Often built by nobility and almost always set in dramatic locations, it should come as no surprise that castles are among the most impressive buildings on Earth. They were designed to project wealth and power, and in most cases no expense was spared in building them.

In our opinion, these are the most beautiful castles in the world. Click through this gallery to see how we've ranked them...

The tiny European nation of Luxembourg is famous for its castles, and gorgeous Romanesque Vianden Castle is the fairest of them all. It was built between the 11th and 14th centuries on the site of an ancient Roman fortress overlooking the beautiful Our River. It was one of the grandest feudal residences in Europe and was at the peak of its powers in the 13th century under Henry I of Vianden, known as Luxembourg's 'Sun Count' thanks to his luxurious lifestyle. The castle was restored to its original glory after transferring to state ownership in 1977.

Prince Borivoj of the Premyslid Dynasty (probably) started building Prague Castle in AD 880, and over the centuries various rulers from various dynasties have expanded it. According to Guinness World Records, the UNESCO-listed building is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, covering a staggering 753,000 square feet (70,000sqm). But it is beautiful too – a beguiling mix of Romanesque and Gothic rising majestically above the Vltava River. It remains one of Czechia's most important cultural institutions and the home of the Czech president.

Chapultepec Castle sits on the western edge of Mexico City atop a 200-foot-high (60m) rocky hill whose name means 'Hill of the Grasshopper' in the Nahuatl language. The Aztecs once had a fort here, while the Spanish built a chapel here in 1554 before converting it into a stately home in the 1780s. It briefly housed the Emperor of Mexico in the 1860s – the only building on the North American continent to be a royal residence – and was then home to Mexico's presidents until 1940. Today the castle contains Mexico’s National Museum of History, and its terraces offer excellent views out over the city.

There’s a certain bleak beauty to this folly in outback Australia. It was built by hand by Vittorio Stefanato, an Italian immigrant who had come to the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge in 1973. Locals christened him Amigo and he immediately set about building his dream home, stone by stone. You’ll find him in his castle to this day, where he will happily show you around and spin you a yarn or two about its history. He may even let you see his 'dragon', the bones of a dinosaur (probably a plesiosaur) he found during construction.

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This stunning Rajput jewel crowns a rocky hilltop near the fabled 'Pink City’ of Jaipur. Made from red sandstone and white marble, it is the second most visited site in India after the Taj Mahal and was built in 1592 to serve as a palace and military fort for Raja Man Singh. But with its lavish interiors and cool courtyards, this royal refuge soon became a place of music, art and scholarly learning, with a courtly culture as sophisticated as its shimmering mirror halls.

New Zealand’s most famous 'castle' (albeit arguably its only one), Larnach Castle sits on a ridge overlooking the South Island city of Dunedin. Built in 1871 by notorious entrepreneur and politician William Larnach, it immediately got tongues wagging with its over-the-top opulence, hitherto unseen in Victorian New Zealand. In 1898 Lanarch’s Midas touch deserted him, and his financial difficulties led him to take his own life in New Zealand's Parliament House. Today, the castle has been lovingly restored, and its magnificent gardens are particularly noteworthy.

Bodiam Castle in East Sussex is a classic medieval castle, with thick, crenellated walls supported by nine stubby towers, all surrounded by a moat. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, previously one of Edward III’s knights, in the face of a possible invasion by the French during the Hundred Years'  War. Its design is unusual in that it was built as much for comfort as protection, with multiple inner courts providing ample space for those living and working inside the castle. Today it is one of the National Trust’s most beloved properties.

Stunning Topkapi Palace was initially built by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II after he conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453. Many of his successor sultans added their own flourishes, resulting in a medley of Islamic, Ottoman and European styles. The sprawling palace enjoys commanding views across the Bosphorus and used to house up to 4,000 inhabitants – with up to 300 in the harem alone. Today it houses a vast museum that exhibits important artefacts from the Ottoman Empire, including an extensive collection of books and manuscripts.

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, or Kastello to the locals, exudes an air of stately permanence and is one of the few Gothic buildings in Greece. It was built in the 14th century by the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, a Catholic military order also known as the Hospitallers who used the island of Rhodes as a base for crusades into the Holy Land. The castle's thick sandstone walls and crenelated towers were considered impenetrable and withstood numerous sieges, until Ottoman sultan Suleiman II turned up with 100,000 men in 1522.

Castello di Amorosa sits surrounded by braided vineyards in California’s Napa Valley and was only finished in 2007. It's the youngest castle on our list but is no less beautiful for it  – indeed, it's a mirror image of the castles of 14th-century Tuscany, right down to its antique decorations and mock-medieval torture chamber. "In my mind, everything had to be authentic or it wouldn’t be worth the effort", says Dario Suttui, renowned winemaker and owner of the castle.

From 1429 to 1879 the stunning Shuri Castle in Okinawa was the political and cultural centre of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was here, in a warren of imperial living quarters, audience halls and religious shrines headed by an extravagant throne room, that rituals and prayers were conducted, affairs of state were administered and the royal family lived out their lives. The castle incorporates Chinese and Japanese architectural styles, which makes it uniquely beautiful but also susceptible to fire. It burned down three times during the Ryukyu era, and the last devastating fire was in 2019.

Located across three small isles on Castle Lake in Hillerod, Frederiksborg Castle was built in the early 17th century by King Christian IV as a symbol of his power as ruler of Denmark and Norway. The largest and probably best Renaissance castle anywhere in Scandinavia, it's famous for its architecture as well as for its stunningly symmetrical Baroque garden, created by JC Krieger in 1725. Disaster struck in 1859 when a fire destroyed much of its lavish interior. Thankfully, it was rebuilt by JC Jacobsen, the owner and founder of famed brewery Carlsberg.

This imposing medieval fortress in Romania’s fabled Transylvanian Alps is known around the world as Dracula's castle. Sadly, there is no proof that either Bram Stoker, who wrote the 1897 novel, or Vlad the Impaler, the bloodthirsty duke on whom the character was based, ever visited Bran Castle. Rather, it was built in 1377 by King Louis I of Hungary to stop the northward expansion of the Ottoman Empire. But on a dark winter’s night, with a chill in the air, it’s not hard to imagine Count Dracula soaring into the night, in bat form, searching for his next victim.

Schwerin Castle is a collage of towers and domes set on a dreamy island in northern Germany, and reflected in the still waters that surround it. The first traces of a fort here can be dated back to 942, but it wasn’t until the 1840s that this gorgeous castle took its current beguiling form. Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, ordered that it should be completely reconstructed, and its 953 rooms are decorated with intricate carvings, gilding and stucco ceilings. Cue another fairy-tale German castle that looks straight out of a storybook.

Written records found at a nearby abbey suggest that this castle began life as a wooden fortress sometime around 1113. Over the subsequent centuries it passed through the hands of various noblemen, most of whom added their own additions, but the castle we see today was rebuilt in the Romantic style by Count Jan Palfi in the late-19th century. Around 85 feet (26m) below the courtyard another secret awaits – a huge natural travertine cave, complete with incredible rock formations and two underground pools, which was only rediscovered in 1888.

This massive red-brick bastion on the banks of the River Nogat is Europe’s largest fortress, sprawling over an incredible 52 acres. It was built by the Teutonic Order in 1274 to protect the area from pagan Prussian warriors, and was such a formidable stronghold that the Order’s Grand Master moved there from Venice in 1309. It remains a remarkable example of the Teutonic Knights' architectural style and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

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Towering above the Scottish capital, the mighty rock that Edinburgh Castle is built upon has been used as a fortress since the Iron Age. It has served as both a military garrison and royal residence, and safeguards Britain's oldest crown jewels, the Honours of Scotland, to this day. The castle has the dubious honour of being the most besieged place in Britain, including an attempt by the Jacobites to capture it in 1715 that failed because the ladder they brought to scale the ramparts was too short.

Perched halfway up a 400-foot (123m) vertical cliff face and built into the mouth of a vast cave complex, Predjama Castle in southwest Slovenia boasts one of the most extraordinary settings of any castle in the world. First built in the 12th or 13th centuries, it proved virtually impregnable, especially in the mid-1480s when it was used as a base by Slovenia’s very own Robin Hood, Erasmus von Lueg. He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, but was eventually betrayed and killed after a long siege.

After returning from a military campaign in Italy, the French King Francis I ordered the construction of a sumptuous chateau blending French and Italian influences in 1519. The result is the Chateau de Chambord, the largest and most extravagant chateau in the Loire Valley and widely regarded as one of the finest relics of the French Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci travelled back to France with Francis I and may have had some influence on the design. The extraordinary double helix staircase certainly seems to bear all the Italian master’s trademarks.

This craggy islet in the sparkling Tyrrhenian Sea has glowered menacingly at passing boats ever since the Syracusan tyrant Gerone I built a fortress here in 474 BC. King Alfonso of Aragon gave it a thorough makeover in the 1400s, adding bastions and building the current causeway connecting the fortress to Ischia. Today, visitors follow a looping path through the ancient gardens and quaint chapels to a series of terraced cafes, the highest one offering breathtaking views across to Capri.

Sitting on a small island at the point where three lochs (lakes) meet, Eilean Donan Castle was built in the early 13th century to protect from the Vikings who were rampaging through Scotland at the time. The atmospheric castle – and the untamed highlands that surround it – has not gone unnoticed by filmmakers. Fans of the 1986 film Highlander will recognise it as the ancestral home of Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod, played by Christopher Lambert. The castle was also a scene-stealer in the James Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough.

Born in Canada to British parents, Anglophile Henry Pellatt was determined to bring European romance to North America. His travels in Europe ignited a love of fine art and architecture and in 1911 he built Casa Loma, or 'Hill House', a majestic pile of soaring battlements and secret passageways in the heart of Toronto. For a time it was one of the most opulent private homes in North America. Today it is one of Toronto’s most popular hospitality venues and one of North America's only castles.

The stunning Alcazar of Segovia was first mentioned in the 12th century, and served as the fortified palace of the kings and queens of Castile until the royal court was solidified in Madrid in 1561. Each monarch added their own particular flourish, and Queen Isabella, who would go on to become the first queen of a united Spain, was crowned there in 1474. Some claim that its mass of turrets and ramparts inspired the design of the castle in the Disney movie, Cinderella.

Located on the southern foothills of the Atlas Mountains, Ait-Ben-Haddou was an important trading post on a route that linked Marrakesh with Sudan. The massive 'ksar' (large mud-brick fortification) was built in the 17th century to protect not just the leaders and merchants, but the townsfolk as well. Fringed by palm trees and backed by deep blue skies, this UNESCO-listed fortification remains one of the most awe-inspiring sights in North Africa. Locals lead themed tours that explain its history and architecture, and its use as a movie set by films like Gladiator and The Mummy.

Perched high above the Salzach River Valley in Austria, it is hard to imagine this imposing medieval mountaintop castle ever being breached. But back at the beginning of the 16th century it was – by pitchfork-wielding peasants no less – necessitating 'improvements' that added to the structure’s impenetrable aura. Today Hohenwerfen happily opens its doors to the public, offering fairy-tale hikes, theatre shows and folklore afternoons as well as falconry demonstrations and 'Mystical Nights' once the sun goes down.

Stately Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world. William the Conqueror began building it around 1070 to protect the western approach to London, and it has served as a royal residence ever since. Queen Elizabeth II spent much of her time here. And it provided the fairy-tale backdrop for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which saw the famous Long Walk avenue (pictured) lined with thousands of well-wishers. The current monarch, Charles III, is said to be less enamoured, mainly because of its proximity to London’s busy Heathrow Airport.

Reached via wooden walkways connecting a series of islands on Lithuania’s lovely Lake Galve, Trakai Island Castle boasts one of the most beautiful locations of any castle in the world. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries and slowly expanded to occupy the entire island. By the 17th century it had fallen into disrepair and was only properly restored in the 1950s. Today it is one of Lithuania’s most popular attractions, particularly in winter when the lake freezes over and the castle forms the backdrop to a breathtakingly beautiful skating rink.

You won’t find a more colourful castle than Portugal’s Pena Palace. This vibrant jumble of reds and yellows was commissioned by King Ferdinand II in 1838 and built on the site of an abandoned monastery. The initial plan was to simply restore the monastery, but Ferdinand, regarded as one of the most refined men of his age, got a little carried away adding towers, tunnels, drawbridges and twisty paths that lead visitors through elaborate gardens. It's not for nothing that Ferdinand was known as the Artist-King.

Gorgeous Neuschwanstein Castle crowns a rocky ledge overlooking a plunging gorge in Germany’s stunning Bavarian Alps. It was the fever dream of 'Mad King Ludwig' (King Ludwig II of Bavaria), who was obsessed with extravagant building projects and eventually withdrew from public life entirely. Construction was based on Romanesque drawings by the painter Christian Jank, and started in 1868. Ludwig never saw his romantic vision realised – he drowned in 1886, and the building was never fully finished. Today his folly is famous around the world, and visited by more than 1.3 million people each year.

Top of our list is Himeji Castle in Japan. Elegant and composed, it exudes an understated beauty that is typically Japanese. UNESCO has recognised it as the finest surviving example of 17th-century Japanese castle architecture, and its upturned eaves resemble a heron taking flight – earning it the nickname White Heron Castle. It was originally built to protect the local Akamatsu clan from rampaging shogun warriors. When the cherry blossoms are in bloom, we're not sure there's any more beautiful building on Earth.

Read on for Europe's most beautiful bridges, ranked