Topological protection and Floquet (time-periodic) driving are hot topics in several research fields. Experimental model systems allow for studying these phenomena under very well controlled conditions. In this talk, I will discuss the interplay between topological protection and time-periodic driving for some selected examples: Periodic driving of topologically protected edge modes in the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-chain leads to depopulation of the edge mode despite topological protection, while periodic driving of two-dimensional honey-comb-lattices establishes topological protection in an otherwise topologically trivial model system. Time-periodic driving furthermore allows for introducing artificial gauge-fields in topologically trivial materials, modifying transport properties in unexpected ways. In 3D photonic crystals charge-2 Weyl-points are reported and possible approaches to observe their splitting into charge 1 Weyl-points. All samples are fabricated via direct laser writing and experimental results are compared with numerical calculations, showing excellent agreement.