Fodor's Expert Review Lumley Castle Hotel

This is a real Norman castle, right down to the dungeons and maze of dark flagstone corridors—one room even has a bathroom hidden behind a bookcase. Antiques and rich fabrics lend the rooms a sumptuous feel. Those in the courtyard annex are less expensive, but also less atmospheric. Join in the merriment of the Friday and Saturday Elizabethan banquets (£37.50; two goblets of wine and two of mead included!) or dine in the modern and surprisingly inexpensive Black Knight. The hotel is just east of Chester-le-Street, about 8 miles north of Durham.