If you want to visit Madrid’s Royal Palace, expect same-day tickets to be sold out. You may be able to get in on a tour, however.
If tickets for Madrid’s Royal Palace have sold out, you can probably get in on a tour. To skip the explanation and book the tour tickets, head this way.
For more detailed information, read on.
Why visit Madrid’s Royal Palace?
Madrid’s Royal Palace is predictably one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Spanish capital.
It’s the largest royal palace in Europe, and is predictably lavish. Highlights include the Sabatini-designed staircase, the OTT rococo Gasparini Salon and the fresco-lashed Throne Room.
Buying Royal Palace tickets on the day
However, Madrid’s Royal Palace can be too popular for its own good, as you’ll quickly discover if you rock up and try to buy tickets.
Tickets for both general admission and guided tours at Madrid’s Royal Palace regularly sell out in advance.
That applies to both in person at the palace and online.
Try to buy tickets for Madrid’s Royal Palace on the day, and there’s a strong chance you will be disappointed.
Online tickets sell out
For an example, I tried booking online tickets via the official Patrimonio Nacional site at midday on Thursday 7 August, 2025.
There were no tickets left for the Thursday. Or the Friday. Then for the Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday of Wednesday, there were only tickets left for a very limited number of timeslots.
If I was going to Madrid and really wanted to see the Royal Palace, a lack of advance planning on this front could really hurt.
What to do when tickets for Madrid’s Royal Palace have sold out?
However, there is often a workaround.
Some of the tickets for Madrid’s Royal Palace are sold to tour agencies.
If admission tickets have sold out on the official site, it’s time to look into a guided tour.
Several companies run guided tours of Madrid’s Royal Palace than include skip-the-line entry tickets.
Availability on Royal Palace tours
When searching on Thursday 7 August, I couldn’t find any tours of Madrid’s Royal Palace available for later that day. This may be different if I’d searched in the morning rather than the afternoon, however.
What I did find was guided tours of Madrid’s Royal Palace available for the next day – the morning of Friday 8 August. These tours were also available for the rest of the month.
Given that the tickets via the official site were sold out on Friday, these tour tickets come to the rescue.
Royal Palace, Madrid: Ticket and tour prices
Alas, the tours of Madrid’s Royal Palace cost more than the general admission.
The basic entry tickets cost €14. Book the guided tour online because these tickets have sold out, and it’ll cost €32.
This is by no means an outrageous price, and if you’ve made the mistake of not booking entry tickets in advance, it’s one you’ll have to accept paying.
Madrid hotel recommendations
I’ve inspected a lot of hotels in Madrid, and these are three of my favourites.
- Hotel Urban:: Bold design elements from all over the world, make for a swaggering, fun vibe. The rooftop pool is a bonus.
- Room Mate Oscar: Also lots of fun, also with daring design and a rooftop pool. But considerably cheaper (well, usually).
- Villa Real: Embracing heritage, this classy five star is part archaeological museum – it has pieced together more than 100 mosaics from around the Mediterranean.
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More Spain travel
Other Spain travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- A first time visitor’s guide to Valladolid, Spain.
- How to see Picasso’s Guernica for free in Madrid.
- How to beat the crowds at Casa Batllo in Barcelona.
- Madrid to Toledo train times and ticket prices.
- Trying to understand the culture of bullfighting in Seville’s bullring.
