If you’ve ever yearned to see a fairy tale castle in real life, look no further than Neuschwanstein Castle. This romantic-style structure is stationed atop a rocky cliff in the Bavarian Alps and overlooks a gorge. It is so perfectly fanciful that it was used as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1868. Ludwig was known for his eccentricity and love of fairy tales, even earning the nickname of Fairy Tale King. He built a number of extravagant, ornate castles during his reign, but Neuschwanstein Castle is the most famous. Unfortunately, Ludwig never got to see the finished structure because he died before it was completed.