Well - I agree they stretched "castle". There is obviously a big difference between an early fortress/castle for military purposes and a pleasure palace built for a pampered aristocracy.

But I like seeing both - and have added some from the list to places want to go.

Irishface, the numbers after the country names are the numbers of castles you've seen in each country? Do you keep lists?

I thought I was organized! It's a good idea. I have on occasion found myself someplace I've been before and had forgotten. But I'd have had to foresee how extensive my travels would be which I didn't. I try to keep better track now but it's really too late.

Only 4 from the list:

Neuschwanstein
Versailles
Schonbrunn
Castel Sant'Angelo

MmePerdu, we also keep a list of the "castles" we have visited, but our list includes palaces and ruins, as well.

12 - numbers 7,11,12,14,15,16,18,20,21,22,23 and 25 from Fodor's list.

I do not know how they decided what to be included in this list, there are not only castles there and, on the other hand , there are so many castles which are not included.

"There is obviously a big difference between an early fortress/castle for military purposes and a pleasure palace built for a pampered aristocracy."

Not really.

It doesn't help that in French "chateau" is used for both and in English "palace" these days is used almost uniquely for royal and episcopal residences. What's called the Palace of Versailles in English is called the Chateau de Versailles in French, and, apart from Versailles, the English for "chateau" is always - "chateau". (The Marlboroughs' now pretentious-sounding word for their house is just one more case of the Churchills' perpetual tendency to get above themselves).

The problem's not unique to France. Schönbrunn is a Palace in English, but a Schloss in German. Neither Versailles nor Schönbrunn were ever fortified or built on the site of a former fortification, and no native English speaker today would dream of calling either a castle.

There are lots of posh houses called "Castle" or its equivalents that were rebuilt, unfortified, centuries after they last risked seeing an arrow fired in anger. And almost as many built on a site that was never used for military purposes (Castle Howard and Highclere Castle, for example).

English isn't a dialect of German, so how people use these words is entirely up to them, and usage changes. As far as I'm aware, no-one made a fuss when 17th century Howards and Caernarvons decided to call their gaffs a castle - or when the Churchills decided to call theirs a palace a few years later.

Incidentally. Why are the gated extravaganzas Goldman Sachs kleptocrats live in always "built <b>by</b> Pete Ripoffmerchant", while the near-identical places Lord Feckless squats in "built <b>for</b> a pampered aristocracy"? Does anyone really believe Paris Hilton is less pampered than Horace Walpole?

<I>Villandry is a great big <s>house</s> garden.</I>

Fixed that for ya, Dukey.

Only one so far: Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

My bucket list has several items added to it after viewing those pictures.

Eleven.

Personally, I get bored by the interiors of most palaces like Versailles and Schonbrunn in Vienna. Too much gold trimming and far too many mirrors for me.

Intersting comments, Flanner...

Who has been to Chatelherault? It's just a hunting lodge that most would call a castle. If it is just the hunting lodge, imagine what the palace (demolished) must have been like.

How about the Tower of Hallbar? I spent a week there once. Does a fortified tower (there were many of them) meet the definition of castle? It's also called Braidwood Castle by some.

What makes Fodor's choice anything special. It is in the end, probably only one person's list of what that ONE person considers worth listing.

How many have been to this castle? Perhaps the most well known in the world.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=disney...w=1280&bih=687

I've been to 8 from the list and at least 26 others (including chateaux and palaces. Hopefully, I can add more in the future.

Does White Castle count?

Does White Castle count?

Flanner -

I have no idea of what you are talking about half the time.

What does Paris Hilton have to do with anything?

And who is talking about mansions built 10 years ago.

And I would think the differences between the Tower of London (I think counts as a castles) and Versailles are obvious.

And who cares if the two types are called the same or different things in other languages?

none on that Fodor's list but i've been to at least a few with the term "castle" used loosely as in the Fodor's list
London, England- Tower of London
Lisbon, Portugal- Castelo de Sao Jorge
Sintra, Portugal- Castle of the Moors
Sintra, Portugal- Pena Palace
Ghent, Belgium- Gravensteen
Madrid, Spain- Royal Palace
Paris, France- Château de Vincennes

nytraveler; This was just a fun list put out by Fodor's, but some people can't relax and enjoy.

Only a couple on the Fodor's list, but plenty of others. I like my castles beat up and all the worse for wear, whether through warfare or just old age and neglect. Let my imagination get to work on a heap of old stones.
I avoid "Stately Homes" of any sort like the plague.

You'd love my favorite in the Dordogne, then, hetismij2:

http://www.chateaudelherm.com/

I remember one of the first castles we visited that was just west of Amsterdam with a few walls standing.

And then the fairy tale castle just 10 miles south of Amsterdam.

20 of the 26 castles, palaces and one abbey included in the 25 top castles.

How could Macduff's castle not be on any list of famous castles? It is no doubt the most famous castle in English literature.
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_144.html

Now, who besides me has been to the castle where Macduff's current descendants still reside? I should note that it is not open to the public. You can visit the gardens by appointment though. This is the castle where Mary Queen of Scots met Lord Darnley. A fateful meeting indeed.

I've been in this castle and even in the old dungeon. Shudder. Now come on, who can identity this castle?