kwar

My message..I arrive in Seville on June 5th. I would like to visit the Alcazar and do a tour with a guide or if they have an audio guide that would be ok as well. My options are to book "tour plus Cuarto Real Alto" or just a "tour". I don't see an option with audio or a guide and not sure what "curate real alto" means. Just the tour alone is free and the other option is 4.5 euro. Any advice or insight on this?


Also, I keep seeing to book a combo ticket for seville cathedral and church of alcazar. Is this something that I need to book in advance or can I see how we are feeling when we arrive and book then without waiting in line. Also, if I book this now, where do I go to book and If I can book upon arrival to Seville, where should I go for that? The cathedral or church of el salvador or does it not matter?


I have many things pre booked in Barcelona and nothing pre booked in Seville. We don't want to wait in lines so if something must be prebooked we would like to do that now, if not, we really like the idea of being able to be less on a schedule and go at our own pace depending how we feel. I am traveling with my husband and 2 teens. I guess I'm just feeling a little unorganized by not having anything booked for Seville yet other than a walking tour upon arrival.
Thank you,
Kristalynn

ellenem

Cuarto Real Alto are private royal apartments on one floor of the alcazar that one can visit only on a tour.

kwar

I do not see an option for a guide or an audio guide available?? I have been told that there is one but not sure how to access this. Do you know if the cuarto real alto is worth seeing? Can I just book alcazar when I'm there on June 6th or should I expect a long line if I do this?

Alec

June 6th is a Monday, and they have free entry into Alcazar from 6 to 7 pm. Royal Quarter (used by current Spanish royal family when in Seville) isn't open then, and you have to join a guided tour for it. I suggest you just arrive early around 9 am and just buy a ticket (9.50 euro) for Alcazar and then book the guided tour for upstairs for a later slot. You can usually gain general entry without pre-booking. Though I haven't been, many people say Royal Quarter is worth seeing. Students aged 17 to 25 enter for 2 euro with student ID, and younger people enter free.

There is a combo ticket for the Church of the Saviour (El Salvador) and the Cathedral for 9 euro. Just go to El Salvador Church which is about 5 minutes from the cathedral, and buy a combo ticket. It's valid for that day and the day after for cathedral entry. There is no line for El Salvador, but usually a long line (though moves fairly briskly) for the cathedral. So you may wait 30 min or so.

indyhiker

Audio guides can be rented once you're there. I think they're 5 Euro.

I booked both the royal apartment and general tour by buying an advance ticket at the official website. I did the apartment tour first and opted for the first slot of the morning. You can pick up the audio guide after the apartment tour (you get a separate audio guide for the apartment).

I enjoyed the royal apartment. There are some beautiful rooms.

kwar

Perfect, this helps a lot. The royal quarters sound very interesting so I will book both and get the audio guide upon arrival.

@ Alec All that I see on the website is one with the royal towers for 4.50 euro and the other option says 0 euro. Where is the 9.50 euro? Im pretty sure that I was on the alcazar website.

kwar

side note... has anyone done a bike tour of seville? I have a free walking tour booked upon arrival but have also seen some info about a bike tour. Any insight? Is it pretty much the same as a walking tour but on a bike?

indyhiker

Pick the Visita Combinada/General Tour + Cuarto Real Alto. It will then ask you to pick a day and time. Then you'll enter the number of tickets you want for the Royal Apartment Tour. Then it will have another screen where you enter the number of combo tickets you want. That screen will show the total price.

I agree it's confusing, but if you work through all the screens, it will make sense.

kwar

@indyhiker thank you!! I see that all of the morning times on the day I want are unavailable. I had no idea that it would book up like this. Everyone made it sound like it wasn't a big deal to pre book way ahead like some of the other sites. Guess I will have to change my day or book in the afternoon.

How familiar are you with Seville? If I tell you my address, could you advise me on what we could do in the AM before Alcazar if I end up not being able to get a morning time slot? We are not into art or museums too much. We like history, assimilating ourselves with the locals, shopping, exploring and we are pretty active.

kwar

also, I see that there are walking tours that include the Alcazar. Has anyone done this? Does it cover the royal quarters as well. I know that the walking tours can be booked a day or 2 in advance and some even on the day of so wondering if I should worry that the morning times slots are already taken. I'm just trying to get a feel for this. I really keep getting the impression that Alcazar is pretty easy unlike trying to go to Alhambra, which of course you have to book way in advance.

EYWandBTV

Get a good guide book and learn what is within walking distance of your address. You don't need a guided tour of the cathedral if you just want to wander by yourself on your own time. Cadogan has a very good guide: "Granada, Seville, and Cordoba" ... available on Amazon. Enjoy.

indyhiker

I, personally, wouldn't want to do a walking tour of the Alcazar. It's hard to hear there with so many large groups. Perhaps there will be fewer (or none) school groups given the time of year, but it was a site I wanted to view at my own pace. The audio guide is more than sufficient. The audio guide for the Royal Apartments is free and is also more than sufficient.

If I were you, I'd just book tickets online from home. Get there about a half hour before you are scheduled to tour the Royal Apartments. Go straight to the Royal Apartments once you're inside the complex (you will have to go through a metal detactor and lock up all of your belongings for the tour of the apartments). Then view the rest of the Alcazar and gardens on your own using the audio guide.

My advice is don't overthink this. It's not nearly as complicated as the Alhambra (and even the Alhambra is getting less complicated with some changes that went into effect earlier this year).

kwar

Thank you!! Booking now...

memejs

I would definitely book in advance. I got a lot of advice about not needing to make advance reservations, but I did anyway and I avoided spending a lot of time standing in line. The day I went to the Alcazar, tickets of the Cuarto Real were sold out, so if I hadn't bought my tickets ahead of time, I wouldn't have been able to see it. An audioguide of the Cuarto Real is included in the ticket price. I believe there's a separate audioguide for the rest of the Alcazar (I didn't get it).

I imagine that walking tours that include the Alcazar just stand outside the gate and talk about it from there - that is, if it's a tour of the city of Seville. I can't imagine a tour like that taking everyone inside.

kwar

@memejs I booked ahead. Thank you, I agree with you!