Very popular with local tourists, but yet to make it onto the wider tourist radar, Bojnice Castle in western Slovakia is the kind of place where you just have to take dozens of photographs.

Some people have told me that Bojnice Castle inspired the Cinderella Castle in Disneyland – I’ve got no idea if it’s true, and there are certainly some similarities, but Bojnice is even better because it’s real. It also has a fascinating history, starting out as a Bendectine monastery in the 12th century, and then belonging to the Palffy family for several hundred years – Count Palffy’s life was the inspiration for a few of the many ghost stories that get told about the castle.

To get inside you have to go on a tour but it’s reasonably priced at 160 Koruna, and you can usually get on an English tour (they said you should book ahead, but you can also turn up and be lucky!). If the inside furnishings of a castle don’t thrill you, then just head out to Bojnice to admire the outside and make sure you walk right the way round to get all the great views. You can reach Bojnice in less than two hours from Bratislava.