Palácio Nacional da Pena

The Palácio da Pena is Portugal's most iconic building — and one of Europe's craziest palaces. On the second-highest peak of the Serra de Sintra (529 m), this technicolor dream towers: bright yellow towers, red terraces, blue azulejo tiles, Moorish arches, Gothic turrets, and a Manueline chapel — all wildly mixed, as dreamed by a feverish romantic. And that's exactly what it was.

King Fernando II., a German prince from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (cousin of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), had the palace built from 1842 on the ruins of a 15th-century Hieronymite monastery. Fernando was an artist, a romantic, and obsessed with the idea of uniting all architectural styles of the world in a single building. The result is an architectural madness that somehow works — Neuschwanstein meets Alhambra meets Monastery of Belém.

The interior is equally fascinating: The original furnishings from the 19th century are almost completely preserved. You walk through royal chambers with stucco and murals, an Arab room with trompe-l'oeil wall decoration, the chapel with an alabaster altarpiece by Nicolau Chanterene, and the kitchen with the copper cookware in which the last meals of the Portuguese monarchy were prepared. Queen Amélia left the palace in haste in 1910 — two days after the proclamation of the Republic.

The Parque da Pena around the palace is itself a masterpiece: 200 hectares with over 2,000 plant species from all continents — giant ferns from Australia, Japanese camellias, Californian redwoods, Brazilian tree ferns. Fernando II. imported plants from around the world and created a romantic landscape park that today feels like an enchanted jungle.

On clear days, the view from the palace terrace extends to Lisbon and across the Tagus to the Serra da Arrábida. In typical Sintra fog, the palace floats surreally above the clouds — an unforgettable image.