In the heart of Copenhagen, four matching rococo palaces around an octagonal square form Amalienborg, home of one of the world’s oldest monarchies and famous for its daily changing of the guard.

Discover Augustusburg Palace in Bruhl, a dazzling UNESCO rococo masterpiece with a legendary staircase, formal gardens, and a hidden hunting lodge.

Balla Lompoa near Makassar is the timber palace of the seafaring kingdom of Gowa, guarding a legendary golden crown. Explore its stilt architecture, royal regalia and the legacy of a defiant warrior king.

Discover Betliar Manor in eastern Slovakia, a rare aristocratic house surviving with its sumptuous interiors, great library, exotic collections, and famous landscape park almost completely intact.

Discover Bratislava Castle, the iconic white four-towered fortress above the Danube, a coronation seat of the Kingdom of Hungary and the great symbol of the Slovak capital.

At the end of the great processional avenue of the Mall, behind its railings and its golden memorial, stands the most famous royal residence in the world. Buckingham Palace is

Set a little apart from the noise of central Berlin, at the end of a long forecourt guarded by a green equestrian statue, stands the largest and most magnificent palace

A little to the north of Paris, set amid forests and reflected in the still waters that surround it, stands one of the most romantic and treasure-filled palaces in all

In the old city of Hyderabad, Chowmahalla was the official seat of the Nizams, its durbar hall ablaze with Belgian chandeliers, where new rulers were enthroned.

Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen is the only building in the world that houses a nation’s parliament, supreme court and royal reception rooms together. Here is how to explore its history, tapestries, ruins and grand halls.