Mattancherry Palace (Dutch Palace) Timings, Kochi

Mattancherry Palace timings at a glance

The rule is simple: open every day except Friday, from mid-morning to late afternoon.

Last entry is a little before 5:00 pm, so aim to arrive by about 4:15 pm if you want to walk the full circuit of rooms without rushing.

Is Mattancherry Palace open today?

The palace follows one rule you can apply on any date. If today is not a Friday, it is open, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. If today is Friday, it is closed, and the next opening is Saturday at 10:00 am. It also shuts on a handful of national holidays, so during long holiday weekends it is worth a quick check before you set out from Ernakulam or Fort Kochi.

Opening and closing hours explained

You may come across a few older listings that show a midday or lunch-hour closure, usually written as 9:45 am to 1:00 pm and then 2:00 pm to 4:45 pm. On the ground the palace runs a single continuous session from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, with no lunchtime shutdown, which is why a mid-afternoon visit is perfectly fine. Because it is a state-run heritage museum, the timings can shift slightly on public holidays and during occasional conservation work, but the 10 to 5 window and the Friday closure are the constants to plan around.

Entry fee and the best time to visit

Mattancherry Palace charges only a small entry fee, and children under 15 generally go in free. The exact ticket price is revised from time to time, so we keep the current figure on one page: check our Mattancherry Palace entry fee guide for the latest amount before you buy your ticket.

The best time to visit is the cooler, drier stretch from October to March, which is also Kochi's main tourist season. Within the day, the first hour after opening is the most comfortable. The rooms are naturally lit, the air is still cool, and you beat the mid-morning tour groups that arrive by coach from the cruise terminal and the Fort Kochi hotels.

What to see inside and how long to spend

Allow about 45 minutes to an hour inside. The reason most people come is the mural work: the palace holds some of the finest Hindu temple murals in India, running through scenes from the Ramayana and the Krishna Leela across the bedchamber and staircase rooms. The Coronation Hall, where the Rajas of Kochi were crowned, sits at the heart of the first floor, ringed by a portrait gallery of the Cochin royal line along with palanquins, coins, weapons and ceremonial dress. Photography is not permitted inside the mural rooms, so plan to put the phone away and simply look. For the palace's full history, architecture and the wider Fort Kochi walk around it, see our full Mattancherry Palace guide, and if you are still working out the route, our how to reach Mattancherry Palace page covers the ferry, auto and walking options from Ernakulam and Fort Kochi.

We cross-checked these hours and the Friday closure against the palace's on-site notice and Kerala Tourism's official listing before publishing this page.

Planning your Kochi visit

Mattancherry Palace is one of the easiest heritage stops to slot into a Kochi day: open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, shut only on Fridays, and small enough to see in under an hour. Pair it with a walk through the surrounding Fort Kochi and Jew Town lanes and you have a comfortable half-day in old Kochi. If you would rather have the whole trip planned for you, browse our Kerala tour packages.