The Great Castles of Germany

Did you ever wonder where Disney's magical castle - you know the one that's so intertwined with the Disney kingdom - came from? Why, the German castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein, in Bavaria, Germany! Germany has castles the way Venice has canals, or Tibet has stupas, or Thailand has wats, or the Netherlands has windmills.

Germany is of course Europe's wealthiest country, with a great deal to offer the visitor, but a tour of at least one or two of its "great" castles should be on everyone's itinerary. After all, how else would you see the Burg Eltz with its 20 flushable toilets that date back to the 15th century? Or the Wartburg where Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German? Or the 750-year-old Festung Konigstein? Or Germany's most famous ruin, Schloss Heidelberg? Castle tours usually range from 5 euros to around 8 euros per person. There's some good information on the Great Castles of Germany to be found here.