.

My visit is later in November, so I'll be able to give feedback by then. If I had it to do again, I would buy my guided tour for the 10:30 timeslot. But based on ORDtraveler's comments it seems that the 10:00 timing will be fine, if a bit rushed for my 8am hotel breakfast.

ORDtraveler, thank you so much for the details! I especially appreciate your mention that it's just a 5 minute stroll, and I will know to look for the sign.

I think we might have similar "worry levels" because I'm inclined to take your advice and show up around 9:15, expecting a 9:30 admission. Nothing will be lost if the doors opened at 9am, and it's less than a 10 minute walk from my hotel.

I will also go back to my Rick Steves Kindle-version guidebook, which I bought expressly for this trip and have been using. But I hadn't looked so far as to find the map. Thanks for the tip to use my resources at hand!!

Tammy, one more comment ... each timeslot for the guided tour of the Cuarto Real Alto (Upper Apartments) has 20 tickets, while general admission (also timed entry, but no guided tour of the Cuarto Real Alto) has 300 or more for each timeslot. You can take a look whenever you wish to see the ticket sales patterns for October and November, with days color coded depending on availability.

During my ticket purchase, I saw that the 10am timeslots were selling out most quickly and later timeslots less so. There was a surge of ticket purchases during the first 24 hours of availability, which seems to have slowed now. Ten of the 30 days in November still show "green" with lots of availability, while the "yellow" days are often sold out (for the guided tour, not for general admission) at the 10 and 10:30 times.

Perhaps February patterns will be similar.

ORDtraveler, I found the detailed Royal Alcázar map in my 2024 Rick Steves Kindle-version Best of Spain book. Just as you said, it clearly shows the entrance to the Upper Royal Apartments, #13 on the little map, which I've copied into my own e-notebook for my trip.

Thanks for guiding me back to such an excellent resource!! ;-) I feel confident in my timing, now, thank you.

I'm glad I could point you to the map! I know after I'd read several tales of folks that missed the entrance and their tour time that I was glad to find the entrance clearly marked on Rick's map. You probably read some of the same blogs and travel forum questions by confused travelers that I did!

Have a great trip!

You are so right! I read some of those confused posts, and was trying to keep myself out of those shoes. I had just sent a kudos feedback to the RS team for their spot on instructions for buying my Alhambra ticket, and had used the Best of Spain book to confirm that I had the correct website to buy my Royal Alcazar ticket. Then I didn't think to go back to the book for a map!

Thanks again!

We two did the 2F tour in Sep 2023, Here is our experience (excerpted from our trip report part 2):

Sep 1 (Fri): At 11:20am we arrived 5 min late to the location within the Alcazar for our 11:30am upper floor guided tour; we were allowed to join the noon tour. We witnessed a few others also arriving late. LESSON LEARNED: be at the tour starting point – not the Alcazar ticket entry gate – at least 15 min before your reserved time, which suggests being at the Alcazar ticket entry gate about 30 min before the reserved time. NOTE: If you have ANY handbags etc, bring a 1€ coin for the upper floor tour storage lockers.

GeoffB`, thanks for sharing your timing experience.

I still wish I had bought the 1030 entry, so that I could have lingered over breakfast, but it seems this 10am slot will work out just fine.

Thanks again to those who provided details to help me figure out entry for my 10am upper palaces (Cuarto Real Alto) tour. I stopped by the day before and a helpful guard confirmed that the gates would open at 930am, not before.

I arrived at 9am the day of my ticket and was one of the first in "line" (more of a cluster) for entry. One guy at the front didn't realize this wasn't the line to buy your ticket, so he walked around the building and, in November, was able to get a same day ticket. When he got back at 9:25am, he told us the ticket holder admission line was wrapped far, far around the corner. I was glad to have gotten there early to reduce worry about making it in time for my 10am tour.

All the details, above, were still spot on for the extra bit of security for the upstairs tour. I was ready with my €1 coin, which the locker returned to me when I collected my belongings.

If I were to do it again, I would book a later tour of the upper palace, so as not to have to worry about making it through the entry gates and extra upstairs security on time. As noted above, the tour leaves precisely on time, whether you are there or not!

When I walked by in the afternoon, there weren't any lines at the main ticket holders gate. In November.

One general comment, many of the sights in Andalusia included downloadable audio guides, but no wifi. So be sure to have a hearty data plan and plenty of battery for your phone.

I'm glad things worked out for you, CW!

Thanks, ORDtraveler, for helping to reduce my worries for my visit! It was good to know exactly when and where to go and what to expect.

Thank you for this question! I am planning a trip and had the same questions. Are you able to return to look at the rest of the palace and gardens after touring the Cuarto Real Alto? I'm trying to plan what entry time I should choose.

You enter the Alcazar complex at the time selected. After that time, if you have purchased Cuarto Real Alto tickets, you can then access the Cuarto Real Alto according to your tour time.

Meaning - pick an entry time to the Alcazar prior to your desired Cuarto Real Alto time. You can walk around before your Cuarto Real Alto or go there directly if the time is tight. After your tour, you have "free range" of the rest of the Alcazar for as long as desired.

There is one entry and exit from the Alcazar. The entry and exit from the Cuarto Real Alto is within the broader entry/exit of the entire complex.

A wonderful tour! I did this two days ago. I had the 10:00am timeslot, and I was in line at 9:15 am with the line quickly queuing- whew! They opened the general entry at 9:30am. I immediately went up to the Cuarto Real Alto level, and I was the first one there. They were helpful with charades & English. : )

There were only 5 of us in my first group, so it was extra nice! The group waiting when we exited was a large one.