I have to give the Royal Palace its own dedicated post as it was one of the highlights of our trip to Seville.I knew it was going to be beautiful but it completely blew my mind. If we hadn’t had the kids with us, there’s no doubt that we would have stayed there all day. We still spent 3 hours there, so we did pretty well!

The exterior of the Palace looks quite austere and completely hides the beauty within.  We only spotted it because of the massive queue outside (the pic below was taken on a bank holiday when the Alcazar was closed).

I strongly advise to book in advance (link here) as otherwise you may have to queue for an hour or so. Allow at least 2 hours for the visit and be aware that you’ll have to queue for a bit even with a booking, so get there a bit earlier than your allotted time. (There’s a cafe in the gardens if you’re in need of sustenance.)

The architecture and level of craftsmanship is unbelievable everywhere you look; and that’s before you go inside:

This is probably the most photographed bit of the Palace but you don’t see all the amazing ceilings and details until you look alot closer:

It’s hard to believe that this is only a small section of the Palace. If you pay extra you can go into some of the upstairs rooms but we didn’t do this (I’ll save it for a return trip). There’s more than enough to soak-in though:

Every space you go in, make sure you look up, down and around you; the details are astounding. I loved all the bright colours, the incredible tiles and different patterns. It really embodies Sevillian style.

Also, don’t forget to find the cloistered baths:

On a hot day it must be so wonderful to find the calm coolness of this space.

Taking a walk around the gardens gives you a better vision of the layout of the Palace and here you’ll find some other hidden gems:

Our favourites were the maze and the pavillion:

Popular with people taking a lot of selfies and posing up a storm, was the chiming  fountain:

Personally I preferred the view from above here:

I hope these photos do it justice. For me it’s up there with Jardin Majorelle, Marrakesh and Foundation Monet in Giverny; all places I would love to revisit again and again.

I have so many photos of Seville that I may have to do at least two more posts!

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