One of the most iconic castles in the world, Neuschwanstein is the inspiration for the Disney castle and looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale. The Romanesque castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th century.

By the time I visited Neuschwanstein in 2014, I had already seen many other castles and forts in Germany. The scale dwarfed all the castles I’d visited previously. The grandeur of every room and hallway seemed straight out of a story book. Neuschwanstein perfectly encapsulates every detail, interior and exterior, of a castle in a child’s fairy tale. During my visit, many of the rooms were closed off for various reasons. Still, the castle is so large that it nearly seemed endless.