I have been to a number of castles in Britain & a few on the continent & it is very hard to pick a favorite, especially when you through in Edinburgh Castle or the castle in Salzburg, but there is 1 castle that does stick out in my mind. I have to second Caerphilly castle in Wales. It is the second largest castle in Britain, after Windsor. It has the right mixture of ruins & finished areas, that you can stand on the ramparts & look out & wonder. As do many, it has much historical value. & when you walk up on it your breath can be taken away by the beauty of the surrounding water & the grandeur of the castle itself.

ThinGorjus, you of all people I thought would distinguish between a castle and a palace.

As long as you are sending people to Sintra, they really should visit a real castle, Castelo dos Mouros. Amazing.

http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_touri...ra/mouros.html

More than a castle, the walled city of Carcassonne must be seen. This will give you some idea:

http://www.carcassonne.org/carcassonne2.nsf/FE89EBD80A765A2FC1256CBE0059D6FD/$file/Cite%20-%20Pano%20Pont%20neuf1.jpg?OpenElement

There are many other photos at the website.

As an aside, when we visited a few years ago, the path from the parking area to the Castelo dos Mouros was an uneven dirt path with protruding boulders and overhanging trees. I bumped my head both going to and coming from the castle. The castle itself is in a state of disrepair and the stairs to one of the towers vary from 3 to 20 inches in height and at all sorts of angles. Bruised shins, knees and twisted ankles must be commonplace. Were this in the US, attorneys would be around every corner handing out business cards.

I don't know if it would be my all-time #1 favorite (Chenonceaux is hard to beat)...but I really liked Linlithgow Palace on our recent Scotland trip. It was almost an afterthought for us, but it made a tremendous impression on us. It's a ruin...but it's not <i>too</i> ruined, if you know what I mean. And no end to the nooks and crannies to explore!

If you want to actually stay in a castle, Spain's paradors probably offer the best choice.

If you go to www.parador.es, and choose 'castillo' as 'estilo', it will bring up not less than 12 genuine castles (not ersatz ones like Neuschwanstein). And staying in the ones that are in less well-known towns can be quite reasonable. The same goes for the 'estilo' of 'palacio' or palace.

Ira: You are right. Frederiksborg is fantastic.