castle ruins travel guides

Hohensyburg is a wooded ridge on Dortmund's southern edge where a medieval castle ruin, an 1857 lookout tower and a neo-Gothic Kaiser Wilhelm monument share one plateau above the Ruhr. This guide explains each layer in turn and shows how to plan the visit around what the site itself does, and does not, publish.

Hohenbaden Castle, known as Altes Schloss, is a ruined hilltop residence above Baden-Baden with free entry to the ruins. This guide covers the walk up from town, arriving by car, what stands at the site, the Battert rocks next door, and the weather conditions that can affect access.

Baden-Baden is famous for its thermal baths, but a quieter side rewards slow wandering: two contrasting gardens, the free Lichtentaler Allee and Kurpark, the Trinkhalle colonnade, Roman bath ruins entered through a tunnel under Friedrichsbad, and the free Hohenbaden castle ruins on the hill.

The Great Barrel is the centrepiece of the Barrel Building, a functional structure in the Heidelberg Castle complex whose basement holds the third and current tun built for Prince-Elector Carl Theodor. The barrel sits inside the castle's paid interior rather than the free grounds, and a staircase leads to a platform above it that the operator describes as likely having served as a dance floor.

Heidelberg Castle rewarded visitors long before it became a ruin. This guide explains how to plan the ascent, when a free stroll through the courtyards is enough, and how to decide about the ticketed interiors and the German Apothecary Museum.