- The château that made Louis XIV so jealous he imprisoned its owner — then built Versailles
The château that made Louis XIV so jealous he imprisoned its owner — and hired all his architects to build Versailles. The story of Vaux-le-Vicomte, France’s most extraordinary forgotten masterpiece — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Scotland’s pink castle has stood for 400 years — and it looks like it came from a fairy tale
Craigievar Castle in Aberdeenshire is one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets — a raspberry-pink tower house built in 1626 that has stood almost unchanged for 400 years. — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Scotland’s pink castle has stood for 400 years — and it looks like it came from a fairy tale
Craigievar Castle in Aberdeenshire is one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets — a raspberry-pink tower house built in 1626 that has stood almost unchanged for 400 years. — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- The Romanian castle that’s more spectacular than Neuschwanstein — but ten times less crowded
Step inside Peleş Castle, Romania’s magnificent Neo-Renaissance royal retreat hidden in the Carpathians — one of Europe’s most beautiful castles and still one of its best-kept secrets. Plus get weekly travel stories free.
- What it’s actually like to sleep inside an 800-year-old Irish castle
Ashford Castle in County Mayo has been standing since 1228 — now it’s one of the world’s most celebrated luxury hotels. Here’s what to expect when you stay — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- The German castle that was built because of a novel — and looks almost too perfect to be real
Schloss Lichtenstein clings to a cliff in Germany’s Swabian Jura — built in 1842, inspired by a romantic novel, and still privately owned by the same ducal family today. Plus get weekly travel stories free.
- England hides its most spectacular castle on a windswept cliff above the North Sea
Bamburgh Castle rises from a volcanic cliff above the Northumberland coast — 1,400 years old, with Arthurian legend included. England’s most spectacular fortress that almost nobody talks about. — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- The Game of Thrones castle that’s also been a real royal home for 1,000 years
A royal palace for over a thousand years, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and filming location for Game of Thrones Dorne – the Alcazar of Seville is one of Europe’s most extraordinary castles, and the Spanish royal family still uses it today – plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Medieval architects called it perfect — but Beaumaris Castle was never actually finished
Beaumaris Castle is widely regarded as the most technically perfect medieval fortress ever built — and it was never completed. Here’s the story — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Nobody talks about the world’s largest castle — it’s in Poland
Malbork Castle in Poland is the largest castle ever built — 21 hectares, three fortresses in one, and a history stranger than any legend. Plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Castles you can actually sleep in: the world’s most magical castle hotels
From Ashford Castle on Lough Corrib to a cliff-top château in the Dordogne, these are the world’s most magical castle hotels you can actually stay in — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Inside Topkapi Palace: where 400 years of Ottoman power lived, ruled, and fell
Step inside Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman Empire’s extraordinary imperial seat in Istanbul — four courtyards, a hidden harem, a jaw-dropping treasury, and a view of two continents. Plus get weekly travel stories free.
- 850 years old, never conquered, still in the family: meet Burg Eltz, Germany’s secret castle
Burg Eltz has stood for 850 years, never been conquered, and still belongs to the same family. Here’s why this hidden German castle is one of Europe’s most extraordinary — and how to visit.
- King Arthur’s Britain: the real castles behind the legend of Camelot
Was Camelot real? From Tintagel’s clifftop ruins to South Cadbury’s mysterious hillfort, these are the castles historians say might hold the answer – plus get weekly travel stories free.
- How medieval castles were actually captured — the siege tactics no one talks about
Most castles never fell to battering rams or trebuchets. The real story of how medieval fortresses were captured is grimmer, stranger, and far more fascinating — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Italy’s most spectacular castles: five fortresses that will rewrite your travel list
Italy has more than 40,000 castles — from a Roman emperor’s mausoleum on the Tiber to an eight-sided medieval mystery no historian can explain. Here are five that deserve a place on every travel list — plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Castle secrets: the hidden rooms and tunnels most tourists never find
From priest holes to oubliettes and spy galleries — discover the extraordinary hidden chambers concealed inside medieval castle walls, and the extraordinary stories they hold. Plus get weekly travel stories free.
- Where sea meets stone: the world’s most dramatic clifftop and island castles
From Dunnottar’s clifftop sea stack to Mont Saint-Michel’s tidal island, these are the world’s most dramatically placed castles — plus get weekly travel stories free.