Resting one’s head where royalty once slept is part of the appeal of staying in a castle. Here are five castles fit for a king or queen where you can spend the night in.
The Fortalice, Blairgowrie, Central Scotland
Embrace your inner aristocrat and inhabit The Fortalice like it’s been in the family for centuries. Built in 1560 as a fortified house to protect the Ogilvys of Airlie, The Fortalice today is a very cool crib. The castle features luxury rooms replete with four-poster beds, a Great Hall with a log fire and hand-painted ceiling. The castle sleeps 12 and is located in the pretty Perthshire countryside.
Chateau Rhianfa, Anglesey, North Wales
The Baronet of Bodelwyddan and his wife built Chateau Rhianfa in 1849 in the style of a Loire Valley French chateaux. Today, the Heritage-listed property will be able to fit your entire ancestral clan in one of 21 beautifully furnished bedrooms. The chateau has turrets and wine caves and a grand banqueting hall where you can make like Henry VIII when it comes time to dine.
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YHA St Briavels Castle, Gloucestershire, West England
The YHA St Briavels Castle is perhaps the poshest YHA in the UK. The castle was once the hunting lodge of King John and a centre for manufacturing crossbow bolts. Today, it’s still fit for a king or queen, albeit frugal-minded ones. The castle is surrounded by a moat and features a gatehouse that was added in the Edwardian era. It is located near Chepstow, about an hour and a half from Bristol.
Thornbury Castle, Cotswolds, West-Central England
Thornbury Castle has the widest four-poster bed in England. Perhaps said bed was designed to accommodate King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn after one of their notorious medieval feasts. If only the walls of the sumptuous bedchamber could talk. Staying here brings to mind an episode of Horrible Histories as King Henry bunkered down here 500 years ago with Anne, then Queen of England, before barking “off with her head”. The castle is located near to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire.
Crom Castle, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Sleeping beauties will be drawn to the romance of bedding down in Crom Estate in Country Fermanagh, located in Northern Ireland’s Lake District. The castle was designed by the English architect who was responsible for parts of Buckingham Palace. The historic seat of the Earls of Erne for more than 350 years is about two hours by car from Dublin and Belfast. Staying in the six-bedroomed West Wing of the castle and dining beneath the barrel-vaulted ceiling in the former Billiards Room is worthy of Her Majesty.