# Castles, fortresses & palaces

> Castles, fortresses, and palaces worth the trip: Peleș Castle, Himeji, Hue's Imperial Citadel, and Madrid's Royal Palace, with a travel guide for each.

- Source: https://clevertourists.com/guides/collection-castles-fortresses-and-palaces
- Authors: Evan & Clara, Clever Tourists (first-hand, from a 526-day trip across 20 countries)
- Published: 2026-07-20

Grand facades and fortified walls built to outlast the people who commissioned them — some restored to museum condition, others left as ruins for weather and ivy to finish the job.

## Places

### Peleș Castle, Romania

Peleș Castle was built in the 1870s and 80s as a summer residence for Romania's first king, Carol I, tucked into the Carpathian foothills above Sinaia. It was one of the first castles in Europe wired for electricity, generated on-site by its own power plant.

### Himeji Castle, Japan

Himeji Castle is the best-preserved of Japan's original feudal-era castles, dating to the early 1600s and never destroyed by war, fire, or earthquake in over 400 years. Its bright white plaster walls earned it the nickname White Heron Castle.

### Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

The Imperial Citadel in Hue was the seat of Vietnam's Nguyễn Dynasty emperors from 1802 until 1945, modeled loosely on Beijing's Forbidden City. Much of it was damaged during the 1968 Battle of Hue and is still being restored today.

### Old Bar Fortress, Montenegro

The fortress above Stari Bar sits on a hillside overlooking the abandoned old town below it, most of which was left in ruins after an 1878 gunpowder explosion and never rebuilt. The fortress and the town under it together tell that whole story.

### Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain

The Royal Palace of Madrid is Western Europe's largest palace by floor area, with thousands of rooms, though it hasn't been the monarchy's actual residence since the 1930s. It's still used for state ceremonies.