Haverfordwest meets Hong Kong at this one-time Norman stronghold. Perched dramatically on a volcanic plug overlooking St Brides Bay, the Pembrokeshire Coast national park and the Preseli hills, Roch Castle has five-star bedrooms that can be booked on a B&B basis – or you can rent the whole thing … Photograph: Celtic Castles
Restored by architect Keith Griffiths (who grew up in the area but is based in Hong Kong), it reopened last year and now sleeps 12, has a gym, a study, a chapel and a rooftop sunroom. With its sleek lime render, designer lighting and hi-tech dehumidification system, it's the antithesis of your typical damp and draughty castle.
• 01422 323200, celticcastles.com, from £4,700 a week self-catering; doubles from £117.50 a night on a B&B basis
Christmas availability 2014: available for Christmas and new year weeks. £6,000 for seven nights over Christmas or seven nights over new year (2013-2014 rates subject to change) Photograph: PR
Treading just the right line between heritage and overblown Scottish kitsch, this tastefully renovated, 16th-century keep is decorated with heathery tartan rugs, tweed cushions, aged leather and the low atmospheric glow of polished pewter … Photograph: Alamy
The castle, in Glenisla outside Blairgowrie, was rebuilt from its ruined state by the Pooley family (one of whom is an interior designer) over many years and now sleeps 12. Get there first to bag the vast Laird's Room, with its four-poster bed and freestanding bath.
• 020-7584 3223, fortercastle.com, £4,750 a week (£396pp)
Christmas availability 2014: available for Christmas week (20-27 December) and new year week (27 December 2014-3 January 2015) for £5,750 (minimum seven nights) Photograph: PR
Built with stones from ruined Glenluce Abbey in the 16th century, altered in the 18th and restored in the late 20th, this mesmerising tower house now sleeps seven … Photograph: Landmark Trust
It has a haunting setting above Luce Bay, and the castle's plain exterior hides a fairytale core, complete with huge stone fireplace, colourful ceiling mural and turret staircase; its deep stone walls, wooden floors and antique furnishings giving a rare insight into life as a Jacobean laird.
• 01628 825925, landmarktrust.org.uk, from £593 a week
Christmas availabililty 2014: available over Christmas and new year: £1,473 for Christmas week (22-29 December), and from £1,434 for four nights over new year (29 December 2014-2 January 2015) Photograph: Landmark Trust
This diminutive cliffside fortress outside Port Isaac sleeps just two and comes with a hefty dollop of romance. It was built in the 19th century as the pleasure house for a local bon viveur, and the decadence remains. Wake in the large first-floor bed and you can watch the sea from under the covers. In the cosy sitting room, breakfast beside mullioned windows or snuggle up in the evenings by a log fire … Photograph: Alamy
The castle is also well-placed for days spent surfing in Polzeath or hiking along the South West Coast Path to feast at one of Nathan Outlaw's restaurants.
• 0844 800 2070, nationaltrustcottages.co.uk, from £690 a week
Christmas availability 2014: none for Christmas week but new year week available for £1,125 for seven nights (including £10 damage waiver fee) from 29 December 2014-5 January 2015 (seven night minimum) Photograph: Alamy
Part of Dover Castle, this tower was built at the behest of Henry III to add to the castle's defences and once served as a prison. These days most guests are clamouring to get in rather than out … Photograph: English Heritage
It sleeps two and is one of a range of holiday cottages run by English Heritage, with a sympathetic but contemporary style – buttercream paintwork, Shaker-esque kitchen, simple wooden furniture. There's also roof terrace. Pack your binoculars – on a clear day, there's a chance you'll be able to see right across to France.
• 0870 333 1187, english-heritage.org.uk, from £649 a week
Christmas availability 2014: available for Christmas and new year: minimum four-night stay from 22-26 December or 29 December-2 January) £749 for four nights Photograph: English Heritage
A squat tower two miles south of Edinburgh, with great views over the city and Arthur’s Seat, this 15th-century retreat is much grander within than it looks from the outside. Sleeping four, in pride of place is a Great Hall, with stone floors, a stripped wooden ceiling and big open fire (there’s also underfloor heating) … Photograph: PR
Below the Great Hall is a vaulted kitchen and a bathroom while above it are two large bedrooms, and a ladder leading up to a stone parapet. Unusually, the tower is accessed via a wooden staircase, slotted in where a drawbridge would once have been.
• 01981 550753, vivat.org.uk, fom £697 a week
Christmas availability 2014: available for Christmas and new year. Minimum seven nights with Christmas arrival on 20 December and new year arrival from 27 December. Price for four people for a week £1,273 (includes champagne welcome hamper) Photograph: PR
It may be routine for people to get hitched in a castle, but it’s rather less common for one to be given as a wedding present. For archaeologist Niall Hardie-Hammond, however, ruined Scargill Castle, near Barnard Castle, was the perfect love token for his equally heritage-obsessed bride, Caroline. Nearly 15 years, and several grants, later, 16th-century Scargill Castle opened as a holiday let last year … Photograph: PR
Sleeping two, in keeping with its Tudor heritage the colour scheme is scarlet, gold and green. A spiral staircase, wood-burning stove, clawfoot bath and Tudor-courtyard garden help retain a sense of romance; it’s since played host to at least one proposal.
• 01833 650573, scargillcastle.com, from £593 a week
Christmas availability 2014: Christmas and new year available: minimum four nights from 22/23 or 24 December for £608, or minimum three nights from 29/30 or 31 December 2014 for £507 Photograph: PR
Views of the Skirrid and Sugar Loaf mountains, easy access to food-focused Abergavenny (abergavennyfoodfestival.com) and the Usk Valley Walk and an outlook onto the landscaped grounds of Clytha Park make this crenelated gothic folly more than just a comfortable bolthole. Built in the 18th century as a monument to its owner’s deceased wife, Clytha is one of the prettiest castles in Wales … Photograph: PR
Sleeping six, within its asymmetrical, honey-hued Bath stone walls are three bedrooms, a circular kitchen, a lounge with cosy fire-side and two bathrooms: one with dramatic black-and-white tiling.
• 01628 825925, landmarktrust.org.uk, from £1,125 a week
Christmas availability 2014: available for new year’s eve period only (four nights minimum stay from 29 December) at £2,064 for six people Photograph: PR
You don’t always need to pay a king’s ransom to enjoy a few nights playing king of the castle, as The Barbican proves. Now sleeping two, this pocket-sized, riverside tower was built as a gate lodge to the Glenarm Castle estate, north of Belfast, in 1825 … Photograph: Davison & Associates Ltd
A clawfoot bath, wood-burning stove and roof terrace add a sense of splendour to an otherwise surprisingly modest stronghold. The estate’s walled garden is another attraction in the summer.
• +353 1 670 4733, irishlandmark.com, from £510 a week
Christmas availability 2014: available Christmas and new year, minimum two-night stay: £192 (arrival must be Christmas Eve) Photograph: Davison & Associates Ltd
The roof platform of this castle gives views across to Dartmouth and out to sea, though its own position, close to the water’s edge, is equally impressive. The property sleeps four – the thick walls no doubt giving a sense of rugged security – with a twin and a double room … Photograph: Paul Grundy/PR
The ground floor has been restored to look how it did in 1502, the living quarters are above, while a garden with patio furniture provides space to sit and consider whether to visit the nearby Dartmouth Steam Railway or Britannia Naval College.
• 01628 825925, landmarktrust.org.uk, from £1,075 a week
Christmas availability 2014: available for the Christmas period (seven nights minimum stay from 22 December) at £1,954 and new year’s eve period (four nights minimum stay from 29 December) at £1,993, or 11 nights over Christmas and new year combined for £3,947 Photograph: Paul Grundy/PR
