Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle is the world's most photographed castle, directly inspiring Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. Perched 965 metres above sea level in the Bavarian Alps, it was built between 1869 and 1886 for King Ludwig II at a cost of 6.2 million gold marks. Despite 17 years of construction, Ludwig lived there only 172 days before his mysterious death. Today it attracts 1.4 million visitors annually — 36% fewer than Edinburgh Castle's 2.2 million — and its construction cost was nearly triple the average for Bavarian palaces of its era.