Anyone have a FAVORITE CASTLE in Europe?
 

I have a thing for castles. Have seen some in France, Spain, Czechoslovakia...got married in one in Italy. Bliss! Does anyone have a castle they love?

Burg Hochosterwitz in Austria. The pictures on their site don't do it justice:

http://www.burg-hochosterwitz.or.at/burg_e.html

Seeing Britain is part of Europe, I would like to add my favourite castle. Its not a large grandeur castle like some. My favourite is "Hever Castle" south of London, and just outside the M25 Orbital Motorway, near Edenbridge.
The castle has beautiful ornate timber work inside, lovely gardens, and apparently Henry courted Anne at this castle, or visited to see Anne.

Chateau de Chillon outside Montreux and the one at Gruyere, Switzerland.

I would have to believe that everyone who has ever seen at least one castle has a favorite. I have just tried to recall all of those I have seen and/or actually visited inside, and the number of them astounds me. As best I can count, I have personally visited about 50 castles in almost every country of western and eastern Europe. Of those I have at least stopped and viewed from the outside, or have toured inside, I like the castle on the hilltop at the town of Cochem on the Mosel river. This is in spite of the many other more glamorous places such as Neuschwanstein or Chenonceaux. There's just something natural about the way the castle at Cochem sits on that hill and overlooks the entire countryside.

I can't imagine anyone ever making a case for any single castle being the best, or most beautiful, or most authentic, or most whatever, because there are simply too many. And add to that fact the confusion that many of us suffer when trying to decide if a structure is (or was) a castle versus a palace. Too hard. Anyway, Cochem is my favorite.

Some would consider it touristy, but I love Warwick Castle in the Cotswolds, England. It brought history to life for me, seeing how each part of the castle's life was recreated through still-life tableaus. We spent a fascinating day there, and the countryside is beautiful!

bettyo70: My favorite is Burg Eltz on the Mosel River in Germany. Beautiful castle, great location and occupied by the same family for over 800 years. Consequently, much of the furniture and artifacts are hundreds of years old.
There are so many wonderful ones. Some of my other favorites are:
Kalmar on the East Coast of Sweden; beautiful in a much different way and great location over the Baltic Sea.
Sarospatak in a small town of the same name North of Eger in Hungary.
Alden Biesen at Bilzen, Belgium; the most beautiful red brick castle you can imagine.
London Tower;so much history that impacted the world.
Malbork near Gdanz, Poland; immense and awesome.
I love Chateau de Beynac above the Dordogne River. It is so rustic authentic. It sits high on a hill overlooking the valley where there is another French Castle, Chateau de Cazenac, and an English Castle, Castelnaud. During the Hundred Years War, the French at Beynac would watch the English at Castelnaud and when they would leave their castle to attack Cazenac, the forces from Beynac would swoop down and attack Castelnaud before the troops could get back. The view of the valley from Beynac is marvellous.
There have been a number of threads dealing with this subject over the years. If you do a search on castles, you will come up with many more.

My favorite is Villandry in the Loire Valley. The castle is nice, but the gardens are a dream. I could stay there forever. Hmm . . . wonder if it's for sale!((@))

So far, Cahir Castle in Co. Tipperary.

If you want to stay in a castle then consider two in Ireland. President Bush stayed in Dromoland recently-see www.dromoland.ie. More ancient is Ashford Castle,owned by the same company-see www.ashford.ie. They are very expensive in summer but can be quite reasonable midweek in winter. Sometimes it is possible for non-residents to go for dinner there but mostly in the winter.

I'd go for the Castle of the Counts in my home town Ghent. It's a massive medieval castle, fortress like. It has a torture museum as well. The best thing of all is that it's right in the middle of the historical center.

More info and pictures can be found here:

http://www.gent.be/gent/historis/mon...en/fr_hist.htm

Another vote for Burg Eltz!
However, I just returned from NW Portugal and Galicia, Spain.
The Pousadas (Sta Marinha, Sta Luzia, St Bento) and the Parador in Baiano are amazing overnights.
M

Thanks for sharing all your favorite castles. Sounds like I have quite a bit of castle-hopping left to do!

I like the Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark.

See http://wictor.dk/wictor/frederiksborg/frbslotGB.html

Blenheim Palace for me.

Second would be Burg Katz, though never been near it.

After today's stage of the Tour de France, I'd pick that incredibly tall castle along the way. Now I just have to find out what it was.

Caerphilly Castle in So. Wales and the lovely swans on the lake there.

Agree that Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, is spectacular, especially the furniture and paintings.

Pena Palace at Sintra, Portugal is the most unusual castle I have ever seen, with its conglomeration of different architectural styles. There is a room here that is covered in Meissen tiles, with Meissen fireplace and furniture.

The WORST castle I have ever been to is Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. HORRIBLE ersatz castle with big, empty rooms. After a tour of the castle, I wanted my money back.

Have to agree with ThinGorjus on Neuschwanstein.

Chateau Chillon wins, Weesenstein south of Dresden is one of my (many) favourites. Not easy to pick one among the (officially) 1000 castles in Saxony ...

Burg Eltz. You can read my mini-trip report on it here: http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....Text=burg+eltz