Fairytale medieval walled city, UNESCO-listed.
A fortified hill inhabited for 5,000 years, its medieval stone ramp and gate towering over the old city.
Baroque town of castles and bull's-blood wine.
Medieval capital on the Yantra gorge.
Neo-Renaissance royal retreat in the Carpathian foothills at Sinaia.
Ottoman-era citadel quarter stacked above the bay of Algiers.
The "Camelot of Africa" โ a walled compound of 17th-century stone castles built by Ethiopian emperors.
Soviet memorial complex where the 1941 garrison held out for weeks โ colossal concrete sculptures and the eternal flame.
One of Europeโs largest castle ruins, sprawled across a travertine hill.
Sea fortress islands off Helsinki, UNESCO-listed.
16th-century castle, UNESCO-listed.
Belarusโs best-preserved historic centre, with two castles above the Neman.
Manilaโs walled Spanish city: Fort Santiago, the San Agustin Church and horse-drawn kalesa rides along the ramparts.
Island castle at the meeting of three sea lochs โ Scotlandโs most photographed.
Fortress on Castle Rock holding the Scottish crown jewels and the one oโclock gun.
Fairy-tale romantic castle above a town of thermal springs.
Renaissance Radziwill palace and park.
Fairy-tale town wrapped in a bend of the Vltava, with a painted castle tower and a baroque theatre that still works.
Storybook fortress on a rock island ringed by a river canyon.
Hilltop palaces and romantic gardens.
Walled medieval town of whitewashed lanes and bougainvillea, where ginjinha cherry liqueur is served in chocolate cups.
Danube stretch of terraced vineyards, apricot orchards and the ruined castle where Richard the Lionheart was held.
Lakes, oak woods and Muckross House below Irelandโs highest mountains, explored by jaunting car or bicycle.
Medieval cathedral, round tower and Cormacโs Chapel crowning a limestone outcrop where St Patrick baptised a king.
Lean backwards over a drop from the castle battlements to kiss the stone that grants the gift of the gab.
The oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, the Kingโs weekend home, with St Georgeโs Chapel and the State Apartments.
Renaissance sea fortress at Helsingor โ the Elsinore of Shakespeareโs Hamlet.
Historic fortress and the Crown Jewels.
Red-sandstone castle ruin above the old town of Heidelberg and the Neckar valley.
Moorish palace-fortress of Granada.
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