Travancore Palace Museum, Thiruvananthapuram: Our Experience, Photography Tips & What to Expect

After completing our visit to Padmanabhaswamy Temple, our next stop was Travancore Palace Museum, also known as Thiruvananthapuram Palace.

One advantage is that the palace is located very close to the temple. Our car was already parked nearby, so reaching the palace took only a few minutes.

The palace was once the residence of the Travancore royal family and is known for its traditional Kerala-style architecture. During our visit, we spent around an hour exploring its galleries, royal rooms and courtyards.

Reaching Travancore Palace

The palace is easily accessible by road, and parking is available close to the entrance. During our visit, we entered through the Chitralayam side, where the ticket counter is located. From there, visitors need to walk to the main palace building.

There is also another entrance closer to the palace itself, but since we entered through Chitralayam, we followed that route.

Good to Know

If you’re visiting by car, check with your driver about the nearest entrance before buying tickets. It may save you some walking.

Entry Rules

Shoes are not allowed inside the palace, so you’ll need to leave them outside before entering.

The palace is well maintained, and the interiors have been preserved carefully, making it feel more like walking through a historic residence than a museum.

Photography Charges

Photography is permitted, but separate charges apply.

During our visit:

Outside photography cost around ₹20.
Inside photography cost around ₹100.

Personally, I didn’t find the inside photography worthwhile.

The rooms have limited lighting, and the photographs don’t turn out particularly well. If you’re visiting with family, paying for outside photography is usually sufficient, as the palace exterior makes for much better pictures.

Travel Tip from Our Experience

If your main purpose is to capture family photographs, I’d recommend paying only for outside photography. We felt it offered much better value.

Exploring the Palace

The palace has two floors, and each one offers something different. The first floor mainly displays historical artefacts, including ivory items, royal collections and gifts exchanged with the British administration.

The second floor is much larger and gives a better understanding of how the royal family lived. As you walk through the palace, you’ll come across:

Royal rooms
Assembly halls
Courtyards
Other sections used by the royal family

Expect to do a fair amount of walking while exploring the palace. During our visit, we covered roughly 1.5–2 kilometres inside the complex.

How Much Time Should You Keep?

We spent around 45 minutes to one hour exploring the palace. If you enjoy museums or like reading about historical exhibits, you may want to keep a little extra time. Otherwise, an hour is generally sufficient to see the main highlights.

Cafeteria

There is also a cafeteria located near the palace. If you’re feeling hungry after the visit, it’s a convenient place to take a short break before continuing with your sightseeing.

Why We Didn’t Visit Chitralayam

Although our tickets were issued from the Chitralayam side, we couldn’t explore it.

By the time we finished visiting the palace, it was around 12:30 PM, and Chitralayam was closing. It was scheduled to reopen later in the afternoon, but we decided not to wait as we wanted to continue with the rest of our itinerary.

Our Experience

Travancore Palace offered a nice glimpse into Kerala’s royal history.

Though smaller in size in compare to the palace in Rajasthan, yet the artefacts and royal rooms were interesting. If you’re already visiting Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the palace makes for an easy and worthwhile addition to your itinerary, especially since both attractions are located so close to each other.