Castel Thun

Bats roost in the castle, and the museum counts the colony as part of the place rather than tidying it out of the story. Inside, the rooms come one after another over several floors, furnished in Empire style and filled with the objects of the Thun family, who gave the castle its name and held it for generations. The position does the rest. The walls stand on a ridge, and the valley opens out below on every side, so the windows keep handing back the view you walked up for.

• Toilets: at the castle entrance. The cafeteria behind the castle has none, so use them before you walk round the back.
• Cold indoors: in winter and early spring the rooms hold a cellar chill — bring a jacket for inside, not just for the walk up.
• Food: the cafeteria behind the castle does pizza with local wine and beer, and bottles can be bought to take away.
• Rain plan: bad weather is no reason to drop it — the rooms and the valley views both hold up.

Everything arrives from below. The road climbs through Vigo di Ton to the parking under the walls, and the last stretch is on foot, uphill to the gate with the castle above you the whole way. A bus stop carries the castle's name and sits close to the approach, so the visit works without a car — the climb to the gate is the same one drivers make. Near the entrance you pass an information office, and a guidepost stands by the path for whatever else runs from here.

Best: a grey or wet day — the visit is mostly indoors, and one visitor came in bad weather and still rated the castle and the views highly.

Avoid: winter and the first weeks of spring if you feel the cold.

The rooms stay cold through those months, so dress for standing still indoors rather than for the walk. Only the approach from the car park is outdoors, which is why a wet forecast costs so little here.