The tripto catalogue lists 68 castles – fairy-tale palaces, knights' castles, imperial castles and romantic ruins. Most can be visited on a guided tour.
Neuschwanstein Castle above the Pöllat gorge near Füssen, Ludwig II's fairy-tale castle, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and can only be seen on a guided tour. Eltz Castle in the Elz valley has been owned by the same family for more than 800 years. Heidelberg Castle, a red sandstone ruin, towers over the old town and houses the Great Barrel and the Pharmacy Museum. The neo-Gothic Hohenzollern Castle stands at 855 metres above the Swabian Jura and keeps the Prussian royal crown. Luther hid at the Wartburg above Eisenach (UNESCO), and the Marksburg above Braubach is the only medieval hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed.
Most castles in the catalogue are in Rhineland-Palatinate (over a dozen, mainly on the Middle Rhine and the Moselle), Bavaria (about 10), and North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg (8 each).
In practice: allow one to three hours per castle. Tickets usually cost €10–14, €21 for Neuschwanstein and €26 online for Hohenzollern; in Bavarian state castles such as Neuschwanstein and Nuremberg Castle, under-18s go free. Courtyards and grounds, for example at the Wartburg, are often free. Book a time slot online for Neuschwanstein and Hohenzollern; Eltz Castle sells tickets only on site.
Castles
Schwangau
Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Bavaria, is the fairy-tale palace that King Ludwig II built above a gorge at the foot of the Alps, and it is one of the most visited sights in Germany. Begun in 1869 and never finished, it inspired Disne…
Castles
Wierschem
Eltz Castle (Burg Eltz) near Wierschem in Rhineland-Palatinate is the storybook medieval castle many travelers picture when they think of Germany: a cluster of towers and half-timbered upper stories rising from a rock in a deep, wooded sid…
Castles
Heidelberg
Heidelberg Castle is Germany's most famous castle ruin, a red sandstone palace perched on a wooded hillside above the old town of Heidelberg and the Neckar River. For almost three centuries it was the residence of the Electors Palatine; th…
Castles
Bisingen
Hohenzollern Castle, near Hechingen in southwestern Germany, is the ancestral seat of the dynasty that produced the kings of Prussia and the last German emperors. Perched on a 2,805-foot (855 m) mountain at the edge of the Swabian Jura, it…
Castles
Eisenach
Wartburg Castle above the town of Eisenach in Thuringia is one of the most historic castles in Germany and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Martin Luther hid here and translated the New Testament into German, Saint Elizabeth of Hun…
Castles
Braubach
Marksburg Castle above the town of Braubach is the only medieval hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed, which makes it a must-see on any trip through the Rhine Gorge. Perched high above the river in the UNESCO-listed…
Castles
Schwangau
Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Bavaria, is the fairy-tale palace that King Ludwig II built above a gorge at the foot of the Alps, and it is one of the most visited sights in Germany. Begun in 1869 and never finished, it inspired Disne…
Castles
Heidelberg
Heidelberg Castle is Germany's most famous castle ruin, a red sandstone palace perched on a wooded hillside above the old town of Heidelberg and the Neckar River. For almost three centuries it was the residence of the Electors Palatine; th…
Castles
Bisingen
Hohenzollern Castle, near Hechingen in southwestern Germany, is the ancestral seat of the dynasty that produced the kings of Prussia and the last German emperors. Perched on a 2,805-foot (855 m) mountain at the edge of the Swabian Jura, it…
Castles
Wierschem
Eltz Castle (Burg Eltz) near Wierschem in Rhineland-Palatinate is the storybook medieval castle many travelers picture when they think of Germany: a cluster of towers and half-timbered upper stories rising from a rock in a deep, wooded sid…
Castles
Eisenach
Wartburg Castle above the town of Eisenach in Thuringia is one of the most historic castles in Germany and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Martin Luther hid here and translated the New Testament into German, Saint Elizabeth of Hun…
Castles
Nürnberg
Nuremberg Castle (Kaiserburg Nürnberg) crowns a sandstone ridge above the old town of Nuremberg in Bavaria and is the city's defining landmark. From the early 12th century until 1571, every emperor and king of the Holy Roman Empire stayed…
Castles
Cochem
Reichsburg Cochem (Cochem Imperial Castle) is the fairy-tale castle that crowns the hill above Cochem, one of the prettiest wine towns on Germany's Moselle River. With its slender octagonal keep, pointed turrets and battlements rising abov…
Castles
Meersburg
Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance is often called the oldest inhabited castle in Germany. Its stocky Dagobert Tower rises above the old town of Meersburg, and inside, more than 35 furnished rooms trace castle life from the dungeon to the…
Castles
Braubach
Marksburg Castle above the town of Braubach is the only medieval hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed, which makes it a must-see on any trip through the Rhine Gorge. Perched high above the river in the UNESCO-listed…
Castles
Meißen
Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen is often called the first true palace built in Germany, and it is where Europe's first porcelain factory began. Set on a rocky hill above the Elbe River next to Meissen Cathedral, the late Gothic residence m…
Castles
Bamberg
It appears on every old view of Bamberg: the round tower of the Altenburg, rising out of the woods west of the city. At about 400 metres above sea level, the castle is Bamberg's highest landmark. At the top you will find curtain walls, a g…
Castles
Baden-Baden
Hohenbaden Castle, known locally as the Old Castle (Altes Schloss), towers above the spa town of Baden-Baden in Germany's Black Forest. It was the ancestral seat of the Margraves of Baden, the family that gave its name to the whole region.…
Castles
Altena
Altena Castle (Burg Altena) towers on a rocky spur above the Lenne River in Germany's Sauerland region. It is famous as the birthplace of the world's first permanent youth hostel, opened here in 1914, and today combines free museums, prese…
Castles
Erlenbach bei Dahn
From a distance, Berwartstein looks like a storybook castle: turrets, a keep and red roofs above the forest near Erlenbach. The more exciting part, though, is inside the rock below. Stairs, passages and chambers are cut straight into the r…
Castles
Lennestadt
Bilstein Castle (Burg Bilstein) in Lennestadt is a striking medieval hilltop castle perched on a steep rock spur above the Veischede valley in the Sauerland, the wooded upland region of southern Westphalia. It has been a youth hostel since…
Castles
Falkenstein/Harz
Falkenstein Castle in the Harz Mountains is one of the most atmospheric medieval castles in Saxony-Anhalt. It stands on a rocky ridge high above the Selke Valley, surrounded by forest and a nature reserve. According to tradition, Eike von…
Castles
Falkenstein
Falkenstein Castle (Burg Falkenstein) crowns a granite cone about 60 m (200 ft) above the small spa town of Falkenstein in the Upper Palatinate, on the edge of the Bavarian Forest. Surrounded by a wooded park full of huge granite boulders,…
Castles
Haßmersheim
Guttenberg Castle (Burg Guttenberg) rises above the Neckar valley near Haßmersheim, between Heidelberg and Heilbronn. It is one of the few castles in Germany that was never destroyed and has been lived in for almost 800 years. The main att…
Castles
Harburg (Schwaben)
Harburg Castle sits on a steep rocky spur above the Wörnitz river at the south-eastern entrance to the Nördlinger Ries. It is considered one of the largest, oldest and best-preserved castles in southern Germany, covering more ground even t…
Castles
Heimbach
Burg Hengebach (Hengebach Castle) in Heimbach is a reddish-brown stone hilltop castle above the Rur valley in the northern Eifel region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its keep offers a wide view over the small town of Heimbach and the hills of…
Castles
Neuffen
Hohenneuffen Castle (Burg Hohenneuffen) is a large fortress ruin high above the town of Neuffen on the Swabian Jura escarpment in Baden-Württemberg. From its white-limestone rock in the Esslingen district you get wide views over the Alb fo…
Castles
Havixbeck
Red brick walls, tall stepped gables and a moat that reflects it all: Hülshoff Castle is about as typical a Münsterland moated castle as you can find. Above all, though, it is known as the birthplace of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff…
Castles
Sankt Goarshausen
Katz Castle (Burg Katz) in Sankt Goarshausen is one of the landmark castles of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it sits on a rocky spur right above the river. Built in the 14th century as a rival to nearby M…
Castles
Kriebstein
Kriebstein Castle in Saxony is one of the best-preserved late Gothic knight's castles in Germany. It sits on a rock spur high above the Zschopau river, with a keep about 45 meters tall, and houses a museum with rooms, murals and furnishing…
Adults pay €21, reduced €20, and under-18s go free. Online tickets with a time slot carry an extra €2.50 booking fee. Visits are by guided tour only.
In Rhineland-Palatinate – over a dozen in the catalogue, mainly in the Middle Rhine Valley and on the Moselle. Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg follow.
Almost all castles in the catalogue are family-friendly, especially Eltz Castle with its treasury, Cochem Imperial Castle, Meersburg Castle with its dungeon and the Marksburg with its armoury.
Updated: · Opening hours and prices can change — check the attraction page before you go.