Turret-ly amazing! Fourteen mesmerising photos of Bavaria’s most fairytale-like castles – from hilltop fortresses to breathtaking citadels

Hohenshwangau Castle was the childhood home of King Ludwig II. As an adult, the monarch spent summers at the 19th-century ‘sun-yellow’ castle. Nowadays, the building can be visited on a guided tour. Lonely Planet remarks: ‘Hohenschwangau has a distinctly lived-in feel where every piece of furniture is a used original’

Perhaps Bavaria’s best-known castle and the rumoured inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty citadel, Neuschwanstein Castle is visited by 1.4million tourists per year. King Ludwig II built the castle in the late 1800s in order to withdraw from public life, according to the castle’s website, which adds that its ‘setting could not be more idyllic’

Harburg Castle is one of Germany’s best-preserved historic castles. Lonely Planet comments: ‘Looming over the Wornitz River, the medieval covered parapets, towers, turrets, keep and red-tiled roofs of the 12th-century [castle] are so perfectly preserved they almost seem like a film set’

With a length of 1,051m (3,448ft), Burghausen Castle, founded before 1025, holds the title of the ‘world’s longest castle’. Visit Burghausen says: ‘The mighty castle complex towers over the listed old town [of Burghausen].’ The tourist board, meanwhile, describes it as ‘a unique ensemble of defiant fortress walls and fantastic views’

Schloss Nymphenburg, in Munich, dates to the 17th century, when it served as a royal summer residence. Lonely Planet describes it as a ‘commanding palace’ with ‘a large villa and two wings of creaking parquet floors and sumptuous period rooms’, plus ‘lavish gardens’

Plassenburg Castle was first referenced in 1135, according to Discover Bavaria. The tourism board adds: ‘It towers majestically above the little town [of Kulmbach] and its 26,000 inhabitants and is depicted on countless postcards on  souvenir shop stands’

The Marienberg Fortress was built in the 1200s and inhabited by princes until the early 1700s. Lonely Planet reveals: ‘The structure was only penetrated once, by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years’ War in 1631. Enjoy panoramic city and vineyard views from this hulking fortress’

Seehof Castle, which lies to the north-east of Bamberg and dates to the 17th century, was used as a hunting lodge and summer residence by royals. Bamberg Tourism explains that the castle has been ‘restored to its former glory’, impressing visitors with ‘magnificent interior furnishings’ and a ‘beautiful park’ 

Hochstadt Castle is a Renaissance-style citadel consisting of a ‘mighty four-wing complex built between 1589 and 1602 under Count Palatine Philipp Ludwig’, explains Museen in Bayern

Pretty Mespelbrunn Castle lies tucked away in a secluded valley and has been preserved to this day in its Renaissance form from 1569, remarks Museen in Bayern. Fans of German cinema might recognise it from the 1958 musical-comedy movie The Spessart Inn 

Lonely Planet describes 17th-century Schloss Johannisburg as ‘a high point of German palace architecture of the late Renaissance era’. The magnificent building is located in the centre of the city of Aschaffenburg by the River Main

Herrenchiemsee Palace lies on an island in Chiemsee lake and was ‘modelled on Versailles’, reveals the castle’s website, which explains: ‘Started in 1878, it was intended purely as a monument to absolute monarchy and had no practical function. The architect, Georg Dollmann, was obliged to reconstruct rooms which had long ceased to exist in Versailles’

Versailles-inspired Schloss Linderhof was Ludwig II’s smallest palace and used by the monarch as a private retreat. Lonely Planet reveals: ‘Finished in 1878, the palace hugs a steep hillside in a fantasy landscape of French gardens, fountains and follies’

A Unesco World Heritage site, the 18th-century Wurzburg Residenz is ‘one of the most important Baroque palaces in Europe’, explains the castle’s website, which adds: ‘There is a total of over 40 palace rooms to visit, with a rich array of furniture, tapestries, paintings and other 18th-century treasures’