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High atop the volcanic crag of Castle Rock stands the mighty Edinburgh Castle of Scotland, visible from nearly every point in the city and—at 1 P.M.—audible, when its cannons roar. (In the days before timepieces, the cannon allowed sailors to reset their chronometers.) The site of innumerable battles and sieges, the castle kept a prison that brutalized so many captives, ghosts are ubiquitous, including a marching line of headless drummers. Riches are also stored within the castle, including St. Margaret’s Chapel (a stone structure built by David I in memory of his mother) and the Stone of Destiny upon which Scottish Kings were crowned. The optimal time to visit is during the Winter Festival of Hogmanay, when fireworks explode above the castle’s towers and turrets as 100,000 revelers spill into the streets to herald the new year. If conscious the morning after, tie on your tennies and return to the castle for the mile-long “One O’Clock Run” down to Royal Park.• Scotland’s Stirling Castle has existed in some form or fashion since prehistoric times, and has seen its share of drama, though none as infamous as that endured by Mary, Queen of Scots. Crowned queen at just nine months of age, she endured three lousy marriages and a toxic relationship with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, before getting beheaded in three increments. (Her head finally rolled on to the floor when the executioner grabbed it by the wig.) One of Queen Mary’s attendants, known as the Green Lady, is occasionally seen floating about the hallways. Stirling’s sprawling esplanade is used for open-air concerts for acts like REM, Bob Dylan, and the Celtic band Runrig, as well as the city’s Hogmanay celebrations.
• Built in five years flat by King Edward I, the Conwy Castle is the most outstanding fortress in all North Wales, if not Europe. Dark-stoned and gritty, it features eight massive drum towers individually floodlit after nightfall, and panoramic views of the Snowdonia peaks and River Conwy. Enter via one of three jostling bridges and walk along its defensive walls, which stretch three quarters of a mile and are flanked by twenty-four towers and gateways. If visiting in May, drive seven miles south to the Bodnant Garden for the blossoming of its yellow laburnums (a.k.a. golden chain trees). Just don’t eat any: laburnum poisoning causes incessant frothing at the mouth and convulsions, which would be highly unpleasant while actualizing fairy princess fantasies.
• Fans of horror flicks will get a kick out of Frankenstein’s Castle in central Germany, a fifteen-minute drive outside Darmstadt. Built in 1252 by Conrad von Frankenstein, it is the quintessential haunted castle, desolate and spooky (thus Universal Pictures’ decision to film its 1931 classic here). Some historians say that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and anarchist William Godwin) based her classic novel on the castle after a trip to Germany in the early 1800s. The “real” Frankenstein is said to have been Johann Konrad Dippel, an alchemist who boiled hair and bones by candlelight in the seventeenth century, inventing new types of acid poison. If traveling with children, visit during the nine-day Frankenstein Halloween Fest, which includes monster shows with cameos by Dracula and Mr. Hyde.