OK...How About Your Top Five Castles!
 

Love those castles, here are my favorites, how about yours: <BR> <BR>1. Edinburgh Castle...What a castle should be. You get the Tattoo in August and Robert the Bruce and William Wallace guarding the entry! <BR> <BR>2. Burg Eltz (in the Mosel River Valley)...If it wasn't for Edinburgh, this would be the all time winner! <BR> <BR>3.Warwick Castle...Great example of medieval history. Would not have wanted to have been a prisoner! <BR> <BR>3. Neuschwanstein (SP)..OK, no history, but the view at night looking back at the castle is awesome. <BR> <BR>4. Lichtenstein Castle...No big deal, but it just sits there by itself, a lonely sentinel keeping watch over a very small place. <BR> <BR>5. Leeds Castle...Wow, just beautiful! <BR> <BR>

Castles, palaces, chateaux - - these are such bewildering distinctions... <BR> <BR>Even so, I concur with Burg Eltz at the top (perhaps because I have never been to Edinburgh)... <BR> <BR>and alphabetic order, I would give runner-up status to: <BR> <BR>Alhambra, Granada (Spain) <BR> <BR>Biltmore House (Asheville, NC) <BR> <BR>Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg (Alsace, near St. Hippolyte, France) <BR> <BR>Chateau Gaillard (at Les Andelys, France) <BR> <BR>Hammond Castle (North shore, Massachusetts) <BR> <BR>Hearst Castle (San Simeon, California) <BR> <BR>Parkhotel Wasserburg-Anholt (Germany, for a hotel/place to stay) <BR> <BR>Schloss Linderhof (another Mad Ludwig special! also in Bavaria) <BR> <BR>Windsor Castle (UK) <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Great castles: <BR> <BR>Glamis in Scotland....very homey and well decorated. Still used on a daily basis. <BR> <BR>Neuschwanstein....has to be on anyone's list. Too bad it was never completed. Best view out a men's room window of any castle. <BR> <BR>Blenheim....historic, birthplace of Winston Churchill. <BR> <BR>Edinburgh...you cannot beat the location. <BR> <BR>Heidelberg....blown to bits in the 1600s, but the way it dominates the skyline is a sight to see. Plus the Rhine in Flames display each summer is great. <BR> <BR>Warwick....what a castle ought to look like.

Yes - Burg Eltz is tops. <BR> <BR>Warwick Castle is great too, if a bit overwhelmed by visitors. <BR> <BR>Others: <BR> <BR>Marksburg in Braubach, Germany (only undestroyed knights' castle in the Rhine Gorge) <BR> <BR>Reichsburg in Cochem, Germany (spectacular setting that rivals Neuschwanstein, but has a 1000-year history) <BR> <BR>Schloss Bückeburg, Bückeburg, Germany (nr. Hanover - lovely "Schlosskapelle" and "Festsaal", but I liked it mostly because I was so surprised by stumbling upon such a marvelous yet unheralded place) <BR>

Edinburgh castle- has got to be top of the list <BR> <BR>Stokesay Castle- very small but with the best audio tour ever <BR> <BR>Blenheim- wonderful park in additon to the building itself <BR> <BR>Chatsworth House-- now I could live there! <BR> <BR>Azay le Rideau- fairy tale in real life <BR> <BR>Windsor - whoops sorry this is #6 , but it is so well organized for touring that you can understand what you are seeing. The restoration after the fire has been amazing

Are there any castles, villas or other extraordinary residences in ITALY? <BR> <BR>I love Hearst Castle (in California) and enjoyed a couple castles I visited in Denmark . . .first time to Italy end of September and thought this would be a good place to ask. <BR>Thanks!

In England, Chatsworth, Warwick, Ragley Hall, Castle Howard and Broadlands. In Scotland, my all time favorite, <BR>Cawdor Castle, a real family home and reasonable size.

Well since folks seem to be mixing castles and palaces in the same list here is mine: (I'm cheating using ties like in golf to get more places in the top five) <BR> <BR>Dunnottar - the most unbeliebvable location jutting into the north sea <BR> <BR>Warwick - just for the fun of it <BR> <BR>Huntly/Chepstow/Linlithgow/Tintagel (tied) <BR> <BR>Stirling <BR> <BR>Castle Howard/Blenheim/Chatsworth (tied)