Getting close to a castle remains a prime holiday fantasy and while staying in one doesn’t usually come cheap, when you split the cost between family and friends, it need not be prohibitive. And you can always stay next door. English Heritage Cottages (0870 3331187, from February 27) will start to let cottages in some of its most famous properties from April, including Pendennis and St Mawes castles in Cornwall, the latter costing £485 a week.
Of the fortifications on the books of the Landmark Trust (01628 825925), Kings- wear Castle in Devon sleeps six. From February to April, a three-night weekend there costs £915. The partially restored Rosslyn Castle outside Edinburgh sleeps seven and costs £747 for a weekend in spring.
Manorbier Castle, one of Wales’s most famous medieval fortifications, is available to rent from the Forgotten Houses company (01326 340153). The castle is hugely popular, partly because of its 13th-century rooms, walled garden and romantic sensibilities, but also because the beach is only 100 yards (90m) away and the castle sleeps 12. Prices start at £1,250 a week.