Castles You Can Actually Stay In: 12 Real Castle Hotels in Scotland, the UK and France
You do not have to buy a castle to spend the night in one. Across Scotland, the rest of the UK, Ireland and France, dozens of genuine castles take paying guests, from medieval keeps to baronial piles…
You do not have to buy a castle to spend the night in one. Across Scotland, the rest of the UK, Ireland and France, dozens of genuine castles take paying guests, from medieval keeps to baronial piles to vineyard châteaux. Scotland has the deepest run of them, which is where this list starts. Here are twelve you can actually book, what each one is like, and roughly what a night costs.
Staying in a castle is one of those things people assume is either impossible or reserved for the very rich. It is neither. A good number of Europe's castles long ago became hotels, which is often the only way the running costs of a building that size ever get paid, and many take ordinary bookings for a single night.
The richest hunting ground is Scotland, where Victorian shooting estates and medieval fortresses alike have been turned into country-house hotels. From there the trail runs south through England and Wales, across to Ireland, and over to France, where the château-hotel is practically its own category. The twelve below span every price point from a romantic one-night splurge to a serious special occasion.
1. Inverlochy Castle, Scottish Highlands
Fort William 19th-century castle Five-star, fine dining From around £450 a night Stay here Map
Inverlochy sits at the foot of Ben Nevis in a setting Queen Victoria called one of the most romantic she had ever seen. It is a 19th-century Highland castle with 17 individually designed rooms, views across its own loch, and a dining room holding three AA Rosettes. If you want the postcard Highland castle stay, this is the benchmark.
2. Glenapp Castle, Ayrshire
Ayrshire coast Victorian castle Relais & Châteaux From around £450 a night Stay here Map
A Victorian castle in 36 acres of gardens on the Ayrshire coast, with views to Ailsa Craig and the Firth of Clyde. Glenapp keeps just 17 rooms, so it feels closer to a private house party than a hotel, and its restaurant has held three AA Rosettes for over a decade. It also runs a glass-roofed retreat for guests who want the sea view at night.
3. Dalhousie Castle, near Edinburgh
Midlothian Castle hotel and falconry Around £455 a night Stay here Map
A genuine 13th-century castle just outside Edinburgh, Dalhousie has hosted everyone from Mary, Queen of Scots to Queen Victoria over its history. Today it is a hotel with a dungeon restaurant and a falconry centre, and it is one of the most accessible real-castle stays in Scotland, half an hour from the capital. It last changed hands in 2023 for £5.6 million.
4. Culzean Castle (The Eisenhower), Ayrshire
Ayrshire National Trust for Scotland Booked through the NTS Stay here Map
Robert Adam's clifftop masterpiece on the Ayrshire coast is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and its top floor is a small hotel called the Eisenhower, named after the US president who was given use of the apartment for his lifetime in thanks for his wartime leadership. Culzean is the most distinctive stay on this list: a handful of rooms inside a working National Trust castle, with the Firth of Clyde below.
5. Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Tudor, 1510s Where Henry VIII slept Stay here Map
Thornbury is the only Tudor castle in England open as a hotel, and its history is the draw: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed here for ten days in 1535.[1] You can book the Henry VIII Suite itself, up 77 steps of a spiral staircase, with 24-carat gilding and what the hotel says is the largest four-poster bed in any UK hotel. Rooms typically run around £389 a night, with the Henry VIII Suite far higher.
6. Amberley Castle, West Sussex
West Sussex Medieval Curtain wall and portcullis Around £315 a night Stay here Map
A genuine medieval castle in the South Downs, Amberley still has its curtain wall and a working portcullis that comes down each night. It runs as an intimate luxury hotel and last sold as a whole estate for around £8 million in 2011. This is the storybook walled castle, scaled down to a place you can sleep.
7. Ruthin Castle, North Wales
Denbighshire Medieval origins Castle hotel and spa From around £150 a night Stay here Map
Ruthin is North Wales's best-known castle stay, a medieval foundation rebuilt over the centuries into a country-house hotel with a spa and grounds roamed by peacocks. It is the most relaxed entry on this list, and a good way to fold a castle night into a trip through Snowdonia and the Welsh marches.
8. Ashford Castle, County Mayo
Mayo, Ireland 800 years old Five-star, falconry Around €1,105 a night Stay here Map
Ashford is one of the grandest castle hotels in the world, an 800-year-old former Guinness estate on the shore of Lough Corrib. It runs as a five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel with Ireland's oldest falconry school in the grounds. If the brief is "the most castle-like castle hotel money can buy," this is usually the answer.
9. Dromoland Castle, County Clare
Clare, Ireland 16th-century estate Five-star and golf Around €1,851 a night Stay here Map
The ancestral home of the O'Briens, descendants of the High King Brian Boru, Dromoland is a 16th-century estate turned five-star hotel with a championship golf course and walled garden. It is the Irish castle stay that consistently tops the search results, and the one most international visitors picture when they imagine a night in an Irish castle.
10. Château de Mercuès, Lot
Lot, France Medieval origins Clifftop château in Cahors wine country From €270 a night Stay here Map
A medieval château perched on a rock above the Lot valley, Mercuès was once the summer seat of the count-bishops of Cahors and is now a five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel of 30 rooms, owned by the Vigouroux wine family. It has a Michelin-starred restaurant and its own Cahors vineyard, with a wine cellar cut into the rock beneath the castle. This is the French storybook castle stay, fairytale turrets included, and a fine base for the Lot and the Dordogne.[2]
11. Château d'Audrieu, Normandy
Calvados, France Château hotel between Caen and Bayeux Around €401 a night Stay here Map
An 18th-century château in the Normandy countryside between Caen and Bayeux, d'Audrieu is a family-owned château hotel with a park and a Michelin-minded kitchen.[2] It sits in the region our French château buyer's guide singles out as the strongest market in France, so it is a good place to test the dream before you ever think about buying.
12. Château Les Crayères, Reims
Reims, France Belle Époque Champagne-country grande dame Around €1,297 a night Stay here Map
In the heart of Champagne, Les Crayères is a Belle Époque château hotel with a celebrated restaurant, set in a park on the edge of Reims.[2] It is the splurge end of the French list, rooms around €1,297 a night, and the natural base for a Champagne-house tour.
At a glance
| Castle | Region | Notable for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inverlochy Castle, Scottish HighlandsFrom around £450 a night | Fort William | Five-star, fine dining |
| Glenapp Castle, AyrshireFrom around £450 a night | Ayrshire coast | Relais & Châteaux |
| Dalhousie Castle, near EdinburghAround £455 a night | Midlothian | Castle hotel and falconry |
| Culzean Castle (The Eisenhower), AyrshireBooked through the NTS | Ayrshire | National Trust for Scotland |
| Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire | Gloucestershire | Where Henry VIII slept |
| Amberley Castle, West SussexAround £315 a night | West Sussex | Curtain wall and portcullis |
| Ruthin Castle, North WalesFrom around £150 a night | Denbighshire | Castle hotel and spa |
| Ashford Castle, County MayoAround €1,105 a night | Mayo, Ireland | Five-star, falconry |
| Dromoland Castle, County ClareAround €1,851 a night | Clare, Ireland | Five-star and golf |
| Château de Mercuès, LotFrom €270 a night | Lot, France | Clifftop château in Cahors wine country | |
| Château d'Audrieu, NormandyAround €401 a night | Calvados, France | Château hotel between Caen and Bayeux |
| Château Les Crayères, ReimsAround €1,297 a night | Reims, France | Champagne-country grande dame |
How to pick one
Start with where you want to be, not which castle is grandest. Scotland has the deepest choice and the widest price range, from the accessible (Dalhousie, half an hour from Edinburgh) to the once-in-a-lifetime (Inverlochy, Glenapp). Ireland is where you go for sheer grandeur (Ashford, Dromoland). France turns the castle stay into a food-and-wine trip, Champagne at Les Crayères, the Cahors vineyards at Mercuès, Normandy at d'Audrieu.
And if a single night only sharpens the appetite, our guides on the most famous castles and on actually buying a French château are the obvious next step.
Sources
Rates are indicative starting prices and change by season; check each hotel's own site, linked above, before booking.
1. Thornbury Castle, official site and Country Life, on the 1535 stay of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and the Henry VIII Suite. https://www.thornburycastle.co.uk/
2. French château-hotel rates (d'Audrieu and Les Crayères 2026 audited medians; Mercuès lead-in rate) from Castle Collector, Castle Price Index, March 2026, castle-hotel benchmark table.