Staying in a castle

The castle in Bacharach is a hostel I have stayed at several times. I highly suggest you consider it. (Reserving far in advance is a good idea) Go Griz.

"In Britian" magazine had an article about castles in the UK that had been converted to Hotels and hostels sometime last year (or maybe the year before?). Several were in Ireland. You might see if you local library has back issues. The National Trust of the UK also owns several properties (some in Ireland, I think) that are either castles or "stately homes" that can be rented. They are refered to as "self catering"- meaning you do the cooking and cleaning. Check out their website.

There is a medieval castle at Sedan, France, near the Belgian border, that I hope to visit soon.

See it online at http://www.icastelli.net/location-752-5-htel_le_chteau_fort.html

Another option is to stay inside the walls of a medieval city, like La Cite in Carcasonne, France. While touristy, it's still incredible. Another fascinating place to stay overnight is on Le Mont St. Michele, France. It's like a tiny little spec of an island topped with an ancient abbey; also touristy but incredible. We did both these overnight trips last summer while touring France.

Though probably not what one envisions in the word "castle," but you might try Manoir de Brion located in the Normandy region. Parts were built in the 11th century and over the years the Manoir has played host to pilgrims, monks, kings. The manoir is also where explorer Jacques Cartier was introduced to King François I before his 1534 voyage to Canada. And, it has a medieval (castle like) stone spiral staircase;)

http://www.chateaux-selection.com/uk/Hotel/Chateaux-Normandia/chateau-manoir-de-brion.aspx

Jennie, if you have a "generous travel budget" and will be in the western part of Ireland (north of Galway), you might consider a stay at * www.ashford.ie/index.php * (cut & paste the link inside the asterisks). It's an incredibly beautiful location on the shores of Lough Corrib, with a bit of interesting history. It was once owned by the Guinness family and quite a few of the "rich & famous" have stayed there (as I recall, Pierce Brosnan held his wedding there). Although it's a five star Hotel with prices to match, they do have "deals" every so often.

The nearby village of Cong was used in the filming in 1952 of "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and directed by John Ford (it was kind of a "fun" movie - they don't make them like that any more!).

Happy travels!

Check out this web site for Castles you can stay at. http://www.celticcastles.com/find_irish.asp - Also,look at the right hand column for Castles in England, Wales, Ireland, and Chateaus in France. We drove to Ashford Castle. They will not let you in unless you are staying there, but it looked very beautiful. We had lunch in the tea room outside of the main grounds.

Thanks for the suggestions. Particularly the ones re: Ashford castle in Ireland. Although the price was a little startling at first the accommodations look fantastic and was on our short list of places we found via internet searches that looked legit. We'll see if we can pull it off. We will take a look at the ones in France, heck maybe we can stay in more than one, this is a trip of a lifetime! :)

I can also recommend "Schoenburg uber oberwesel." Beautiful views of the river Rhein. We stayed there last October. However, as would be expected, it is not cheap.