Europe is packed with palaces full of history and these are 30 of the best European Palaces you can visit when there.
Personally, number one and number 11 on the list are my favourites as I have memories of them as a child and also visiting them again as an adult.
Important: There are links under each palace mentioned to their official websites where you can get more information about visiting and opening times.
The palaces are in no particular order of greatness as they are all good!
Alhambra
Alhambra is a palace and fortress that hovers over the city of Granada in Spain. This is easily one of the best European palaces to visit and a personal favourite of Guide to Castles. Alhambra in Arabic means “the red.”
The palace is of Moorish design and is spectacularly beautiful inside and imposing from the outside, being one of the best palaces of historic Islamic architecture.
It dates back to the 13th-century, although some of the interiors were redesigned in the Renaissance architectural style after the Moors were defeated and expelled from Spain.
It’s open for visitors and is a must-visit palace in southern Spain.
Charlottenburg Palace
Charlottenburg Palace is the best palace in Berlin to visit and its largest. It dates to the late 17th-century and has an interesting history until the late 19th-century when it was largely forgotten as a royal residence and was opened to the public.
It’s still open today for visitors to roam around.
Hofburg Palace
Hofburg Palace was the main palace of the Habsburg dynasty and is located in Vienna, Austria. It originally dates to the 13th-century although a lot has been added to it since then.
It was the imperial winter residence of the House of Habsburg whereas the Schönbrunn Palace (see further down the article) was the summer residence.
It’s one of the most beautiful buildings to see in Vienna and is open for visitors as a museum.
Karlsruhe Palace
Karlsruhe Palace was built in the early 18th-century and is one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe to see.
It was the seat of power for almost 200 years of the grand dukes of Baden and princes of the electoral.
It’s open for visitors.
Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace is beyond impressive and is one of the best-preserved and largest Baroque architectural palaces in Europe.
Located in Germany it dates to the early 18th-century and is open for visitors today.
Versailles Palace
Versailles Palace is one of the most famous palaces in Europe, if not the world. It used to be a royal residence and construction was done on it in the 16th-17th centuries.
Inside it showcases 5 centuries of French history. Located only 12 miles from Paris it makes for an easy day trip from the capital and is open for visitors.
Doge’s Palace
Doge’s Palace is a magnificent palace in Venice, Italy. When I first visited the place I was seriously blown away by how beautiful it was in its Venitian Gothic architecture.
It was built in the mid-14th-century as the residence of the leader of the republic, the Doge of Venice, and has been added to over the centuries since.
Venice is a must-visit city if you are in Italy and the palace is the highlight of the city.
Neuschwanstein Castle
Although Neuschwanstein Castle is classed as a castle it was in fact actually built as a palace, and technically still is, so it’s added to this list of best European palaces.
It was built in the 19th-century by King Ludwig II and is located in Bavaria in southern Germany. It’s open for visitors.
Buckingham Palace
You can’t visit London without at least having a walk past Buckingham Palace, which is one of the most well-known palaces in Europe.
It’s the London home of the British monarch dating to the 18th-century and was largely expanded in the 19th-century.
You can visit the grand state rooms inside on selected dates throughout the year and if it is not open during your time in London you should at least have a walk past to view the impressive building from the outside.
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the House of Habsburg and is located just outside Vienna, Austria.
The beginning of construction in the area started in the 16th-century but much was expanded on over the preceding centuries.
It’s easily one of the most beautiful European palaces to see and is open for visitors.
Sanssouci Palace
Sanssouci Palace is located in Potsdam, an easy day trip from Berlin. This is one of the favourite European Palaces of Guide to Castles as the writer of this site was born in Berlin and has visited the palace multiple times.
It was built as a summer palace by Frederick The Great in the mid-18th-century and is open for visitors.
Drottningholm Palace
Drottningholm Palace is the royal home of the Swedish royal family and is not far from the capital, Stockholm.
It dates to the 16th-century but much was added to it over the centuries since then. This is one of the best palaces in Sweden to visit.
National Palace of Pena
The National Palace of Pena is located in Sintra, Portugal, and is one of the most striking European palaces. It makes an excellent day trip from Lisbon.
Construction of the palace was done in the 19th-century and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best architectural buildings in Portugal to see. It’s open for visitors.
Royal Palace of Brussels
The Royal Palace of Brussels is the palace of the Royal family of Belgium and is located in the capital Brussels.
Original construction started in the 12th-century but many additions have been made over time, especially in the 18th-century after a fire almost destroyed the whole building. Parts of the palace are open for visitors during a one month period in the summer in July/August.
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace is located in Saint Petersburg in Russia and is one of the most beautiful European palaces to see. It was built in the 18th-century and served as the home to the Emperor of Russia from the early 18th-century until the early 19th-century.
It’s open for visitors.
Wilanow Palace
Wilanow Palace dates back to the late 18th-century and is a great example of a Baroque palace. It’s one of the best European palaces in Poland to visit.
It’s open for visitors.
Nymphenburg Palace
Nymphenburg Palace is located in Munich and dates to the 17th-century. It’s one of the best European palaces in Germany to see.
It’s open for visitors.
Royal Palace of Caserta
The Royal Palace of Caserta is located in southern Italy and is a formal residence of the royal family of the King of Naples.
It was built in the 18th-century and is open for visitors.
Royal Alcázar of Seville
The Royal Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain. The site has a long history of occupation by the Moors, who initially built a fortified building in the area, but once defeated by the Christian Spanish the building was changed for their needs and style, especially in the 14th-century.
Like many European palaces, it has had many additional constructions done to it over the centuries.
It’s open for visitors.
Amalienborg Palace
Amalienborg Palace is an 18th-century palace located in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is today the home to the Danish royal family, one of the oldest royal families in Europe.
It’s open for visitors.
Royal Palace of Madrid
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the home to the Spanish royal family although these days is mostly in use for ceremonies.
Initial construction in the area was started by the Moors in the 9th-century but after they were defeated in the 11th-century a number of changes were made, especially later on in the 15th-17th centuries.
It’s open for visitors except when there is a state ceremony happening.
Rundale Palace
Rundale Palace is located in Latvia and is an excellent example of a baroque palace in Europe.
It was built during different periods of the 18th-century and is open for visitors today.
Vaduz Castle
Just like Neuschwanstein Castle, Vaduz Castle is called a castle, but in fact, it is the palace of the Prince of Liechtenstein and is epically located up on a mountainside.
The oldest parts of the palace are from the 12th-century but a lot of what you see now was added in the 17th-century.
Unfortunately, it is not open for visitors to go inside except to certain areas if on a guided tour.
Herrenchiemsee New Palace
Herrenchiemsee Palace is one of the more recent European palaces on this list having been built in the late 19th-century. It’s located in southern Bavaria in Germany on an island in Chiemsee lake. It’s an epic place to visit.
You can only visit the palace as part of a guided tour.
Château de Fontainebleau
Château de Fontainebleau is easily one of the best European palaces in France to visit. It’s spectacularly situated just an hour’s drive from Paris.
It was the palace and castle for numerous French kings up until Napolean III.
It’s open for visitors.
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a World Heritage Site and one of the best palaces in Britain. Located in Oxfordshire it dates to the early 18th-century.
Technically it is a “country house” for the Duke of Marlborough but was designated as a palace.
Interesting fact: it was the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
It’s open for visitors.
Frederiksborg Castle
Frederiksborg Castle is a palace complex in Denmark and dates to the early 17th-century. It is the largest Renaissance architectural building in Scandinavia.
It’s just under an hour’s drive from Copenhagen making it an excellent day trip and is open for visitors on a tour.
Esterházy Palace
Esterházy Palace is a stunning Baroque palace in Austria and dates to the late 14th-century. It’s one of the best palaces in Austria to visit along with the ones in and near Vienna mentioned earlier in the article.
It’s open for visitors for a tour.
Royal Palace of Amsterdam
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is located in the centre of Amsterdam on Dam Square in the Netherlands and is a palace for the Dutch royal family to use.
It was built in the 17th-century and is one of the most impressive historic buildings in Amsterdam.
It’s open for visitors most of the year.
Würzburg Residence
Würzburg Residence is a baroque palace in Germany that was built in the 18th-century, although due to heavy damage in WWII a lot of what you see now is restoration work from the mid-late-20th century.
It’s open for visitors.
European Palaces
These impressive European palaces should appeal to anyone interested in history and grand architecture.
When in Europe make sure you see a few of them, all European countries will have at least one palace to visit.
For more travel in Europe take a look at my guides to Europe.
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