Madrid Royal Palace & Retiro Park Tour with Optional Tapas

Amazing Experience

Excellent tours with very knowledgeable Guides. Lydia was our guide at Retiro Park and she was very good. Her explanation of key points was amazing. Benito was our guide at the Palace and he was just as good. He explained everything in detail with a bit of humor and his presentation was amazing. Can’t recommend this tour enough.

Response from the operator: Thank you for your review. We are glad you enjoyed your visit. We hope to see you soon!

via Viator

Group size was far too large

The group was huge at around 50, far too big for a busy palace. The guide was knowledgeable, however due to lousy audio and size of group, it was difficult to hear most of the time.

Response from the operator: Good morning, the groups are maximum of 30 since the palace does not allow access to the monument to groups of more than 30 people so our groups never exceed that number, also we like to give quality to our services and with such a large number of people we could not. We are sorry if you were not satisfied with the visit, we hope to see you again soon and improve your experience with us. Thank you Regards

via Tripadvisor

They were 2 different...

They were 2 different visits in Spanish with 2 different guides.the complaint for both was that we were asked to be 15 mn before the start of the trip and the guides only turned up for the start;it was difficult to identify them without a sort of uniform (a top with the company name and a matching umbrella would do ) Now I’d like to comment on each one separately The morning one of the Retiro became a “private tour” as only us 2 turned up. Benito our guide was able to demonstrate his knowledge,was very helpful in answering our questions and made this tour the best one we’ve ever made. Unfortunately the Royal Palace visit booked for 3:30pm was disappointing due to the lack of organisation of the afternoon guide(not sure,Manuel or Manolo?) We didn’t know why we had to wait or had to leave a room without having looked at it .the different groups of tourists were getting mixed up and we struggled to keep concentration while fighting for some space and preventing for being pushed.Maybe it is the fault of the Palace organisation to admit so many people at once. We expect the standard of a paying guided visit to be as professional and organised as the freetours,if not more. Sorry we won’t recommend Viator to others and we’ll look for some reduced groups.this review shouldn’t be published because you can’t judge 2 different tours as one.good luck if you are considering making some changes.,one is to expect to write 1 review for 2 different tours -this won’t help the readers at all but I hope Viator will get some ideas.

via Viator

Excellent Royal Palace Tour , No tapas

Alex Tour Guy , he was very attentive,knowledgeable and explained every stop in detail. The best of the whole experience. Tapas was not good experience, very small place,crowed and didn't have a seat for me. Restaurant was empty but I can't sit there.I finished leaving the place without having the "tapas".

via Viator

Good way of exploring the City

The trip started at one of the entrances of Retiro park. Despite getting a bit lost on the way, Lydia kindly waited for me. A leisurely hour or so exploring Retiro park. Then an hours break before reconvening in front of the opera house outside the metro station. Larger group in the afternoon. Great tour of the palace. Be aware quite a few rooms you aren’t allowed to take photos. It’s a stunning palace and grounds. Lydia was a great guide and the trip was well organised. A well earned rest followed after lots of walking!

Response from the operator: Dear Joe_B thank you very much for your comments! The Retiro Park is a wonderful place and so is the Royal Palace! We are glad you enjoyed your experience with Lidia. Thank you, best regards

via Viator