Quote:
Originally Posted by ciccone
What do you think? Pictures are always welcome!
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Portugal. Hands down. I won't post pictures and I won't give you a list of specific castles (hey, took me 6 months to come up with an itinerary, do your own research!), but I can tell you this:
1. As you drive through Portugal (I've driven extensively everywhere except Algarve and the islands), there is a big castle every 10 kilometers or so.
2. Portugal has very well-preserved early and high-medieval castles. We are talking 9-13th centuries. Also lots of amazing 16th-century "Manueline" palaces and churches. Most of these castles have not been monkeyed with as much as castles in, say, the UK. Towns have not been raised (castles that used to be on hills, are still on hills), moats have been drained but not filled, etc.
3. Portugal has an incredible number of well-preserved castles where you can stay for the night (posadas). Some posadas are simply amazing.
4. In Portugal, they let you drive very close to castles. That is to say, you don't have to park in a lot somewhere 3 towns away and walk for 40 minutes. You can drive right up to the castle, and in some cases,
into the castle walls.
5. Portuguese castles are less "touristy" than more famous castles in other countries (which kind of makes me hesitate to share the wealth, but let's do it just this once). No tourist-oriented complexes, no huge parking lots, no souvenir shops, no modern hotels. Castles exist in their natural environment -- a fortress on a hill, a charming market town down below, looking probably a lot like it did 700 years ago, only cleaner.
6. Portuguese castles have more areas open to visitors. Unless there is a grave danger of collapse, you can go pretty much anywhere. It's not like in most places in the UK or in France, where you get to see only a small sliver of the castle. You can even go down into wild bee-infested dungeons, if you really want (but bring a flashlight and understand that you are going in at your own risk).
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Which country has the best castles?
hahahahahaha In all seriousness I think the Schoenbrunn Castle in Vienna is quite magnificent. 
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