Palazzo Reale di Napoli
The eight stone kings standing along the facade of Palazzo Reale have watched over Piazza del Plebiscito since 1888, each one a chapter in Naples' long argument with power. They were added by the Savoy family — the last dynasty to occupy the palace — and run from Roger II of Sicily all the way to Victor Emmanuel II, a compressed history of southern Italy rendered in marble.
Inside, thirty-four rooms of the Appartamento Storico unspool across the noble floor: throne room, royal chapel, court theatre, tapestried salons. The eastern wing holds the National Library of Naples and its two million volumes, including papyri pulled from Herculaneum.
💛 What travellers fall for
Regulars tend to head straight for the Giardino Pensile — the hanging garden on the southern side — where the Gulf of Naples and the profile of Vesuvius open up without warning. The Scalone d'Onore, rebuilt after the 1837 fire, is worth a slow look upward. The Teatro di Corte stops most people mid-stride.
The story behind Palazzo Reale di Napoli
Domenico Fontana broke ground in 1600, building a residence for the Spanish viceroys who governed Naples on behalf of the Crown. The immediate prompt was a planned visit by King Philip III of Habsburg — a visit that never happened. Fontana died in 1607 and his son Giulio Cesare carried the work forward. Francesco Antonio Picchiatti designed the monumental staircase in piperno stone between 1650 and 1670; Montesquieu called it the finest in Europe when he passed through in 1729.
In 1734 the Bourbon dynasty arrived and made the palace their royal seat. A fire tore through the eastern wing on 6 February 1837, destroying the staircase among other things. Ferdinand II handed the reconstruction to Gaetano Genovese, who worked on it until 1844 and brought the whole complex to completion by 1858. Three centuries of unbroken monarchical use — Spanish, Austrian, Bourbon, Savoy — ended in 1946. The royal apartments opened to the public as early as 1919.
Good to know
Municipio metro station is a one-minute walk. Open Thursday through Tuesday, 9 am to 8 pm; closed Wednesdays, 25 December, and 1 January. Adults pay from €15; under-18s enter free. Mornings on weekdays move at the calmest pace.
Where is Palazzo Reale di Napoli?
More tickets & tours for Palazzo Reale di Napoli
Book directly at the provider
What travellers say about Palazzo Reale di Napoli
Highly recommend visiting the Royal Palace of Naples. Entrance was €15 plus €2 for entry to the outdoor terrace to see the garden where you have 15 minutes to walk around and see the gorgeous views of Mount Vesuvius and parts of Naples. As for the interior, there is WiFi and an audio guide though the rooms are well posted with lots of information available to read. Easy to pass through or else to linger and spend a few hours admiring the rooms. Again highly recommend.
The palace is beautiful, there is a free audio guide which is moderately informative (a bit too detail oriented, less of a big picture) and it's well preserved, restored and presented. There was a cool interactive installment which showed the palace in different epoches and it was definitely stunning. However, the entrance is really hard to find (we got lost for a solid 15 minutes since there are no signs and the staff wasn't extremely helpful) and it's lacking the kind of brief overview on the history of Naples I would have enjoyed. Still worth a visit.
Free wifi, info in English, a beautiful palace... All in it was definitely better than the guide books suggest. We have been to many palaces all across Europe and this one us quite nice. The "romantic garden" is worth a stroll as well.
The palace's outer walls are a bit dilapidated; I suggest they be maintained. However, the interior seems quite beautiful. I didn't go inside, but even in the courtyard, I could feel the architecture's charm!
Absolutely worth visiting. Not much crowd. Also guided tours with access to the terrace with great views at select hours - 10AM, 11 AM, 3 PM and 4 PM for sure - maybe a couple more slots - plan accordingly. Even without that, their free audio guide using the QR code is helpful.
More of Naples
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Naples →More attractions in Naples
All of Naples →
Background adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ratings & place photos via Google · other photos with per-image credit. Ticket links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.