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Enormous medieval castle, with iconic polygonal towers, constructed from the late 13th century on the orders of Edward I as part of his strategy to subjugate the Welsh. It was built on the site of an earlier Norman castle and close to where a Roman fortress had once stood. The castle and town then became the English administrative HQ for North Wales and was besieged many times - and captured too.

Caernarfon Castle is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".

First a Roman fort, then a late 11th century Norman castle, Cardiff Castle became a medieval fortress involved in the Anglo-Norman wars against the native Welsh. It was held by both Royalist and Parliamentary forces during the Civil War and managed to escape the destruction meted out on many of its contemporaries. Eventually, in 1766, it passed by marriage to the Bute family. The 2nd Marquess of Bute turned Cardiff into the world’s greatest coal exporting port and his son John, the 3rd Marquess, was reputed to be the richest man in the world. The 3rd Marquess employed the architect William Burges to create a Victorian Gothic revival mansion, transforming the castle with astonishingly opulent interiors, brimming with murals, stained glass, marble, gilding and elaborate wood carvings. After the death of the 4th Marquess of Bute, in 1947 the family gave the Castle and much of its parkland to the city of Cardiff and it is now one of Wales’ most popular visitor attractions.

There has been a fortress at Carisbrooke since Saxon times, at least, though the present castle dates from the 12th century. Carisbrooke Castle was besieged once, by the French, but is probably best known as the place where Charles I was imprisoned, as well as for the donkeys that turn the treadmill to pull water from the castle's well. It was also home to Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The castle is largely ruined, but there is loads to see, inside and outside, including a fascinating museum, beautiful chapel, battlement walks - and, of course, the donkeys.

Castle Menzies was the ancestral stronghold of the Menzies clan from the 16th - 19th centuries. It was occupied by Jacobite rebels in 1715 and 1745 and, in 1746, Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie - the Young Pretender - stayed at Castle Menzies on his way to defeat at Culloden. 4 days later, the Duke of Cumberland, commander of the Government forces in hot pursuit of the rebels, stopped by too.

In 1957, the castle was purchased as a ruin for just £300 by the Menzies Clan Society who have proceeded to, very gradually, restore it. It is somewhere between a mansion and a fortress. It has a walled garden too, though the website suggests this may not be particularly well kept. It is also possible to visit the Old Kirk of Weem - the Menzies Mausoleum - in the nearby village of Weem.

Chirk Castle is a picture-book medieval fortress as well as a sumptuous home, with wonderful gardens and a spectacular wrought-iron entrance gate. Roger Mortimer, Marcher Lord, began the castle in 1295 as one of King Edward I's chain of castles along the Welsh/English border. Since 1595 until 1981, it was owned by the Myddleton family - who only moved out and sold the rest of the estate in the 21st century.  From 1910-1946, it was leased to Lord Howard de Walden and was scene of lavish entertaining in the 1930s.