If you want to live like royalty while you travel the European countryside, why not go the whole hog and stay in a castle while you’re at it?

We’ve scoped out all the best European castles on offer so you can make like sleeping beauty, put a pea under your mattress, or pretend to be Megan Markle. Whatever floats your boat.

Ashford Castle, Ireland

This magnifi cent castle is an 800-year-old stone extravaganza. It’s the former home of the Guinness family and we can be assured they have good taste – just look at the black gold they created.

It’s all very Irish, which means the luxury comes with warm hospitality and very little snobbery. There are 83 rooms at Ashford Castle, so it’s not likely your client will miss out; although booking in advance is recommended. There’s also a Hideaway Cottage for those that desire privacy and prefer to look upon the castle rather than look out of its ramparts.

However, the castle is more than a place to sleep – it also comes with a school of falconry across its 350 acres of ancient Irish woodland.

Dornroschenschloss Sababurg, Germany

This German castle is the setting for the legend that is Sleeping Beauty. For a quick fairy tale refresher, she slept for 100 years in an ivory tower and was awoken by the kiss of her one true love, none other than Prince Charming himself.

So it’s fitting that you can sleep in the very place that fostered a century-long slumber. The castle is found in Reinhardswald Forest and is 650 years old.

A high stone wall encircles the forested property, and legend has it that the wall was the inspiration for Grimm in the imagination of the wall of thorns in the story.

Chateau Heralec, Czech Republic

It’s a palace, and the closest version of a castle you’ll find in the Czech Republic. It’s also as pretty as you’d expect from the country whose capital is picturesque Prague.

The 17th-century chateau prides itself on its health and wellness offering – beyond Prague, the Czech Republic is renowned for its treatment and overhaul centres, with cutting-edge detox and rejuvenation clinics.

It harks back to a time, many centuries ago, where travellers would come to the Czech Republic to take the water – the mineral waters underground in places like Karlovy Vary are infamous.

At the Chateau, the L’Occitane spa, steam baths and saunas aplenty will have clients as relaxed as royalty.

Leeds Castle, UK

Of course, the castles we are all so well acquainted with are usually of the romantic Germanic or stoic English kind.

Leeds Castle is a typical English rampart and has a lineage of royal history. No less than six queens have lived in Leeds Castle – which misleadingly, is not actually in Leeds, but rather Kent, quite close to London.

Those queens include Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, of six wives infamously. It’s all a little less scandalous these days.

A pick of the castle rooms is Maiden’s Tower, given its propensity for the female royal counterparts. And for something much lower key, but as fun, try Knight’s Glamping, a circus-style striped tent in the vineyard of the castle.

But these were knights, so the trimmings remain high quality: expect four-poster beds and fur throws.

Chateau de Mirambeau, France

This chateau is a romantic vision. A slight incline of immaculately preened grass leads to the cream and charcoal building with an observatory and all the usual castle ostentations, from turrets to lookouts.

It is perfectly positioned at the junction of the Cognac and Bordeaux vineyards. It, therefore, has a cognatheque, an exclusive tasting room for the finest cognacs.

The décor of the property is eclectic and colour-coordinated, with that French sense of fun and style. There are chandeliers and heavy drapery and the design is welcoming despite being rare plus art and antique dominated.

But it’s not entrenched in history, just look at the huge pool and sun loungers. It feels like a privilege to stay here.

Castello di Monterone, Italy

One of the older castles of this collection, Castella de Monterone, dates back to the 13th century. It’s medieval but not at all dark, despite emerging in the dark ages.

It’s hard to be dark in the rolling hills of Umbria. The castle is perched high on a hill with country views, walkways, stone arches, and spiky pine trees.

It’s rather romantic and couples are a constant. The room’s walls frequently feature a real stone wall, dating back 800 years.

The things those stones have seen. The bar is renowned, its stained glass windows and view as enticing as the traditional Italian aperitifs. The castle is also a short walk from Perugia, which marks the pilgrim’s road to Assisi.

Inverlochy Castle, Scotland

This 19th-century castle is unmistakably Scottish. It’s facing a loch (or lake) for a start, and it looks remarkably similar to that nostalgic TV series Monarch of the Glen.

The green hills of the highlands of Ben Nevis rise around the castle. Even Queen Victoria stayed there, on her way to the royal residence of Balmoral.

She sketched and painted. “I never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot,” she wrote in her diary. The hotel has a Rolls Royce Phantom for that extravagant touch and pursuits are very traditional, including golf and clay pigeon shooting.