Europe’s castles span centuries of military architecture and royal ambition — from medieval fortresses designed to withstand sieges to fairy-tale palaces built purely for show. These practical visitor guides help you navigate the continent’s most impressive castles with essential information on ticket prices, opening hours, and strategies for visiting popular sites. (English castles are covered separately to keep this index manageable.) Coverage includes iconic destinations like Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (with crucial advice on how to get in when tickets have sold out), Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle (similarly including sold-out strategies), and Prague Castle — the world’s largest ancient castle complex — with detailed guides to treasures like the St Wenceslas Chapel and Vladislav Hall.
Austrian fortresses feature prominently, including Salzburg’s imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress (one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved medieval castles) and Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck (housing the world’s oldest existing museum). You’ll also find guides to Belgium’s Gravensteen in Ghent, Poland’s magnificent Malbork Castle (including the best way to visit from Gdansk), and multiple Spanish Moorish fortifications — the Alcazaba of Almería, Málaga’s Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle, and Segovia’s picture-perfect Alcázar. Each guide provides practical details on tickets, parking, and planning, whilst also explaining what makes each castle historically or architecturally significant. More European castle guides will be added soon.
- Visiting the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg: A guide for first-timers.
- Visiting the world’s oldest existing museum at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck.
- What to expect at the Gravensteen in Ghent.
- How to get inside the St Wenceslas Chapel in Prague Castle.
- Visitor guide to Vladislav Hall inside Prague Castle..
- How to get into Neuschwanstein Castle when the tickets have sold out.
- The best way to visit Malbork Castle from Gdansk.
- Visitor guide to the Alcazaba in Almeria.
- Visitor guide to the Alcazaba in Malaga.
- Guide to Gibralfaro Castle in Malaga.
- What to expect at Segovia’s Alcázar.
- How to get into Edinburgh Castle when the tickets have sold out.
