There is a particular moment that catches almost everyone who arrives in Heidelberg. You come around a bend, or you step onto the Old Bridge, and there it is above

Rising in a cascade of gleaming white walls and gracefully curving roofs above the city that shares its name, Himeji Castle is widely regarded as the most beautiful castle in

There are castles that hide and castles that announce themselves, and then there is Hochosterwitz, which does something stranger: it performs. Rising on a lone dolomite crag from the flat

Fly into Salzburg, or simply round a corner in its old town, and one thing dominates everything: a vast white fortress riding the crest of a green hill, floating above

Rising from a solitary conical mountain in the gentle hills of southern Germany, Hohenzollern Castle is one of the most dramatic and romantic sights in all of Europe. On clear

Rising from the golden sands of the Thar desert like a great sandcastle brought to life, glowing tawny by day and honey-gold at sunset, Jaisalmer Fort is one of the

On the southeastern coast of Sweden, where the Baltic laps against the shore facing the great island of Öland, stands one of the most important and beautiful castles in all

In the rolling country of western Ukraine, in the historic land of Podillia, stands one of the most spectacularly sited fortresses in all of Europe. Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle guards a rocky

Among the wooded hills southwest of Prague, above a bend in a quiet river, rises one of the most magnificent castles in central Europe: Karlštejn. Its towers climb the steep

Stand on the edge of the old city of Rabat, where the Bou Regreg river slides out to meet the Atlantic, and look up. Crowning the bluff above the water