Royal Palace of Madrid and its gardens: the best things to see on your visit

A great monument that you should not miss in your trip to Madrid is the Royal Palace which you find in one of the most beautiful corners of the capital, the Plaza de Oriente

And in this regard I can tell you that your visit to Madrid's Royal Palace Above all, it must focus on a tour of Official Rooms of this historic building.

On this tour you will find spectacular decorations, also with the peculiarity that a large part of the rooms are still regularly used for official events and state ceremonies.

In this way you visit of the Royal Palace It's going to be a walk through a building "alive" that will show you a large part of its great artistic wealth.

• As a preview, we recommend you watch the attached video that we started with images of the aforementioned palace, as well as read these articles with Tips for visiting the Royal Palace y how to visit it for free.

To begin your visit you will access the grounds of the Royal Palace awarded by the Plaza de la Armería, entrance located in front of the Cathedral of the Almudena, which is where the ticket offices are located.

This is what a visit to the Royal Palace of Madrid is like, the best thing to see

In the Royal Palace you will tour the 18 lounges open to the public, which are located on the first floor of the building.

But you can also visit the Royal Armory, a large dependency that is located on one side of the aforementioned Armory Square.

Imperial Staircase in Royal Palace of Madrid

Once you enter the large building of the Madrid's Royal Palace, the first milestone of your visit will be the spectacular Imperial type main staircase.

Designed by Sabatini, has two levels, and on the central landing there is a large sculpture of the king Carlos III made in carrara marble.

The 72 steps of the grand staircase are made up of five-meter-high blocks. Toledo marble.

On the balustrade are the lions that represent power.

This is the visit to the Official Rooms of the Royal Palace of Madrid

The first room you will find is the Alabarderos, in which the soldiers of the Royal Guard during official receptions.

Its vault is the original, painted in the 18th century by Tiepolo.

Halls of the Columns, place of official acts 

After climbing the main staircase and pass the Hall of the Halberdiers, you arrive at the first of the large halls, the Hall of Columns, classic style.

Of its majestic decoration, the great sculpture of Charles V of Germany and I of Spain and the Flemish tapestries brought from Belgium, which were woven from cardboard painted by Rafael.

This is the room where large official events are usually held, as in its day was the signing of Spain's accession to the European Community, in 1985, or the Madrid Peace ConferenceIn 1991.

And it was also the room where the burning chapel of Franco when he died in 1975.

Originally, after the construction of the Royal Palace, the Column Halls was used as a dance and banquet hall, but from 1879 it was decided to enable a new Gala dining room.

It is currently used for large official receptions and also for music concerts in which the collection of Stradivarius Palatinos that are kept in the Royal Palace.

Throne Room with its original decoration 

Located in the geographical center of the south façade of the Royal Palace, front of Cathedral of the Almudena, Throne room is Baroque from the 18th century and still maintains its original decoration.

This room is configured around the two great thrones in which the effigies of the current Kings of Spain.

They also highlight the four gilded bronze lions which are located on both sides of the thrones.

Currently, at the receptions held in this room, the Kings They do not sit on thrones, but stand in front of them to shake hands with their guests.

On Throne Room of the Royal Palace You will also be struck by its large vault with some paintings of Tiepolo that show the greatness of the Spanish monarchy of the time.

Also noteworthy are the lamps murano glass made of silver, platinum and natural crystal in the year 1788.

You can also see some of the 600 watches in the collection of Charles IV that are kept in the Royal Palace.

Gasparini Hall, the most spectacular decoration of the Royal Palace

What was once the chamber of the king Carlos III, the now called Salón de Gasparini, it is possibly the most prestigious of the rooms of the Royal Palace for its spectacular and very ornate style decoration rococo.

I assure you that when you visit the Gasparini's Hall in the Royal Palace You will be “amazing” by its decoration and it will “hold you back” by seeing its artistic riches in detail.

Designed by Matias Gasparini, Salón de Gasparini It is another of the rooms that practically maintains its original style.

Their large vault stands out rococo with decorative details chinese style, the hand-painted stucco decoration, the upholstery of the walls with silk with silver thread and the Granada marble floor.

Currently, the Salón de Gasparini It is used as a coffee and tea room during official receptions, and is one of the largest rooms in the Royal Palace.

Hall of Charles III

After passing the Gasparini Hall, perhaps the one with the most spectacular decoration in the entire Madrid's Royal Palace, you access the area of private rooms.

There is the so-called Hall of Charles III, dedicated to Military and religious order King.

Decorated all in blue, it was once the bedroom of said king.

Porcelain Room, the king's former dressing room with surprising decoration

This small room was originally the dressing room of the king Carlos III, but when you visit it you will undoubtedly be struck by the original decoration of its walls and ceilings, made between 1765 and 1770.

The entire surface of the Porcelain Room It is covered by removable porcelain (hence its name...) from the old Buen Retiro Factory, combined with fabric decorations.

Gala Dining Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid

And after passing through the Yellow Saleta, named after the covering of its walls with yellow silk, you will arrive at the impressive Royal Palace Gala Dining Room, which currently continues to serve as a dining room and dance hall.

Together with Gala dining room is the Hall of MirrorsWhere Alfonso XIII and his family would get together on Sunday afternoons to watch movies.

Nowadays it is also called the Band Hall, since it is where the Royal Orchestra to liven up the great state banquets.

In the center of it stands out the central mahogany and bronze pedestal table, from 1788.

Silver, Crockery and Glassware Rooms

The next two rooms are shown to us as exhibition rooms, the Silver Room, where you will see silver tableware from between the 17th and 19th centuries, and the Tableware and Glassware Room, with an exhibition of porcelain and glass tableware used daily by the kings.

After exiting the interior gallery on the first floor, you reach the Royal Chapel, another of the highlights of the Royal Palace.

Stradivarius Room, the historic violins

And then you will access another room where you will find another of the artistic jewels of the Royal Palace, Stradivarius Palatinos Cuartero.

The artistic value of this small room is found in the four pieces made by Antonio Stradivari in 1700, a viola, two violins and a cello, which make up the collection of Stradivarius Palatinos most important in the world.

These jewels are still used in concerts inside the Royal Palace.

Finally you will visit some small rooms very used in their day by the King Alfonso XII (Pool hall, Smoking room,  Stucco Room and the office with the marquetry furniture of the king Carlos III).

In total, all visit to the interior rooms of the Madrid's Royal Palace It can take you an hour and a half.

Royal Kitchen of the Royal Palace

From there you arrive again at the other wing of the main staircase, where you will descend towards the Plaza de la Armería.

The kitchens of the Royal Palace Historically they have occupied large rooms on the first floor of the basement, and what you will see now during your visit is its evolution, with the incorporation over time of various elements and objects.

In the various rooms the aforementioned elements are arranged, from stoves, ovens and the first refrigerators, to all types of saucepans, scales or knives and forks.

Royal Armory, medieval armor in the Royal Palace of Madrid

To complete the tourist tour of the Royal Palace. you should not miss visiting the Royal Armory, one of the two world's most important collections of medieval armor, along with which you can also see in Vienna.

• Here you have more information about the Royal Armory of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Sabatini Gardens

Once outside the building enclosure, you have the possibility of going around it by the Plaza de Oriente towards the north façade, and go down to walk through the gardens of this great palace.

In particular, the Sabatini Gardens are located in the north façade of the Royal Palace, Together with the Plaza de España Between the Bailen Street and Cuesta de San Vicente.

They were built after the arrival of the Second Republic, in the early 1934s.

At the current location of the Sabatini Gardens Previously there were some old stables that had been built at the time by the architect Francisco Sabatini, by whose name those gardens are now known.

The  Sabatini Gardens in Madrid They occupy 2,5 hectares and are located at a lower level than the Royal Palace It provides beautiful views of the latter, which is clearly exalted.

Campo del Moro Gardens

Finally, if you go down the aforementioned Cuesta de San Vicente, you will have the possibility of accessing and walking through the Gardens of Campo del Moro, a large wooded and garden area that extends at the foot of the west façade of the palace.

With an area of ​​20 hectares, the place occupied by the gardens delimited in Muslim times the limits of the ancient city of magerit, land that was acquired by Felipe II in the sixteenth century.

The gardens were built in the mid-19th century, at the time of the Queen isabel II, and currently it is a very quiet green area to walk, close to Madrid River.