Hilltop fortresses of Europe
54 European hilltop fortresses — each mapped, dated and ready to explore.
Castle of the Moors
Snaking Moorish ramparts that ride the crags above Sintra
Château de Chinon
France's long ridge fortress on the Loire, linked to Joan of Arc and the Plantagenets
Linhares Castle
Granite eyrie on the flank of the Serra da Estrela
Rocca Calascio
Italy's highest fortress, a mountaintop ruin in the Apennines of Abruzzo
Trancoso Castle
Walled frontier town where King Dinis married Isabel of Aragon
Guimarães Castle
The 'cradle of Portugal', birthplace of the kingdom's first king
Alcácer do Sal Castle
Ancient salt-town citadel above the river Sado
Château de Foix
Three-towered castle of the counts of Foix on a rock in the Pyrenees
Château de Saumur
Gleaming white hilltop château above the Loire, painted in a medieval masterpiece
Château des Baux-de-Provence
Ruined clifftop castle carved into the white rock of the Alpilles
Montemor-o-Velho Castle
Long-walled hilltop fortress above the rice fields of the Mondego
Nuremberg Castle
Great imperial castle where the Holy Roman Emperors held court
Reichsburg Cochem
A towered hill castle above the Moselle, rebuilt as a romantic dream
Silves Castle
Great red-walled Moorish castle, capital of the Algarve
São Jorge Castle
Moorish hilltop citadel crowning Lisbon, long a royal palace
Loarre Castle
Spain's great Romanesque fortress, among the oldest castles in Europe
Château de Peyrepertuse
A 'citadel of vertigo' riding a knife-edge ridge in the Corbières
Wartburg
Hilltop castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German
Château de Castelnaud
France's Dordogne hilltop fortress, a rival stronghold in the Hundred Years' War
Edinburgh Castle
Scotland's clifftop royal fortress, grown on a volcanic crag since the 1100s
Lamego Castle
Medieval keep and cistern above the wine country of the Douro
Marburg Castle
Hilltop seat of the landgraves of Hesse, scene of a famous religious debate
Marksburg Castle
The only Rhine hilltop castle never destroyed, rising in stacked terraces
Mértola Castle
River-port castle above a town layered with Islamic history
Sortelha Castle
Storybook stone village ringed by walls among giant boulders
Spiš Castle
One of Europe's largest castle complexes, sprawling over a Slovak ridge
Trifels Castle
Imperial fortress that guarded the crown jewels and held Richard the Lionheart
Château de Beynac
Sheer-cliff Dordogne fortress, the French rival of Castelnaud across the river
Leiria Castle
Hilltop royal castle with an elegant loggia overlooking the town
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg
Pink-sandstone mountain castle reborn above the Alsace plain
Palmela Castle
Hill castle of the Knights of Santiago, over vineyards and the sea
Rock of Dunamase
Ruined fortress crowning a dramatic rock on the plains of Laois
Pombal Castle
Templar hilltop castle founded by Gualdim Pais
Castle of Chaves
Frontier keep guarding a Roman river crossing in the far north
Castle of Tomar
Headquarters of the Knights Templar in Portugal, with its round Charola church
Monsaraz Castle
Walled hill village with sweeping views over the Alqueva lake
Ourém Castle
Three-towered medieval castle crowning a walled hill town
Castle of Castelo de Vide
Hilltop keep above a whitewashed town and its old Jewish quarter
Bragança Castle
Walled citadel of the dukes who became Portugal's last royal house
Château Gaillard
Richard the Lionheart's mighty cliff castle above the Seine
Marvão Castle
Eagle's-nest border castle on a sheer crag over the Alentejo
Rheinfels Castle
The mightiest ruined fortress on the Rhine, above St. Goar
Frankenstein Castle
Hilltop ruin near Darmstadt wrapped in legend and a famous name
Beja Castle
Towering Gothic keep over the wheat plains of the Alentejo
Burghausen Castle
The longest castle complex in the world, stretching over a kilometre along a ridge
Estremoz Castle
Marble-white royal castle where Queen Isabel died
Dunnottar Castle
Dramatic clifftop fortress that hid the Honours of Scotland from Cromwell
Fort la Latte
Dramatic clifftop castle on the wild Atlantic coast of Brittany
Karlštejn
Bohemia's Gothic crown-jewel castle, founded by Emperor Charles IV in 1348
Tantallon Castle
Mighty red curtain-wall fortress on a cliff facing the Bass Rock
Stirling Castle
Great hilltop royal fortress of the Stewart kings, above the River Forth
Château d'Amboise
Clifftop royal château where Leonardo da Vinci is buried
Dunluce Castle
Dramatic clifftop ruin on the Antrim coast, seen in Game of Thrones
Hohenzollern Castle
Dramatic hilltop seat of the Hohenzollerns, who became kings of Prussia and German emperors