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.
French castles
- Planning a trip to the Chateau de Castelnaud in the Dordogne.
- Plan your visit to Foix Castle near Toulouse and Carcassonne Castle in Carcassonne.
- Loire Valley castle guides: Chenonceau Castle, the Chateau de Bouges, the Chateau Royal d’Amboise, the Chateau de Saumur, the Chateau d’Angers and Chambord Castle.
- Important information for seeing Chateau de Compiegne and visiting Chateau de Pierrefonds in Hauts-de-France.
- What to expect at the Chateau de Malmaison, Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Chateau de Chantilly near Paris.
- Everything you need to know before visiting the Chateau de Vincennes and Chateau de Maisons in Paris.
German castles
- How to get into Neuschwanstein Castle when the tickets have sold out.
- Bavarian castle guides: Visiting Trausnitz Castle and planning a trip to Burghausen Castle.
- Plan your visit to Wartburg Castle in Thuringia.
- How to visit Eltz Castle and what to see at Marksburg Castle in Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Castles on the Rhine: Visitor guides to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz and Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in Kaub.
- Visitor guide to Schloss Drachenburg in Konigswinter.
- Practical guiide to visiting Bentheim Castle in Lower Saxony.
- What to know before visiting Lichtenstein Castle in Baden-Württemberg.
Irish castles
- Visitor guides to Dublin Castle, Malahide Castle and Kilkenny Castle in Ireland.
- See why Bunratty Castle is regarded as Ireland’s most complete castle.
- How to get the best out of visiting Cahir Castle in County Tipperary, Ireland.
- What to see at the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary
- What to know before visiting Charles Fort in Kinsale, Ireland.
- Key information for visiting Blarney Castle near Cork.
- See where Braveheart was filmed while visiting Trim Castle in County Meath.
Italian castles
- What to expect when visiting Lerici Castle in Liguria.
- Castello San Giorgio in La Spezia: Ticket prices, opening hours and visitor tips.
- Fortress of Sarzanello visitor tips: With hours, ticket prices and what to see.
- What to do before visiting Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome.
- Plan your visit to the Rocca dei Papi in Montefiascone, Lazio.
- What to expect at Castello di Vezio on Lake Como.
- Key information for visiting Miramare Castle in Trieste.
- Opening hours, ticket prices and tips for visiting Fort Bard in Valle d’Aosta.
- Practical guide to visiting Maniace Castle in Syracuse, Sicily.
- Sforza Castle in Milan: Ticket prices, opening hours and what to see.
Portuguese castles
- Plan your visit to Silves Castle on the Algarve, Portugal.
- All you need to need to know about visiting the Sagres Fortress on the Algarve.
- What to see when visiting Loulé Castle on the Algarve.
- Look over the river to Spain at Alcoutim Castle on the Algarve.
- Plan your trip to Tavira Castle on the Algarve.
- What to expect when visiting Castelo de Castro Marim on the Algarve.
- Practical guide to visiting the Castle of the Moors in Sintra.
Scottish castles
- How to get into Edinburgh Castle when the tickets have sold out.
- What to expect at Craigmillar Castle in Edinburgh.
- Which parts of Tantallon Castle can you explore in East Lothian?
- Guides to Scottish Highlands castles: Eilean Donan Castle, Dunrobin Castle, Inverness Castle and Urquhart Castle.
- What you need to know before visiting Strome Castle.
- Explore Scottish history at Fort George
- Making a visit to Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye.
- Planning a visit to Stirling Castle in Scotland.
- The key information for visiting Blair Castle in Perthshire.
Spanish castles
- 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 visiting Gibralfaro Castle in Malaga.
- What to expect when visiting Segovia’s Alcázar.
- How to visit the Castillo de Coca near Segovia.
- Practical visitor guide to Trujillo Castle in Extremadura.
- What to know before visiting Peniscola Castle near Valencia.
- Royal Alcazar of Seville guide: Plan your visit, with prices, hours and what’s worth seeing.
Welsh castles
- Key visitor information for Cardiff Castle.
- What to expect when visiting Pembroke Castle.
- Plan your visit to Chepstow Castle in Monmouthshire.
- Getting the most out of Caerphilly Castle – the second biggest castle in Britain.
- Key information for visiting Monmouth Castle in South Wales.
- What to expect at Raglan Castle in Monmouthshire.
- Practical guide to visiting Castell Coch in South Wales.
- Practical guide to visiting Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey.
- What’s worth seeing at Denbigh Castle, Harlech Castle, Caernarfon Castle and Conwy Castle in North Wales.
- Free entry castles in North Wales: Dolbadarn Castle and Flint Castle.
- Why it’s worth taking time to visit Rhuddlan Castle in North Wales.
- What to see at Criccieth Castle on the Lynn Peninsula.
Other European castles
- Visiting the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg: A guide for first-timers.
- Visiting the world’s oldest existing museum at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck.
- Plan your visit to Tratzberg Castle near Innsbruck.
- Why it’s worth visiting Het Steen in Antwerp.
- All the key information for visiting Bouillon Castle in the Belgian Ardennes.
- What to expect at the Gravensteen in Ghent.
- Paphos Castle visitor guide: Ticket prices, opening hours and what you’ll see inside.
- Limassol Castle visitor guide: Plan your visit, with ticket price, opening hours and useful tips.
- 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.
- See Denmark’s Crown Jewels at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen.
- How to make the most of visiting the Ancient Fortress of Aigosthena in Greece.
- Practical visitor guide to visiting Chlemoutsi Castle, Greece.
- Plan your visit to the Castle of Mytilene in Lesvos.
- What to know before visiting the Frankish Castle of Parikia and Venetian Castle of Naoussa on Paros.
- Key information for visiting Oia Castle on Santorini.
- Practical guide to visiting Castel del Monte near Bari.
- See the finest castle near Amsterdam – visiting Muiderslot in Muiden.
- Hoensbroek Castle visitor guide: How much it costs, when it’s open and what to see.
- The best way to visit Malbork Castle from Gdansk.
- Key information for anyone visiting Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow, Poland.
- Practical guide to visiting Skokloster Castle near Uppsala, Sweden.
- How to make the best of your visit to Chillon Castle on Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
- How to get the most from a visit to Chateau de Gruyeres in Switzerland.
