Castles in Austria
 

We are going to Austria for the first time and want to know which are the most impressive and fun castles to visit. <BR><BR>thanks!<BR>Happy Traveling

Here's a picture of my favorite, Hochosterwitz:<BR>http://www.castles.org/castles/Europ...a/austria7.htm <BR>You can see it from miles away, and it looks very dreamlike.

I found a Web site with some information. Hochosterwitz is off the beaten path, but this whole area is worth a visit.<BR><BR>http://www.info.klagenfurt.at/e_region/region.htm

If you like castles, and you're ging to Austria, it seems inevitable that you will want to visit Hohensalzburg Forschung (actually a castle? a fortress? what's the distinction?) - - which towers over Salzburg.<BR><BR>But I won't be surprised to learn that others have other favorites that surpass it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Not to quibble with words, but when some folks use the word "castle" they really mean "palace" as well. When you consider what the real castles are, that is, the ones which were erected to protect and defend their occupants, Hochosterwitz leads the list. It's the classic unconquerable castle on top of an inverted conelike rock that was impregnable in its day. Not a lot farther north, though, is another such place: Hochwerfen at Werfen. My other favorite, more for its incredible location rather than its history, is Schloss Orth on the Traunsee. There are so many others, and so many incomplete ruins, that it's hard to pick only a few. And since Austria extends over a pretty large area, it's hard to say which part of the country you might be most interested in, or most likely to travel through. However, if you do go to Hochosterwitz and want to stay overnight near there, look up the Hotel Moorquell on the net, a pristine little family hotel in the rolling Austrian hills east of St. Veit, not far from the castle, and one of the most relaxing country inns I've ever stayed in.

thank you all for your information.<BR><BR>Mashel

ttt