Seville · Patio de Banderas
Royal Alcázar of Seville: tickets, hours and highlights
The Patio de las Doncellas, the Salón de Embajadores, the Gothic palace and the gardens. Official prices, time slots, opening hours and practical tips.
Today
Opening hours for every month are on the Opening hours page.
Checked against the official website on 23 October 2026 · Official source
In short
- The Patronato del Real Alcázar, a body of Seville city council, sells official tickets in its online shop, alcazardesevilla.infoticketing.com: 15.50 € for general admission, 8 € reduced and 5.50 € for the Cuarto Real Alto, with free entry for children up to 13 with an adult, people born or resident in Seville and others, according to the ordinance we read on 23 October 2026. The online booking fee is not published.
- It is open every day: 9:30 to 17:00 from 1 October to 31 March and 9:30 to 19:00 from 1 April to 30 September, and the grounds are cleared 45 minutes after closing time. It is closed on 25 December, 1 and 6 January and Good Friday. The last entry is not published.
- Entry is by 30-minute time slots with limited capacity, and you must respect the time on your ticket. Tickets are named, non-refundable and cannot be changed. The shop FAQ says tickets are sold only through the official shop and, on the day, at the ticket office, by credit card only, from 9:00.
- The general ticket covers the ground floors of the palaces and the gardens. The Cuarto Real Alto, the upper floor of Pedro I's palace, is a separate partial visit with its own ticket and its own rules for the time.
- Our partner Tiqets, a third party, sells the entry ticket at 21 €, against 15.50 € for the official general ticket, with an instant mobile ticket. Its listing mentions an audio guide app, but we could not confirm what it contains: check the product page. It is non-refundable according to Tiqets.
The Puerta del León and the Patio de la Montería
Visitors enter by the Puerta del León, the lion gate on Plaza del Triunfo, according to the official shop. Inside, the Patio de la Montería is dominated by the facade of the palace of Pedro I, with an inscription in Spanish, in Gothic letters, that Richard Ford and Walter Gallichan date to 1364. Ford wrote in 1855 that the grand portal is apparently Moorish, yet it was built by Don Pedro the Cruel.
The Casa de Contratación, the board that ran Spain's trade with the Americas, was set up in this courtyard in 1503, according to Spanish Wikipedia. The courtyard is also used for events, according to the city ordinance.
The Patio de las Doncellas, the Salón de Embajadores and the Muñecas
The palace of Pedro I dates from the 1360s. The Patio de las Doncellas, the Court of the Maidens, was altered in the 16th century: Baedeker says Charles V changed it in 1526, and the upper floor is dated 1569 by Baedeker and between 1540 and 1572 by English Wikipedia. We give the 16th century and leave the rest.
The Salón de Embajadores is covered by a dome that Baedeker dates to the time of John II, 1420. Baedeker also says Charles V married Isabella of Portugal in this hall, and Gallichan dates the wedding to March 1526. The Patio de las Muñecas is named after two small figures in its decoration, says Baedeker, and Gallichan adds that its upper parts are modern, from 1855 to 1856.
The Patio del Yeso, the Gothic palace and the Baños de María de Padilla
The Patio del Yeso is a remnant of the Almohad palace of the late 12th century, according to English and Spanish Wikipedia, and UNESCO cites it among the Almohad parts. The Gothic palace was built for Alfonso X around 1258 on the site of the present Patio del Crucero. What survives of it, according to Wikipedia, are the Sala de las Bóvedas and the baths known as the Baños de María de Padilla.
The name of the baths is a tradition: the structure is Gothic and, according to English Wikipedia, has no link with her. The official site pages we read do not name them, so we cannot say whether they are on your route. The Salón de los Tapices, in the Gothic palace, was rebuilt in the 18th century, according to Spanish Wikipedia, and is not a room from the time of Charles V.
The gardens: Mercury, the Grutesco and the Pabellón de Carlos V
Richard Ford wrote in 1855 that the gardens laid out by Charles V were among the most curious in Europe, and warned of hidden fountains that sprinkle the unwary. The city's ordinance lists the Estanque de Mercurio, the Jardín de la Puerta de Marchena, the Jardín de la Alcoba, the Jardín de la Alcubilla and the Patio del Crucero among the spaces.
According to Spanish Wikipedia, the bronze Mercury of the pool dates from 1576, and the Galería de Grutesco was made in 1612 by Vermondo Resta from an Almohad wall; that second date has a single source. The Pabellón de Carlos V is from the middle of the 16th century, and the Jardín de las Damas, a name the official pages do not use, is dated 1526. Our article on the gardens has the detail.
The Cuarto Real Alto: the upper floor
The Cuarto Real Alto is an organised partial visit to the upper floor of the palace of Pedro I, and it has its own ticket, 5.50 €. The shop sells it as Visit Royal Alcázar + Royal Upper Rooms. The shop's page for this product lists the palaces and gardens as included as well, but we could not read the shop's price list, so check at purchase what the price covers.
The time you choose is your access time to the Cuarto. For the security checks you enter the monument from 60 minutes before, through the Puerta del León, and you must be at the door of the Cuarto, on the upper floor, 15 minutes before; otherwise you cannot enter and must buy again, according to the shop. UNESCO says the Alcázar is still used as the royal family's residence in Seville.
What the ticket covers, and what it does not
The general ticket covers the ground floors of the palaces and the gardens. A note in the ordinance adds the Antiquarium, the Museo de la Cerámica de Triana and the Museo Bellver-Casa Fabiola, which are other municipal spaces; we did not check how to use them.
Other visits, such as the roofs of the Gothic palace and the upper Grutesco gallery, the archaeological crypt and the Carlos V workshops, can be booked separately in the shop, some only for people born or resident in the city of Seville, and some were sold out on 23 October 2026. In 2026 the gardens also hosted the Noches en los Jardines concerts, from 21:00 to 22:25, at 7 € a ticket, and theatrical night visits at 15 €, according to the Patronato.
