Dogs and their people receive a warm welcome at this 18th-century former coaching inn, with cosy bar and candlelit restaurant, a mix of contemporary and country-style bedrooms in the inn and converted stables, and an inventive seasonally changing menu.

A 17th-century coaching inn on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park combines all the best of a larky hotel with themed bedrooms, friendly bar, good service, fine wines and long menus especially strong on fish.

On the edge of the village, with sweeping views over Wensleydale, this Victorian rectory B&B in lawned gardens is slightly austere without, belying exuberant and stunning interiors, which mix antique and modern pieces, contemporary artworks, cool bathrooms and cocktails.

A neo-Gothic fantasy castle in glorious pleasure grounds and parkland, the Cunliffe-Lister family's hotel offers a taste of country-house living, with opulent interiors, spacious bedrooms and suites, estate-to-plate dining and a spa.

With views over the River Swale, Austin Lynch and Tim Culkin’s extraordinary B&B is filled with such an array of artworks, antiques, vintage clocks, glass, china and silverware that it has been dubbed ‘the Wallace Collection of the North’.

Rooms are a quirky mix of rusticity, wit and chic at this 18th-century watermill on the River Bain, complete with mill machinery, where breakfast brings free-range eggs from a neighbour's hens.

A riverside conversion of a Victorian grammar school and headmaster's house gains an A* for splendid, characterful, boutique-style bedrooms, some with terrace and hot tub, and short, set-price, foodie-pleasing menus.

More country hotel than pub with rooms, this creeper-covered 17th-century inn is in a lovely location in the heart of the Nidderdale valley. It has traditionally furnished bedrooms, some in a converted barn, and a display of old clocks in a characterful dining room with menus of Yorkshire produce.

Leave the fuss and fret of the AI(M) at Scotch Corner to reconnect with the land at this idyllic hotel, centred on a Georgian coach house amid gardens, parkland and woodland.

With views stretching across the Dales, this dark-sky accredited Edwardian country-house hotel has a wide choice of bedrooms, some with a conservatory, as well as an oak-panelled lounge with open fire, and short, appealing menus of local produce in the beamed restaurant.