Royal Palace of Madrid: Free Entry Hours, the Changing of the Guard and 3,418 Rooms
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest royal palace in Western Europe, with 3,418 rooms. The king doesn't live there. He uses it for state ceremonies and banquets, and the rest of the time it's open to anyone with a ticket, or without one if you time it right.
It was built in the 18th century on the site of the old Moorish fortress and the Habsburg Alcázar, which burned down on Christmas Eve 1734. The Bourbon kings wanted something to match Versailles and got it: white granite and limestone, a long Italianate front, and inside a run of state rooms with Tiepolo ceilings, Flemish tapestries and a throne room hung in crimson velvet.
The photo below is taken from the Plaza de la Armería, the great parade ground between the palace and the Almudena Cathedral. It's huge and open, and on a weekday afternoon in spring you can have big parts of it nearly to yourself.
Tickets and free entry
A standard ticket costs about €18, with reduced tickets at €9 and a combined ticket with the Gallery of Royal Collections at about €24.
Free entry is generous if you qualify. EU citizens and residents, Latin American nationals and work-permit holders get in free Monday to Thursday in the last two hours: 16:00 to 18:00 from October to March, 17:00 to 19:00 from April to September. Free tickets come from the box office only, so queue early and bring ID. On 18 May (International Museum Day) and 12 October (Spain's National Day) entry is free for everyone.
The palace closes to visitors on days of official state events, sometimes at short notice. Check the Patrimonio Nacional site the day before.
The Changing of the Guard
The regular changing takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 11:00 to 14:00 (10:00 to 12:00 in July and August), at the Puerta del Príncipe. Guards on foot and on horseback rotate every half hour. It's free, low-key and a good thing to catch on your way past.
The big show is the Solemn Changing of the Guard, on the first Wednesday of the month at noon, except in January, August and September. Over 400 soldiers and horses parade in 19th-century uniform in the Plaza de la Armería, the space in the photo. Get there 30 minutes early for a spot on the railings.
Make it a full morning
Next door, the Gallery of Royal Collections opened in 2023, set into the hillside below the palace. It shows tapestries, carriages, paintings and armour from the royal collections that spent decades in storage. Combine the two and add the Almudena Cathedral across the square. Finish in the Sabatini Gardens or the Campo del Moro, the park below the palace's west side, for the view up at the facade.
More on the palace: The Royal Palace of Madrid: Scale as Statement on Travel Marketing.