Guided tour of Olite and its Royal Palace

If you want to understand Olite, not just see it, go with a guide. Rutas Vivamus, a tourist route company registered in the Navarre Tourism Register, runs a visit with an official Navarre guide that combines the Royal Palace inside with a walk through the medieval streets: an hour and a half in all. It is a good first activity on arriving in the village, because afterwards everything else, the Enozentrum, the wineries, the galleries, is better understood.

The route

The visit begins with the Royal Palace, the seat of the court of the Kingdom of Navarre, built in the 13th and 14th centuries on an earlier fortress, with Roman remains beneath, and a National Monument since 1925. It then passes the church of Santa María la Real, attached to the castle and one of the examples of Navarrese Gothic, with a main façade of Gothic sculpture finished around 1300, and the church of San Pedro, on Plaza del Fosal, Olite's oldest parish church, with its Gothic spire tower. The rest of the time is spent walking through the old town: narrow streets, mansions with coats of arms, stretches of the Roman wall and Gothic arcades.

The Vivamus website does not detail which rooms or towers of the palace are toured or whether any are climbed; ask when you book if something in particular interests you.

Price and booking

It costs €12 for adults and €7 for children aged 6 to 13, VAT included; under-6s do not pay. Groups are of up to 25 people; for larger groups you must enquire. The website does not publish fixed days or times: you need to ask about availability. Although it shows an online booking button, in November 2026 it warned that the booking manager was not yet active, so the practical thing is to book by phone on 617 189 957 or by email at [email protected].

Tickets are not refundable, but you can change the date and time subject to availability. Visits start on time and, if you arrive late, there is no refund. If the minimum number of people is not reached, the company may cancel up to 24 hours before and refunds the amount.

With children

Children aged 6 to 13 pay a reduced rate and under-6s go free; bear in mind that it is an hour and a half on foot. For the little ones, the tourist office gives out the Marco Topo map, a free game for exploring medieval Olite as a family with your phone, which can be done before or after the visit.

Other visits

The tourist office lists other options in Olite: the Reyna de Copas wine shop runs walks with a glass of wine that include the Chapitel tower, and the palace itself sells a guided visit to the town and the palace for €14.40. Vivamus also offers guided visits to the Arguedas caves, at the entrance to the Bardenas.