#8. Royal Palace, Madrid
One of the truly great things about travel is making surprising discoveries. Nobody ever told us, “Go to the Royal Palace in Madrid: you’ll be more impressed with it than Versailles.” That’s a pretty bold statement, but it’s how we felt. We loved the Spanish Royal Palace, and it was such a delightful surprise we wonder why it isn’t more touted. But then again, part of what made it so great was that it wasn’t overrun with tourists like Versailles can be. But don’t think for a second we only liked Spain’s Royal Palace because it’s less-trafficked. We liked Spain’s Royal Palace because it was so genuinely opulent and actually still used by the Spanish monarchy. And don’t make the mistake we almost made and consider it an optional sight to see: put Spain’s Royal Palace at the top of your list when visiting Madrid.
