Fodor's Expert Review Peveril Castle

In 1176, Henry II added the square tower to this Norman castle, whose ruins occupy a dramatic crag above the town. The castle has superb views—from here you can still clearly see a curving section of the medieval defensive earthworks in the town center below. Peveril Castle is protected on its west side by a 230-foot-deep gorge formed by a collapsed cave; unsurprisingly, it was considered to be the best-defended castle in England in its day, and was never captured or besieged. However, its relative lack of strategic importance meant that the castle wasn't well maintained, and, in 1609, it was finally abandoned altogether. Park in the town center, from which it's a steep climb up.