Madrid: Royal Palace Expert Guided Tour with Optional Tapas
Badge of Excellence
Madrid, Spain
- 2 hours 5 minutes (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
The magnificent Royal Palace of Madrid is one of the King of Spain’s official residences and one of the city’s most popular attractions. On this skip-the-line experience, avoid the ticket purchase lines, which can be lengthy, and gain extra insight into the Spanish royal family on a guided tour. Upgrade to add a tapas tasting, which you enjoy independently, or a tour of the Royal Collections Gallery with your guide.
- Magnificent views and photo opportunities of the palace and gardens
- Learn about Spain’s royal history and heritage from an expert guide
- Walking tour of the palace grounds and 19th-century gardens
- Upgrade to discover the Royal Collections Gallery or add a tapas meal
What's Included
- Royal Palace Skip the Line Ticket
- Professional Guide
- Tapas Tasting (if option selected)
- Headphones so you can easily hear your guide
- Gratuities
- Food or beverages not described in the inclusion points or description
- Hotel pick up or transfer
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Plaza de Isabel IIPl. de Isabel II, Centro, 28013 Madrid, Spain
The meeting point is at Plaza de Isabel II. Outside Opera Metro Station. You have to look a guide with an IBE TOURS sign.
End point
- Royal Palace of MadridCentro, 28071 Madrid, Spain
Itinerary
1
Plaza de Isabel II
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Royal Palace of Madrid
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
Jardines de Sabatini (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Infant seats available
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Please, be at the starting point 10’ minutes before start of the tour.
- Please check which option did you select as the inclusions are different depending on the option
- If you have selected the option with tapas tasting, you will have to go to "Mercado Jamón Ibérico" on your own: Calle Mayor 80. You can go to the restaurant from 11am to 7pm
- Opening days and times may be modified in the case of special events
- Even with priority entrance, you may have to wait at the security check
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 893 reviews
Sangeetha_G, Apr 2026
The Madrid palace should not be missed. The colorful rooms were a sight to behold. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and awesome.
Tracey_F, Feb 2026
Great tour of the palace. It was nice to have the skip the line option and have someone walking with you, rather than just using a self-guided listening device.
Rosemary_S, Jan 2026
Our guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was paced well. We had time to take in the subject matter at each stop.
Yvette_G, Dec 2025
First the positives - excellent palace tour with the very knowledgeable and eloquent Benny. Having a great tour guide makes all the difference. The palace is stunning - each room had a story that came to life with Benny. I appreciated all the thoughtful historical details. Unfortunately, the tapas add-on was unnecessary and confusing. We were sent to Abuelos which is a great tapas spot, but they didn’t know we were coming or what we could order. And no one was communicating from IBE, so we were all staring at each other for a while. First I was told that it was 3 tapas and a drink per person, then the waiter said it was 3 specific tapas (that I didn’t order). In the end, I had to pay out of pocket for the tapas. So that was disappointing. The tapas were delicious though! It was a confusing and unfortunate end to a great tour without proper guidance. So, in conclusion, take the palace tour but, I highly recommend booking a separate tapas tour with a proper knowledgeable tour guide to understand and appreciate Madrid tapas culture. Do not combine these two - it did not work or flow for us.
FareehaAyyaz_A, Dec 2025
I found the tour guide rude and a bit offensive you can find better person to show you around. Didnt help me at all when i asked for help.
Yuriy_U, Nov 2025
Very good tour. Well organized and knowledgeable tour guide Ismail. We met by the Opera metro in front of the Teatro Real and had a short walk to the Palace.
Veronica_G, Nov 2025
Our tour guy was excellent. Gave so much details of each room we visit. Was always available for questioning
Marcus_S, Nov 2025
What a wonderful and knowledgeable guide we had. She was great. Informative and patient with the group. She made this tour so much better. Loved it.
Ana_G, Nov 2025
The instructions say look for tour guide with IBE sign .. there was no sign but she found us . The tour was very well organized and our tour guide very knowledgeable.
Lauren_B, Nov 2025
Be prepared to walk thru the palace. The audio ear piece with the personal guide was fantastic as it can be difficult to hear due to the number of people in the palace.
Pardess_M, Oct 2025
**Skip the Line Made All the Difference**
The best part of this trip was the skip-the-line feature. There was a long line to get in, and there are separate entrances for groups. We were able to get right in without any wait. The tour guide was very nice and provided great information about the place and its significance. Overall, it was a nice tour and well worth it!
Tiffany_B, Oct 2025
Met at meeting spot, group not there, walked all over the place trying to find the group entrance. Finally found it and they would not let us enter without the guide. Spent $46 a person on this trip asked for a refund and it was denied. Waited in non-ticket line for 45 minutes to get in and had to buy another ticket. Very disappointed.
Andres_P, Oct 2025
Does not want to cooperate with you with regards to flexibility or refund/cancellation. I reached out to them and they were both helpful.
Raymond_V, Oct 2025
Arrived 15 minutes before the schedule time. Waited on the line that said “visitor with tickets”. Only to be told that the tour left had to purchase tickets again for entry. No clear location for tour to start.
Naomi_R, Oct 2025
Our tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid was excellent. Our tour guide was friendly and very engaged with the group. He offered great information about the Palace, the building, the history and the royal family. He did a great job navigating through the 24 rooms and keeping the group together. Excellent!
Tracey_T, Oct 2025
Unfortunately our guide was interrupted part way through our visit to be advised she couldn't complete the tour for us. We were able to explore the place at our own pace but we were missing additional facts she would have told us. We'd started the tour with the guide, she was friendly, funny, informative & got everybody arranged with headsets. We were given a partial refund, but the tour without a guide wasn't what we wanted otherwise we would have just booked the palace entry without a guide. It didn't appear to be the fault of our guide. The warden from the palace was rude & quite aggressive. Was a shame we lost our guide in these circumstances.
Nancy_K, Oct 2025
Terrible. Guide spoke too fast even after requests to slow down, was disorganized, lost group twice. Guide held up group of 28 people for 2 late comers. Viator denied my refund request. I will not be doing this company again.
Christopher_H, Oct 2025
Touring the largest royal palace in Europe is a must do. Beautifully designed and decorated building that one cannot miss. Our tour guide was thorough and so educational, which is important when one has little reference about Spanish royal history.
Iman_A, Sep 2025
I bought the last ticket available to Madrid Royal palace through Viator. I was glad that I got a chance to visit. I paid 32 euros. Don’t know if I overpaid or not 😃😃
Ruben_H, Sep 2025
The tour guide was amazing and gave great details about the history of Spain’s monarchy and history of Spain—I highly recommend.
Anthony_S, Sep 2025
Great tour, wonderful guide! Ricardo was professional, polite and knowledgeable. We had such a fun day on our tour! Highly recommend!
Calvin_E, Sep 2025
Beautiful exhibits. Takes about 2 hours with guide. We'll worth the price. Maria was an excellent guide!
Christina_T, Sep 2025
Very informative trip to the Palace. Martin was very enthusiastic about the palace and the history of the monarchy. It felt very personal. Skip the line was fantastic, felt like a VIP
Jessie_A, Sep 2025
Did able to find the tour guide and not able to go inside the place. Too bad we waisted our hard earn money.
Catherine_G, Sep 2025
Our guide was helpful, knowledgeable and energetic. Beautiful palace with so much history. It was helpful to skip the long line.
Diana_E, Sep 2025
Great communication for reminders and meet up location. Our guide Rocio was excellent. Very knowledgeable and great sense of humor.
Darrin_P, Sep 2025
There is so much to see. The tour moves fast, I recommend making another loop through the palace after the tour is complete to spend more time.
Gerard_M, Aug 2025
Clara was very friendly and knowledgeable She gave a thorough tour. Easy to meet up with. We were very pleased!
Vonesa_W, Aug 2025
Vanessa was very knowledgeable. And we got to skip the long lines. There was lots of great art and furniture to see.
Amy_M, Jul 2025
The guide had a thick accent and was difficult to understand. Headset at the palace malfunctioned at times. Guide did not tell many stories about royal family instead focused on “why this room is important.” Also optional tapas was not organized at all. Restaurant originally refused to serve us as tour company never sent them notice or payment. Took 20 min to sort that out with tour company. Restaurant for tapas was amazing. The staff gave us a special tour of the lower dinning area where royal family cones twice yearly. Awesome stories. Loved casa Ciriaco restaurant!
From
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$42.09
per personWas $46.77
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Madrid: Royal Palace Expert Guided Tour with Optional Tapas
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