It’s a life mere mortals can only dream of: room after high-ceilinged room filled with priceless art and treasures, grand ballrooms to host lavish gatherings for foreign dignitaries, and acres of manicured gardens in which to ponder your nation’s next move on the global chessboard. Across the centuries and around the globe, rulers have built elaborate residences for themselves and their progeny, both as a safeguard against attack and a display of their unquestionable right to govern.
We visit a number of royal residences on our small group tours, ranging from the world-famous Windsor Castle, to Bangkok’s Grand Palace, to a lesser-known castle recognized as the “Birthplace of Portugal.”
Read on to see how you can visit these stunning royal residences.
Buckingham Palace | Photo: Odysseys guest Christine Darton
Windsor Castle
Windsor, Berkshire, UK
Perhaps the most famous royal residence on Earth, Windsor Castle sits some 25 miles west of central London, and serves as one of the royal family’s three official homes. A castle has occupied this site for more than a millennium, and the royal family has lived at Windsor since the reign of Henry the I, beginning in 1100 CE.
It is Europe’s longest-occupied palace, and on our Journey through Britain small group tour, we include an inside visit to this sprawling stone manor, giving us ample time to marvel at the thousand-plus years of history on display. We also tour St. George’s Chapel on the grounds, burial place of 10 British monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth II.
Holyrood House, Edinburgh, UK | Photo: Marc Markstein
Holyrood House
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
On both Journey through Britain and Scotland: Highlands and Islands, our small group explores Holyrood, the castle set at the foot of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile which is the current official residence of the monarchy in Scotland. We spend time discovering the State Apartments, where British royals have schemed and slept since the castle was completed in its current form in 1678. Mary, Queen of Scots was twice married at Holyrood, and lived at the palace for six years of her tumultuous life, from her return to Scotland in 1561 to her forced abdication in 1567.
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
At the other end of Edinburgh’s famed central thoroughfare, high atop Castle Rock, stands Edinburgh Castle. It’s the country’s symbolic heart and Edinburgh’s most recognizable landmark, and on both Journey through Britain and Scotland: Highlands and Islands, we pay an inside visit to this 12th-century fortress, whose highlights include the Great Hall, with its original hammerbeam roof; the Honours (crown jewels) of Scotland; the Scottish National War Memorial; and the Royal Palace, the former apartments of the Scottish royals.
On select late summer departures on both tours, our small group enjoys a travel highlight as we attend a performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (above), a sound and light extravaganza featuring military bands, dance performances, and more — all backdropped by the floodlit façade of Edinburgh Castle.
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
The Alhambra
Granada, Spain
Southern Spain bursts with Moorish heritage, and the undisputed highlight of this culturally rich region is the Alhambra, the grand palace-fortress of Spain’s last Moorish rulers. On Paradores & Pousadas, we tour this splendid 13th-century citadel whose footprint has grown as succeeding generations of rulers have expanded the property across a ridge above the Darro River.
Battlements, arrow slits, and thick stone walls evince the property’s history as a refuge against invaders, while lush gardens and fountain-cooled courtyards provide a tranquil refuge from the Spanish sun. It’s a wonder of ancient Islamic architecture, and a visit not soon forgotten.
Royal Palace in Madrid
Palacio Real
Madrid, Spain
Before a tapas lunch in Spain’s capital of Madrid, guests on every Paradores & Pousadas tour enjoy a visit to one of two historic royal residences. Guests on many departures will visit Palacio Real de El Pardo, used primarily for hosting foreign dignitaries and full of artistic treasures (including tapestries by Goya and the Bayeux brothers). During our touring here, we also explore a small piece of the 40,000 acres of woodland surrounding the palace, which were once used as royal hunting grounds.
If the Palacio Real de El Pardo is unavailable, we are fortunate to spend time discovering majestic Palacio Real de Madrid (above), the official residence of the Spanish monarch. This 3,400-room Rococo masterpiece is the largest royal palace in Europe and was home to the Bourbon kings from Charles III in 1764 to Alfonso XIII in 1931.
Pena Palace in Sintra, in the hills above Lisbon
Pena Palace
Lisbon, Portugal
Looking more like something from one’s imagination than a brick-and-mortar construction, Pena Palace stands as Portugal’s most stunning edifice and a monument to the Romanticist architectural movement. Guests on our Discovering Portugal small group tour have the chance to spend the morning moving through the bright yellows, pastel pinks, and pale blues of this hilltop monument, built as a summer retreat for Portugal’s royal family and still easily visible from Lisbon on clear days.
Guimarães Castle | Photo: Luis Castro
Guimarães Castle
Guimarães, Portugal
The “birthplace of Portugal” sits some 200 miles north of today’s capital of Lisbon, tucked in the center of a 150,000-person city of green parks and red-tiled roofs. Inside Guimarães Castle, sometime in the early 1100s, Theresa of León gave birth to Afonso Henriques, changing the course of European history.
The son of the rulers of the County of Portugal (then under Spanish rule), Afonso grew up to lead a rebellion against the crown and declare Portugal an independent kingdom. He’s still venerated as the nation’s founding father, and during our Discovering Portugal tour, we stroll along the streets he walked and pass by the still-standing castle from which he conducted his legendary affairs of state.
The aptly named Castelgrande, in Bellinzona, Switzerland | Photo: Patrizia Berta
Castelgrande
Bellinzona, Switzerland
Bellinzona's geography has made it a central player in the region for centuries; it shares a border with northern Italy, making it a convergence point for several trade routes that once passed through the Swiss Alps. As the capital of Switzerland's southernmost canton of Ticino, the city comprises three feudal castles, together forming a UNESCO site.
Guests on our Alpine Splendor: Switzerland and Austria tour visit Castelgrande, the largest of these three fortifications, perched on a green plateau in the heart of the city. Its expansive grounds and well-preserved ramparts make Castelgrande one of southern Switzerland’s most beloved landmarks – and a wonderful reminder of how natural terrain features have shaped human history.
The river-straddling Château at Chenonceau | Photo: Odysseys employee Shelby M.
Château de Chenonceau
Chenonceaux, France
One of the most impressive châteaux in the Loire Valley – a region full of sprawling country estates – doesn’t touch the valley floor at all. Instead, Château de Chenonceau extends across the river Cher as a floating palace lifted by a series of reinforced archways.
Guests on our Provincial French Countryside tour explore this unusual structure, which boasts a history as unique as its location; it was one of the only châteaux commissioned and overseen by women. The architect was chosen by Catherine Briçonnet, whose husband first purchased the site in 1513, and further development was overseen by Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II, as well as by his famous wife, Catherine de Médicis. Priceless tapestries and paintings hang on the château’s walls and gardens cover the grounds, making it one of the most elegant residences in the nation.
Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen
Rosenborg Castle
Copenhagen, Denmark
For Game of Thrones fans, the Iron Throne, with its seat carved from melted swords, is an indelible symbol of the king’s power. Denmark’s Coronation Chair, located inside the former royal residence of Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, swaps out dented steel for ornately carved narwhal’s tusks — but the effect is no less impressive. The Coronation Chair is just one of the many treasures that guests on Norwegian Splendor come across while exploring this stately castle, which also houses the Danish Crown Jewels and stands surrounded by ornate gardens and walking paths.
Grand Palace, Bangkok
Grand Palace
Bangkok, Thailand
Every traveler on our Southeast Asia Odyssey tour ends their adventure with two days in Bangkok, during which they visit the Grand Palace, an immense complex of ornate buildings, halls, and gardens spreading along the bank of the Chao Phraya River.
The original palace was built in 1782 by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, the first king of the Chakri Dynasty, after he moved the nation’s capital to Bangkok from Thonburi. Subsequent kings augmented the complex, creating the magnificent compound we explore on tour. Though it is no longer the residence of the monarch, the Grand Palace still hosts several official functions throughout the year. It is here that guests see the elaborate Temple of the Emerald Buddha, with its venerated 31-inch-high statue carved from a single piece of jade.
It can be hard to imagine real men and women spending their lives engaging in statecraft amid these massively ornate edifices — particularly when simply reading about them. But set foot on the ground in Bellinzona, Copenhagen, Sintra, or the other locations on this list, and these fairytale structures come alive. Head to each of the links above to explore the small group tours that offer access to these historic palaces, and join us on the road to see how royals once lived — and still do today.
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