Palaces & Royal Residences
Where royalty lived large. 21 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Palace of Versailles
FranceBestVariesClimate36–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchThe Palace of Versailles is a château and historic monument in Versailles in the Yvelines department of France, southwest of Paris. It served as the principal residence of the French kings Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI.
Forbidden City
People's Republic of ChinaBestVariesClimate19–91°FCurrencyCNYLanguageMandarin ChineseAirportPEKThe vast imperial palace at the heart of Beijing, home to 24 emperors.
Château de Montsoreau
FranceBestApr–SepClimate37–79°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchThe Château de Montsoreau is a Flamboyant Gothic castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, close to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Candes-Saint-Martin. The Château de Montsoreau is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and the meeting point of three historical regions: Anjou, Poitou, and Touraine.
Alhambra
SpainBestVariesClimate37–95°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishAirportGRXA Moorish palace-fortress of impossibly intricate courtyards and gardens.
Neuschwanstein Castle
GermanyBestJun–SepClimate23–70°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanNeuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, near the border with Austria. It is located in the Swabia region of Bavaria, in the municipality of Schwangau, above the incorporated village of Hohenschwangau, which is also the location of Hohenschwangau Castle. The closest larger town is Füssen.
Windsor Castle
United KingdomBestJunClimate36–73°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishWindsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about 25 miles (40 km) west of central London. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
Potala Palace
People's Republic of ChinaBestVariesClimate23–73°FPotala Palace is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formerly the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas, built in the dzong style on Marpo Ri. From 1649 until 1959 it served as the Dalai Lamas' residence, after which it became chiefly a museum following the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.
Topkapı Palace
TurkeyBestApr–OctClimate39–86°FCurrencyTRYLanguageTurkishThe Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans.
Winter Palace
RussiaBestMay–JunClimate19–73°FCurrencyRUBLanguageRussianThe Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, the emperors of Russia, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square metres. The total area of the Winter Palace is 14.2 hectares.
Uffizi Gallery
ItalyVisitors2.9M (2024)BestVariesClimate37–91°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianAirportFLRBotticelli's Birth of Venus and the Renaissance's crowning collection.
Summer Palace
People's Republic of ChinaBestVariesClimate19–91°FThe Summer Palace or Yihe Garden was built by the Chinese Empress Cixi as a pavilion for quiet retreat. It is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. An imperial garden during the Qing dynasty, it includes Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (1.1 sq mi), three-quarters of which is water.
Belvedere
AustriaBestVariesClimate30–82°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanThe Belvedere is a historic building complex and art museum in Vienna, Austria. The complex consists of two Baroque palaces, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, together with the Orangery, the Palace Stables, and a formal Baroque garden. It is located in the city's third district, Landstraße, on the south-eastern edge of Vienna's historic centre. Built as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the complex was designed principally by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and completed in the early eighteenth century.
Apostolic Palace
Vatican CityBestVariesClimate39–93°FThe Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V, in honor of Pope Sixtus V, who built most of the present form of the palace.
Doge's Palace
ItalyBestVariesClimate34–84°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianThe Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace included government offices, a jail, and the residence of the Doge of Venice, the elected authority of the former Republic of Venice. It was originally built in 810, rebuilt in 1340 and extended and modified in the following centuries. It became a museum in 1923 and is one of 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.
Golestan Palace
IranBestVariesClimate32–100°FThe Golestan Palace is the former official royal Qajar complex in Tehran, Iran. One of the oldest historic monuments in the capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Golestan Palace consists of a group of eight palatial royal structures surrounded by a wall, today used mainly as museums, surrounded by an outer wall, which were once enclosed within the defensive walls of Tehran's citadel.
Tuileries Palace
FranceBestVariesClimate36–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchThe Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was burned by the Paris Commune in 1871 and demolished in 1883.
Hawa Mahal
IndiaBestSep–MarClimate46–102°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiThe Hawa Mahal is a palace in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the Zenana, or women's chambers.
Kronborg Castle
DenmarkBestApr–JunClimate34–70°FCurrencyDKKLanguageDanishKronborg is a castle and historical stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
Catherine Palace
RussiaBestMay, Jun, AugClimate19–73°FCurrencyRUBLanguageRussianThe Catherine Palace is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.
Hofburg Palace
AustriaEst. 1946BestVariesClimate30–82°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanThe Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1946, it has been the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.
Kensington Palace
United KingdomBestJunClimate36–73°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishKensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the official London residence of several royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Eugenie alongside her husband, Jack Brooksbank.