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.
- All you need to know about visiting Cesky Krumlov Castle in Cesky Krumlov.
- How to get inside the St Wenceslas Chapel in Prague Castle.
- Visitor guide to Vladislav Hall inside Prague Castle..
- Planning a trip to the Chateau de Castelnaud in the Dordogne.
- Plan your visit to Foix Castle near Toulouse.
- How to get into Neuschwanstein Castle when the tickets have sold out.
- Bavarian castle guides: Trausnitz Castle and Burghausen Castle.
- Plan your visit to Wartburg Castle in Thuringia.
- How to visit Eltz Castle in Rhineland-Palatinate.
- How to make the most of your visit to the Ancient Fortress of Aigosthena in Greece.
- Practical visitor guide to Chlemoutsi Castle, Greece.
- Plan your visit to the Castle of Mytilene in Lesvos.
- Visitor guides to Dublin Castle and Malahide Castle in Ireland.
- See why Bunratty Castle is regarded as Ireland’s most complete castle.
- See the finest castle near Amsterdam – Muiderslot in Muiden.
- The best way to visit Malbork Castle from Gdansk.
- Visitor guide to the Alcazaba in Almeria.
- First-time visitors’ guide to Montjuic Castle in Barcelona.
- Visitor guide to the Alcazaba in Malaga.
- Guide to Gibralfaro Castle in Malaga.
- What to expect at Segovia’s Alcázar.
- How to visit the Castillo de Coca near Segovia.
- How to make the best of your visit to Chillon Castle on Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
- Key visitor information for Cardiff Castle.
- How to get into Edinburgh Castle when the tickets have sold out.
