Revolver in love with castles?
Germany‘s southern Bavaria region may be your ideal holiday destination – because as these eye-catching pictures show, it is decorated with fairytale fortresses, hill forts and opulent palaces.
This guide to dreamy castles includes a ‘hulking fortress’, a ‘monument to monarchy’ and the world’s longest castle.
There is also a Versailles look, a castle so perfectly preserved ‘it looks like a film set’ and ‘one of the most important baroque palaces in Europe’.
They are bound to leave you moat-ivated to discuss an adventure.
Scroll down and head to the comments to declare your favorite…
Hohenshwangau Castle was the childhood home of King Ludwig II. As an adult, the monarch spent summers at the 19th-century ‘sun yellow’ castle. Nowadays, the building can be visited on a guided tour. Lonely Planet comments: ‘Hohenschwangau has a clear lived-in feel where every piece of furniture is a used original’
Perhaps Bavaria’s most famous castle and the rumored inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty citadel, Neuschwanstein Castle is visited by 1.4 million tourists a year. King Ludwig II built the castle in the late 1800s to withdraw from public life, according to the castle’s websiteadding that its ‘setting could not be more idyllic’
Harburg Castle is one of Germany’s best preserved historic castles. Lonely Planet comments: ‘The medieval covered parapet, turrets, turrets, keep and red-tiled roofs of the 12th-century (castle) looming over the Wornitz River are so perfectly preserved that they almost look like a film set’
With a length of 1,051 m (3,448 ft), Burghausen Castle, founded before 1025, holds the title of the ‘world’s longest castle’. Visit Burghausen says: ‘The mighty castle complex towers over the listed old town (of Burghausen).’ The tourist board meanwhile describes it as ‘a unique ensemble of challenging fortress walls and fantastic views’
Schloss Nymphenburg, in Munich, dates back to the 17th century, when it served as a royal summer residence. Lonely Planet describes it as a ‘commanding palace’ with ‘a grand villa and two wings of creaking parquet floors and opulent period rooms’, plus ‘luxurious gardens’
Plassenburg Castle was first mentioned in 1135, according to Discover Bavaria. The tourism board adds: ‘It towers majestically above the village (of Kulmbach) and its 26,000 inhabitants and is depicted on numerous postcards in souvenir shops’
The Marienberg Fortress was built in the 1200s and inhabited by princes until the early 1700s. Lonely Planet reveals: ‘The structure was only entered once, by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years’ War in 1631. Enjoy panoramic views of the city and vineyard from this great fortress’
Located northeast of Bamberg and dating back to the 17th century, Seehof Castle was used as a hunting lodge and summer residence by royalty. Bamberg Tourism explains that the castle has been ‘restored to its former glory’, impressing visitors with ‘magnificent interior furnishings’ and a ‘beautiful park’
Hochstadt Castle is a Renaissance-style citadel consisting of a ‘mighty four-wing complex built between 1589 and 1602 under Count Palatine Philipp Ludwig’, explains Museums in Bavaria
The beautiful Mespelbrunn Castle lies hidden in a secluded valley and has been preserved to this day in its Renaissance form from 1569, note Museums in Bavaria. Fans of German films may recognize this from the 1958 musical comedy film The Spessart Inn
Lonely Planet describes the 17th-century Schloss Johannisburg as ‘a pinnacle of German palace architecture of the late Renaissance era’. The magnificent building is located in the center of the city of Aschaffenburg by the river Main
Herrenchiemsee Palace sits on an island in Lake Chiemsee and is ‘modeled after Versailles’, reveals the castle’s websitewhich explains: ‘Beginning in 1878, it was intended simply as a monument to absolute monarchy and had no practical function. The architect, Georg Dollmann, was obliged to reconstruct rooms that had long ceased to exist in Versailles.
Versailles-inspired Schloss Linderhof was Ludwig II’s smallest palace and was used by the monarch as a private retreat. Lonely Planet reveals: ‘Completed in 1878, the palace wraps around a steep hill in a fantasy landscape of French gardens, fountains and folly’
A Unesco World Heritage Site, the 18th-century Wurzburg Residenz is ‘one of the most important Baroque palaces in Europe’, explains the castle’s websitewho adds: ‘There are a total of over 40 palace rooms to visit, with a rich array of furniture, tapestries, paintings and other 18th-century treasures’
