Lapa Palace

This colour-fantastic, 19th-century Romanticist castle, built on a rock in the Sintra Mountains, is now a national monument and museum but was previously a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. Built in 1854 on the orders of King Ferdinand, when the original monastery on the site was burnt down, it’s uniquely rich with decoration and symbolism – much at the best of the king and his wife Queen Maria.

A Sultan’s palace in Istanbul, a royal palace in Vienna, a Moghul fort-palace in India – authentic palace stays offer a taste of royal and aristocratic life from bygone eras. Here’s our round-up of 15 of the best.

Here’s our round-up of 60 unique and unusual places to stay – from castles to palaces, treehouses to caves and even UFOs – that justify a place on any travel bucket list in their own right.