Palacio Real de Aranjuez
The royal palace that made Spanish kings weep with joy sits at the very heart of Aranjuez, its cream-and-red brick facade mirrored in the slow green Tagus. Step inside and you will find room after room of chinoiserie, Venetian mirrors and the legendary Porcelain Room — a jaw-dropping cabinet of floor-to-ceiling ceramic panels commissioned by Charles III.
Inside the Palace
The Porcelain Room alone is worth the entry fee: every centimetre of wall is covered in hand-painted Buen Retiro porcelain depicting exotic flora, fauna and figures, a rococo fantasy that feels more like stepping into a jewellery box than a throne room.
The Smoking Room, modelled on the Hall of the Two Sisters in Granada's Alhambra, is a surprise Moorish interlude inside a Bourbon palace — gilded stalactite plasterwork dripping from the ceiling while afternoon light floods in from the gardens outside.
The Royal Gardens
Directly behind the palace, the Jardín de la Isla occupies a natural island formed by a branch of the Tagus, its Baroque fountains and clipped box hedges unchanged since Philip II first laid them out in the sixteenth century.
The larger Jardín del Príncipe stretches for nearly 150 hectares along the riverbank and contains the Casa del Labrador, a compact neoclassical pleasure house stuffed with Roman mosaics, silk tapestries and a platinum clock collection that rivals any European royal treasury.
Getting the Most from Your Visit
Arrive early on a weekday — tour groups from Madrid flood in after 11 am and the Porcelain Room becomes shoulder-to-shoulder. The palace is closed on Mondays, so plan accordingly.
Combine the palace ticket with the Casa del Labrador for a few euros more; the walk through the Jardín del Príncipe between the two is one of the most pleasant riverside strolls in Castile.
More of Aranjuez
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Aranjuez →
