Solo female travel expert, focusing on travelling around a 9-5 job, getting the most bang for your buck and soft-adventure experiences.
Now this is a blog post that I have had FAR too much fun researching. To the point where I had a dream that I won the lottery, rented a castle for a month and surprised my friends and family by flying them out on a weekly rota to come and live with me (I’ve since day-dreamed about this idea multiple times and have bought more lottery tickets than I care to admit).
So without further ado, here are 10 castles that you might be able to rent for cheaper than a hotel!
1) The Medieval Keep & The Pavillion (France)
This is the particular castle that I dreamt about. I mean, does it get any better than this? There appear to be two properties on the grounds that you can rent (one being The Medieval Keep and the other being The Pavillion). A grand total of 20 people can therefore stay in the 2 properties for a combined £778 per night – an incredible £39 per person!
If the exterior wasn’t grand enough, I am absolutely in love with the curved painted blue ceiling in one of the bedrooms in the Medieval Keep!
Now I need to stop dreaming about eating croissants in the French sunshine and look up some more castles….
2) The Castle With a View… And A Pool (Italy)
Slightly pricier than the first option but at £77 per person per night (providing you have 16 guests), it’s still cheaper than many hotels! This castle appears to be mainly used as a wedding venue and up to 90 guests can attend! Make sure you check out the photos on the AirBnB link, there’s some amazing views from this property! There’s an added bonus with this castle… a pool!
3) Château de Barnay (France)
Okay, so you don’t have THAT many people that you want to enjoy your castle experience with (I felt slightly intimidated at the thought of 90 venue guests on the castle above!). Round up 7 of your nearest and dearest and head to South Burgundy to enjoy this little treat.
This castle has a much more modern interior which is great if old buildings can spook you out a bit (I am included in this category).
The stand out feature of this property HAS to be the price! You could pay £115 for a hotel room for one person, let alone a castle for 7 people! At an amazing £17 per person per night, I don’t know what’s stopping you!
4) La Serenella West Wing (Italy)
Okay, so it might not technially be a castle, but it’s a pretty swanky villa and I feel like it has the credentials to be on this list.
I mean have you seen that interior? And the exterior? And the gardens? I feel like this property is Perfection (with a capital “P”). And if you really feel like splashing out, the owners can organise a private jet at an extra cost – now THAT is what you call fancy!
You might think that a property this big would in the middle of nowhere, but you couldn’t be more wrong! The villa is a 15 minute drive from Verona and 25 minutes from Lake Garda, this sounds like the perfect Summer retreat! And all for £32 per person!
5) Bernstein Castle (Austria)
The ultimate romantic retreat. Who wouldn’t want to watch the sunset over the Austrian countryside with their (arguably) better half? Sign me up immediately! I found hotels very expensive when I stayed in Salzburg, so this whole castle for £60 per person is an incredible deal!
RELATED: Thinking about spending a lot of time in Austria? Salzburg is a 3 hour 45 minute drive away – you can read my top things to do in Salzburg here!
6) Cumbrian Castle (England)
Okay, this castle is expensive if you want to rent the whole thing (a whopping £394 per person per night), however there is a great alternative to just rent one room for £80 per person! Damn you England for being so expensive!
Located on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and an hour’s drive from The Lake District, this is the perfect setting to enjoy the countryside.
RELATED: I visited an English Castle recently! Read all about my time at Arundel Castle here!
7) The Bright Pink Castle (Poland)
Whilst it may not look like your stereotypical castle, this style building always reminds me of Eastern Europe and I absolutely love it – it’s bright pink for gods sake! Another bonus is that the AirBnB host can arrange for dinner to be cooked/served to you and your guests for an amazing 10 EUR per person! Result!
The castle is located 60km west of Wroclaw and is close to highway A4 connecting Germany with south Poland. Given the location, £24 per person is an absolute steal for this beauty!
8) The Uber Modern Castle (Croatia)
Now I’m not sure if I completely agree that this is a castle (yes, it has a big turret, but I think that’s about it), but it’s listed as a “castle” on AirBnB, so the owners clearly want you to believe this notion! According to the listing, the property has been reconstructed from the 500 original ruins.
I couldn’t not include it because I feel in love with the property! Set on a hillside in Istria (Croatia), for the amazing price of £48 per person, you get a beautiful “castle” with an amazing pool looking out over Istria. And the interior is gorgeously modern!
9) The Iconic Building of The Island (Greece)
This cute little fortification/windmill structure is located on the island of Milo in Greece. “Milo” means “windmill” in Greek, so this is the most iconic building on the island! A recent crowdfunding exercise has renovated the property to the gorgeousness that we see today! It’s an absolute steal at £24 per person!
This sentence on the listing makes me VERY excited – “We do recommend renting a scooter or a car (rental available at the island) so you can be free to follow your own schedule and reach the more remote places, where true natural beauty awaits to be discovered”.
10) Manorbier Castle (Wales)
Located on the Pembrokeshire Coastline, you can expect long sandy beaches, rugged cliffs, picturesque villages and plenty of country pubs! You just need to pray that the UK weather holds out! This huge castle can be yours for just £50 per person!
11) Chateau Bouffereille (France)
It would be wrong not to finish on a French castle, because the French definitely excel in this area! I mean look at that entrance! And it could all be yours for £65 per person!
12) Bonus – UK Castles You Can rent A Room In!
Maybe you don’t need a whole castle to yourself, in which case Historic UK have a great list of all the castles in the UK that you can rent a room in!
The Boring Bit
It goes without saying that any listings shown on AirBnB are likely to fluctuate in prices throughout the year. I have used the average price shown at the date of writing this article (October 2016), however I imagine prices could be a bit steeper in Summer!
Please also note that AirBnB have various additional costs such as service charges and extra person surcharges. Please research the properties fully before making any bookings.
The “per person” cost also shown above is only applicable where the property is booked to it’s full capacity.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts are my own.
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I want to stay in any or all of these places!