For idyllic beauty, finding a better castle than Burg Eltz would be tough. Soaring out of the wooded hills near the Moselle River, it looks unblemished by over 500 years of history. You'd almost expect Gandalf to greet you at the gate, or maybe Fabio in plate mail. My memory of the place is a bit less rosy, since the directions I followed to get there were not the most convenient. I ended up having to hike down into the valley location, while suffering from a sinus infection. The bench that can be seen in the bottom right of the courtyard photo is the furthest I made it on the tour. Fortunately, health care in Germany is almost as nice as the beer.

Burg Eltz was built to host three branches of a noble family, which explains the "apartment-like" towers. This type of layout would be great for a Mage College, or magocracy capitol building. With at least 8 floors though, making the map could take weeks!