I'd really like to visit an area where I feel like I'm in Dracula (or Terry Pratchett's Oberwald) - dramatic landscapes, dark forests and forbidding castles/ruins. Any suggestions for a day or overnight trip from Zurich would be greatly appreciated!

Go to Romania

Have you tried the ones nearer in CH ?

Like:

Chillon

http://www.chillon.ch/en/

Gruyères

http://www.chateau-gruyeres.ch/e/index.html

Thun

http://www.thun.ch/en/tourism/guided...stle-tour.html

Constance / Thurgau on Postauto:

http://www.postbus.ch/pag-startseite...poi-detail.htm

Münchenwiler

http://www.schlossmuenchenwiler.ch/

Bellinzona

http://www.bellinzonaturismo.ch/fram...14&menu_id=366

Zurich HB..not very castlely but plenty of zombies around.

Far less than in Olten

I thought I saw you around..

OK, but something a bit more serious.


The FRANKENSTEIN CASTLE

This is in Darmstadt Germany.

It's a 4hr drive from Zurich towards Frankfurt.

You can take a proper tour through the castle where they try to scare you to death.



Back on Romania though.
I was just in Bucharest recently, and I was advised to go to Transylvania to see the real Dracula castle.
Up in the mountains, life is still pretty simple, so it's worth a visit I guess.

I wouldn't make a special effort. Yes, it's a castle in Transylvania. No, it isn't Vlad Dracul's castle. It was largely rebuilt in the twentieth century and was later used as a retreat for the Communist Elite. They even had a lift installed.

Worth an hour or two to look around if you're in the area, perhaps, which is what I did when I was there in the mid 1990s, and certainly a spectacular location, but it has the feel of a largely artificial monument and left me, at least, feeling a little bit cheated.

I've heard tell that EF has several helpless virgins who might help you

Hahaha, yeah right.

Can I order some? I need to catch me an Unicorn...







Thanks for the close castles tips... I'm a castle-maniac and will certainly be looking into those...

Not girls.....but some of the guys

Castle Koenigsbourg, just over the board in France, is very dramatic and surrounded by forests.



There are many paths up through the forests and if you walked them at dusk or at night with a torch, I'm sure you could spook yourselves.

This one is also quite wonderful, albeit a little far:





Enough forest around (you actually have to cross a quite thick one just to get there, and you can't drive: you must walk... muah ah ah).

It's even more awesome on a In Extremo concert at night, filled with crazy people in Medieval Styled dresses...

What Tom said.

Another great castle is Hohenzollern in Southern Germany (the seat of the family of the same name loaded with history)
http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startpage.html

Definitely second this recommendation, although at <googles> 90km North of Basel it's a little further than "just over the border" (which I assume is what you meant). More info on wiki here.

Went there one time when they had a medieval recreation thing going on, with cannon going off, sword fights, gate attacks and lots of other demonstrations.

Maybe the ones above Sion - you have four to choose from in this region. Valère and Tourbillon are the most prominent among them.

Or Burganlage Hohen Rätien in Sils i.D, near Thusis - the last leg is accessible by foot. http://www.hohenraetien.ch

Schloss Kyburg? Certainly close to Zurich (20km) and worth a trip.

http://www.sengers.ch/izueri/kyburg/index.asp

Neusweinstein Castel 2 hours north-east of Zurich, in Bavaria, is nice. Easy drive and yo can stay for the night. If you plan to go let me know because I have a recommendation for a great little hotel, near the castle... hard to find on websites, though.