Royal Palace and Royal Collections Gallery guided tour

Amaia is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We had an elderly person in our group and she arranged wheelchair and elevator access for her. We had a person no call no show in our group and she waited until the last minute to try and contact her.

An incredible tour experience. We learned so much about royal history while appreciating all the art and artifacts. Highly recommend!

Impressed by the vast collection. Was lucky to see a temporary exhibit of Queen Eugene Victoria

This museum is amazing and seeing it with the help of our tour guide, Amaya, made it so much more worth it. I loved the tapestry collection, especially seeing Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights as a tapestry!

This place is my dream come true. As a huge lover of Spanish history, literature and art, I was completely thrilled to have visited this museum. The museum has 3 floors, and it is located next to the Almudena Cathedral. The museum costs 6 euros ($6.98). It contains, as the name exactly describes, several items from the royal collections of art, literature, history, and other items, like a couple of huge royal coaches, a fountain, and beautiful Baroque pillars. The tapestries are beautiful, and they’re in great condition. The tapestries in some museums are faded. These preserve their vibrant colors. You have books (documents) from the beginning of the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas. The collection has an original of the second part of Don Quixote. There are armors, jewelry, pictures, paintings, sculptures, etc. You can also see the walls of the old city of Madrid, which were found and preserved when the museum was built. We spent an afternoon there, but I could have been at the museum the whole day. It is most definitely not a place to miss. I know Madrid has excellent and important museums, but don’t skip this one! The visit is worth it.

In an hour you can see family portraits of kings and queens, and a nice Caravaggio (Salome with the Head of John the Baptist), and your kids will like the armor and the royal carriages.

Even if you already know Sorolla, you have to go because Sorolla makes you want to paint and love life. He has no recipe because for him painting is a state of mind, it is said. He was able to perfectly marry career and personal fulfillment. We admire his art of white people who are not really white, and the movement that gives his painting all its momentum.

Compared to the palace a really quiet place where you can enjoy the collection without tour groups. Tapestry, painting and lots of different objects on two floors. Lots of written information in Spanish and English. Several videos with English subtitles. I had an interesting conversation upon entering the place: - Do you have (already) a ticket? - Yes. (Show it to the staff) - With this one you cannot go into Sorolla. - Am I at the wrong place? Is this not the Royal Gallery? - Yes, yes. But with this ticket you cannot go into Sorolla. - But can I enter the Royal Gallery? - Yes, yes. I just wanted to inform you that you need to buy a ticket for Sorolla. - I would only like to see the Royal Gallery (What the heck is she talking about??) - Just straight ahead. This aside: To the left and behind the ticket office there are lockers for which you need a EUR 1.- coin. Then you walk to the very back of the building twice to the left and should stand in front of a long (and I mean long) down! ramp. Or take the elevator to floor -1 (yes, minus 1). You need however a lot of patience for the elevator to come and to take you down just this one floor. I ended up in front of Sorolla LOL (No, don't ask. Long story.), only to try my luck with another member of staff trying to find out where I went wrong. She was not able to understand my silent Spanish let alone the English question which floor I have to go. She wanted to send me back to the ground floor, which would have been wrong. That's where the exhibition starts.

The Royal Collections Gallery is beautiful. It is on several levels. At the end, you will have the possibility to take the assessor to go up. The works are exceptional, but you must understand the local language because the notes are in Spanish, but you must also be a minimum art lover. The gallery is right in front of the Royal Palace which we were unable to visit because the royal family was there. For this visit, it would be wiser to plan a few days before, so as not to be fooled like us. Really, I would have liked to visit it 😒

If you have visited the Royal Palace, Recommendation to also visit the galleries in front (you can buy the cumulative ticket). Recently inaugurated, they are located in a very modern structure and contain some objects that were in the palace, owned by the Habsburgs and Bourbons. There are carriages, clothes, provisions, even a Caravaggio! It 'a mini museum a bit 'special, but I think it deserves to take a look while you are in the area.