Historic Hotels: UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Europe. Nights In The Past

The Web’s Premiere Guide to Historic Hotels and Accommodation in the UK, France, Italy and Western Europe

Home

~ UK Hotels and Inns ~

London
Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
Cumbria and Lake District
Derbyshire
Devon
Dorset
County Durham
Essex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire
Northumberland
Oxfordshire
Rutland
Shropshire
Somerset and Avon
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex (East)
Sussex (West)
Warwickshire
Wiltshire
Worcestershire
Yorkshire

Highlands of Scotland
Edinburgh & Mid Scotland
Southern Scotland

North Wales
Mid Wales
South Wales

Northern Ireland

The Channel Islands

~ France Historic Hotels ~

France Index
Paris & Ile de France
Alsace & Lorraine
Aquitaine
Auvergne
Brittany
Burgundy
Centre Region
Champagne Ardennes
Corsica
Languedoc Roussillon
Midi Pyrenees
Normandy
Pays de la Loire
Picardy & Calais
Poitou & Limousin
Provence & Riviera
Rhone Alpes

~ Italy Historic Hotels ~

Rome & Lazio
Venice and Veneto
Florence
Tuscany
Umbria
Southern Italy
Piemonte & Liguria
Lombardy & Trentino
Emilia-Romagna
Eastern Italy
Sicily and Sardinia

~ Spain Historic Hotels ~

Northern Spain
Madrid, Rioja & Cast. Leon
Central Spain
Barcelona & Eastern Spain
Southern Spain
Balearic Islands

~ More Europe ~

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Germany
Netherlands
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
Switzerland

~ Rest of the World ~

Australia
USA

~ Special Sections ~

Historic Holiday Cottages
Haunted Hotels & Inns
Beautiful English Villages
Historic UK Cities
Battlefield Tour Hotels UK
Battlefield Tour Hotels EU
The Oldest Hotels
The 2011 Selection

About Us and T&C’s
Links
Site Map
Email Us

Love Travel. Passionate about History.

Historic and Period Places to Stay in England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Belgium and more...

Most Popular Destinations

While we cover almost every corner of Western Europe (see the main navigation bar), some places prove particularly attractive to the heritage traveller. Go straight to the historic hotel listings of our most popular searched for cities:

Historic Holiday Cottages

If you prefer self-catering accommodation, then our guide to period holiday cottages might be what you’re looking for. We’ve done our best to narrow down the featured properties to only those dating back to the 17th century or earlier, so you can be sure of some true step-back-in-time gems. From Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland, there are plenty of lovely little places to escape to. Discover more

England’s Most Beautiful Villages

It might not yet be the definitive list (though we’re working on it), but our guide might still be of interest to anyone who recognises that the most wonderful things come in the smallest of packages. We’ve also tried to pinpoint some period places to stay for anyone keen to discover their delights, from fine country house hotels to traditional inns and cosy cottages, too. See our list

Haunted Hotels and Inns

It really doesn’t matter if you believe or think it bunkum - at least it gives us further opportunity to highlight wonderful old places to stay in Britain (the most ghost-ridden country in the world, apparently). Of course, we can’t guarantee that things will go bump in the night, but we’re adamant that a haunted hotel isn’t just for halloween. Find somewhere with otherworldly guests as well as real ones here...

The Battlefields of Europe and the UK

Guided tours are very popular these days, and having an expert on hand certainly helps understand such places. But while we at Nights In The Past can’t help with on-the-ground knowledge, we’ve tried to compile a list of period accommodation of interest to anyone considering a do-it-yourself tour of the most famous World War I, World War II, Medieval and Napoleonic battlefields. UK and Europe

The Most Historic Cities in Britain

While London is undeniably a prime destination for both British and international visitors, there are other cities throughout the UK which boast an equally fine historic pedigree. See our guides to where to stay in 10 of the most heritage-rich including the ancient Roman city of Chester; the country’s smallest, Wells; the ancient capital of England, Winchester; and the ‘City of Dreaming Spires’, Oxford.

The Selection

In putting the site together we come across many hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts which have been the recipients of extraordinary reviews. As such, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight a number on an annual basis which combine period qualities with great guest feedback from a variety of sources. Find somewhere exceptional to stay in our 2011 Selection

The Most Historic Hotels in the USA

While Nights In The Past is really all about historic accommodation in the UK, France, Italy and other Western European nations, we thought it would be a great idea to highlight some of the exceptional heritage accommodation to be found in America. We’ve put together a Top 20 list as well as listing a great deal more with connections to famous figures of the past from ‘Sea to Shining Sea’. Read more

Go Time Travelling...

While we like to highlight historic accommodation from all periods up until the mid-Victorian, our priority is to feature those hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts with connections to famous figures from the past: kings, queens, literary icons, political giants and more. Indeed, during thousands of hours of research, we’ve come up with what we believe is the best guide of its type either on the web or in print. And to show you what we mean, here are just a few of the many hundreds you’ll find throughout the site:

Lawrence’s Hotel. Sintra, Portugal.

He might well have been “Mad, bad and dangerous to know”, but Lord Byron also wrote some of the finest poetry in the English language. Indeed, it has been suggested that none other than Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage was penned during his stay at this historic hotel near Lisbon in July 1809.

Learn about this famous hotel and discover many more fabulous places to stay brimming with history in Portugal

The Greenbank Hotel. Falmouth, Cornwall, UK.

Aside from being the oldest hotel in the historic maritime town of Falmouth, The Greenbank’s other claims-to-fame are its having been patronised by both Florence Nightingale and Kenneth Grahame in years gone by. In fact, the latter is known to have created Toad, Mole and Ratty - and thus The Wind in The Willows - while staying here in 1907.

Learn more and view other Historic Hotels in Cornwall.

Nights In The Past is a guide to historic and period hotels and accommodation throughout the UK, France, Italy, and Western Europe, including Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Germany. We focus primarily upon those hotels and inns with connections to famous historic figures and events, from the medieval period to World War II. Our aim is to provide information to those seeking historic places to stay be it for weekend breaks, heritage tours, romantic getaways, honeymoons or even business travel. Thank you for visiting.