The 10 castles and palaces we would cross a country for, from the Nasrid courts of the Alhambra to the white keep of Himeji, and the city guide that gets you there.
We ranked these ten on the building and its setting first, then on how much of it a visitor can actually go inside. That second test is why the original wooden keeps of Japan make the list and its concrete rebuilds do not.
The Nasrid palaces of Yusuf I and Muhammad V, raised in the 14th century on a ridge above Granada, hold the finest Islamic interiors in Europe. Entry to them runs on a timed slot printed on the ticket, so book on the official site and arrive on time.
The best-preserved original castle in Japan, completed in its present form in 1609 and on the UNESCO list since 1993. You climb the six wooden floors of the keep in socks, up stairs that steepen as they go; come at opening, before the queue builds.
Guinness lists it as the largest ancient castle in the world, a 9th-century complex of 7.28 hectares on the hill above the Vltava. The courtyards are free; a circuit ticket opens St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane.
Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into this Romantic palace between 1842 and 1854 and set it on a peak of the Sintra hills. The state rooms are still furnished from its royal years; take the first slot of the day, before the coaches arrive.
Ludwig II's mountain fantasy above Hohenschwangau, opened to the public on 1 August 1886, weeks after his death, and on the UNESCO list since 2025. It is seen only on a guided tour with a timed ticket; walk on to the Marienbrücke for the view.
The Habsburg summer palace: 1,441 rooms and formal gardens climbing to the Gloriette, on the UNESCO list since 1996. The Grand Tour opens 40 of those rooms, Maria Theresa's interiors included; walk the free gardens after the tour.
The largest palace complex in Rajasthan, begun by Maharana Udai Singh II in the 16th century and added to for some 400 years on the east bank of Lake Pichola. Much of it is now the City Palace Museum; go in the morning, before the midday heat.
Raja Man Singh began this sandstone and marble palace-fort in 1592 on the ridge above Maota Lake, and it joined the UNESCO Hill Forts of Rajasthan in 2013. Its Sheesh Mahal is lined with mirror work; climb up from the lake early.
The second largest castle complex in Czechia, some 40 buildings around five courtyards on a rock above the Vltava, on the UNESCO list since 1992. Its Baroque theatre, the best preserved in Europe by the castle's own account, opens on guided tours from April to October.
The oldest surviving five-tiered, six-storey keep in Japan, built in the 1590s on flat ground and a National Treasure since 1936. Visitors climb all six floors inside, shoes off; the black walls read best from across the moat.
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