Austria: Hohenwerfen Castle

Hohenwerfen Castle (Burg Hohenwerfen in German) rivals the German Neuschwanstein in how outrageously spectacular the location is – it sits on top of a single mountain rock 155m/509ft high surrounded by absolutely vertical Austrian Alps. The fortress was built in 1075 together with the Salsburg fortress as twin castles to protect the Salsburg Archbishop from the attacks from the German King Henry IV from the north. When Austria and Germany aligned, the castle lost its strategic importance and became a hunting retreat. The setting is absolutely surreal and it looks like something built to film an episode of The Lord of the Ring.