Blame childhood fairy tales or the Disney effect, but castles cast a spell over even the most level-headed of us. We’re enchanted by the very idea of crenellated ramparts and soaring towers, troubadors, jesters and knights. Not the reality of palace life, mind you — we read “Spare,” we definitely don’t want to be royal — but a peek might be nice. And there are castles round the world happy to oblige.
Tripadvisor recently featured 10 spectacular, open-to-the-public castles in Europe, Japan and even in California as the best places to conjure fairy tale dreams. The list is topped by Neuschwanstein, the fantastical Bavarian palace that inspired Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was one of three palaces commissioned by “Mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, England’s Windsor Castle comes in at No. 3, and most of the others date to the 15th or 16th centuries.
But the most recent castle on the list wasn’t completed until 2007. That’s winemaker Dario Sattui’s spectacular Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, Calif. — a 150,000-square foot, Tuscan-inspired castle and winery built from handmade bricks and roof tiles shipped from Italy and ironwork forged by artisans on site. Like many of the other castles on the list, it has secret passages, a drawbridge and moat, a chapel and a torture chamber — but this Napa Valley castle offers wine tastings as well as tours.
