Best countries to see castles?

Well, you basically already named the top three for castles. Belgium has more than a few, but it's a little confusing because the Dutch and French terms for "castle" (kasteel and chateau, respectively) are also used for structures that in English you may refer to as "castle", "palace", "mansion" or even just a particularly large farm house. Here's a nice list on the Dutch version of Wikipedia. Unlike in Germany, though, where castles usually sit prominently on a hill or mountain, you usually find castles in Belgium burried in an estate park behind fences and vegetation.

My experience in Italy is limited to the northern Alpine regions, but just driving around, I noticed quite a few.

Southern Sweden is also known for castles, but I don't have any personal experience.

My vote is for Slovenia:

http://www.slovenia.info/?grad=0&lng=2&redirected=1

Spain.
Here is some reading for you.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187427-c93929/Spain:The.Best.Castles.Of.Spain.html
http://www.cellartours.com/blog/spain/ten-most-beautiful-castles-in-spain

Plenty of castles in Austria too!

http://www.austria.info/uk/nature-recreation/castles-and-palaces-austria-1523971.html

Wales for true defensive fortifications. There's enough in a compact area to keep you busy for a week of doing nothing else.

Luxembourg has some dramatic castles, one in particular, and fairy tale pastel towers on the palace and fabulous casemates.

Romania.

Italy has the Sarasan fortifications.

Switzerland has a few.

I'll add the Sud Tirol of northern Italy, which once was part of Austria. Our favorite area is between Meran/Merano and Mals/Malles, with Churbug Castle/Castel Coira being a favorite.

http://www.suedtirol.info/en/Destinations--Things-To-Do/Culture--Sights/Castles--Manors.html

Paul

Some other places with castles a little off the beaten path:

• Japan - Osaka, Nagoya, Okinawa and others
• Syria - crusader castles including Krak des Chevaliers (at times called the finest Crusader castle in the world) - though off limits for now

Poland - Krakow, Warsaw, Lublin, ...

Portugal - Sintra

Spain is a good choice. In the north you can see classic European castles, in the south you can see Alcazars from the Moorish period.
My favorites in Spain, though this is just a sample, are Pinafiel, La Mota, and Coca. They are all around Valladolid. Further south is Belmonte, it's partly period decorated. Most people don't like the castle in Segovia, because it was largely remodeled from the original version. It does have a really nice Armor collection. I also love the smaller castle in Olite, near Pamplona, because it's a nice place to tour/wander and includes a good handheld audio guide. The Alcazar in Sevilla is a personal favorite, and of course the Alhambra in Granada is one of the top things to see anywhere.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Czech Republic has the most castles per square mile of any country in the world.
http://www.erstestiftung.org/countries/czech-republic/
I did not know that but I am not surprised. You see castles almost everywhere. In Czech you can call it "hrad" which is something like fortress like castle, or "zamek" which is something what we would call chateau. I got feeling that you would be more interested in "hrad" so let me name few which I consider the best: Karlstejn, Krivoklat, Loket, Cesky Sternberk, Pernstejn, Bouzov, Buchlov. For more google: castles in Czech Republic. Slovakia also has many castles. IMHO the most impressive are Trencin, Orava, Spis. Spis Castle are mostly ruins of a huge castle. Let me mention the biggest and most impressive castle in Poland: Malbork.

I was surprised at how many castles we got to see in Ireland last year, from large to very small.

I think my favorite up to now has been Hochosterwitz Castle in Austria - this one really brought out the "grinning kid" part in DH.

Austria, IMO, also has one of the most pleasant combinations of castle and old town: in Salzburg.

Edited to add: The post below reminded me that Krakow has that super combination as well... plus it's kinda fun to spot the big chunks of amber, naturally imbedded in the castle's stone walls.

Hi,

Aside from seeing those in France, UK, and Germany, you could go to Poland. That's my suggestion.

Different countries have different approaches to their castles. In France, for the most part they restore them--Chino excepted. In Scotland, they tend to maintain the ruins and not restore them. But there are lots of castles that are still great shape with people living in them today!

Do you want castles with momentous history? Then think Wales and Scotland. King Edward built a lot of them in Wales. And in Scotland, you've castles that have been around since his time.

Then there's the location of the castle. Some of them look so amazing in the surrounding countryside. Everyone has heard of Eilean Donan, but I find the location of Stirling sitting up on it's rock guarding the main way north to the highlands. Of course, there's the Tower of London, sitting so impressively on the Thames since William the Conquerer. Duarte Castle sits on the corner of Mull where the Firth of Lorne, the Sound of Mull and Loch Linnhe meet. It's perfectly situated to watch for viking galleys.

Then there are family castles. I visited a Tower House in Aberdeenshire that was locate up the hill side and surrounded by heather.

Check out Historic Scotland for some castles to explore. Visit Scotland has a whole Castle Trail outlined on their website.

Definitly Portugal! It's one of the best european countries to see castles. I don't know how accurate it is but I checked a list and it's the 4th country with more castles per square mile in the all World so that's an amazing visit card to begin with.

Unexpectedly good location to see castle:
https://www.google.com/search?q=slovakia+castles&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=x_-5U9KSKYOZqAal2YC4BQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1097&bih=497

(Slovakia)

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