Palazzo Reale

The palace was founded in 1600 for King Philip III of Spain, on the initiative of the viceroy Fernando Ruiz de Castro, and designed by Domenico Fontana. Spanish viceroys, then Bourbon and Savoy kings, lived here. The visit follows the first-floor state rooms:

• The grand staircase, the first thing you climb, in marble.
• The court theatre, the royal family's private theatre. Its roof was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on August 4, 1943, and the ceiling you see was restored after the war.
• The throne room, with the throne back in place after a restoration by the Venaria Reale conservation centre near Turin, finished in May 2025. The room's textiles were restored in a visible worksite from November 2025.
• The royal chapel and a run of reception rooms with tapestries, furniture and paintings.

Outside, look up at the facade: the eight statues of the kings of Naples in the niches were installed only in 1888. The palace says the apartment takes about an hour.

The Giardino Pensile, the terrace garden over the port, is seen on a 15-minute accompanied visit. It costs €2 on top of the museum ticket, runs daily except Wednesdays at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., and takes 25 people at most, children included. Visits were suspended for the summer heat and restart on Saturday, October 3, 2026. Book on the Musei Italiani portal when you buy your ticket; without a booking you get a place only if one is free. The garden is closed on free days and can close during weather alerts: a red civil protection alert shuts it, and an orange or yellow one may.

The Giardino Romantico on the other side is free, open daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with last entry at 6 p.m. It closes during evening openings. The palace courtyards and gardens may close in bad weather.

• Museo Caruso: opened in 2023 for the 150th anniversary of the tenor's birth, in the Sala Dorica, with 3D animations and listening stations. It keeps short hours: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., last entry 1 p.m., closed Wednesdays. On free days it is by booking only, 30 people per hourly slot. Go in the morning.
• Museo della Fabbrica: opened July 16, 2024, off the Cortile d'Onore on the ground floor. It explains how the building grew and is a good first stop. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., last entry 6:30 p.m.
• Androne delle Carrozze: free, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the permanent photo display on the palace's war damage and restoration from 1943 to the 1950s.
• Special routes: visits to the attics and the Belvedere tower on the fourth Saturday of the month, and to the storerooms on the third Saturday. These need separate booking.

The Biblioteca Nazionale occupies the palace's east wing. It is a separate institution with its own entrance and rules; we could not reach its website to confirm 2026 visiting hours.

Buy at the desk or on the Musei Italiani portal and app. A combined day ticket with the Museo Pignatelli in Chiaia can be used within a month of first entry. There is also an annual pass.

The first Sunday of the month is free under the national #domenicalmuseo scheme. The next one is Sunday, October 4, 2026: the apartment runs 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Caruso rooms need a booking, and the Hanging Garden is closed. The palace also runs occasional evening openings with a separate ticket, such as Friday, October 2, 2026.

Come at 9 a.m., do the Museo Caruso first because it closes at 2 p.m., then the apartment, then the 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. garden slot. You are out by lunchtime and on the square. From here it is about 200 m to the San Carlo for its afternoon tour and about 650 m, ten minutes on foot, to Castel Nuovo. Gran Caffe Gambrinus is at the edge of the square. Our Naples in one day plan shows where it fits.

Skip it on a Wednesday, and think twice if the Hall of Mirrors was your reason to come: that room is now behind the worksite. Dogs are not allowed in the museum, courtyards or gardens, except assistance dogs.