Beautifully situated at the heart of Weardale and the Durham Dales, this former Victorian vicarage, with a church at the end of the large garden, is run as a welcoming hotel with traditional bedrooms, perhaps with four-poster or half-tester bed. Dinner is served in an orangery with original floor-to-ceiling bookcase and fireplace.

With its towers and battlements this Victorian-folly castle, in 15 acres of grounds, looks imposing yet 'you actually feel like it is your castle'.

An ideal base for walking and wildlife enthusiasts, this 18th-century inn with excellent pub food stands beside a Saxon church in a stunning village in Teesdale.

This historic hotel in a conservation village is home to the barrel-vaulted Crypt bar while bedrooms (most across the road at The Angel) blend contemporary chic and modern comfort with notes of rusticity.

Family run, dog friendly and welcoming, this village pub at the foot of Howgill fells, between Lakes and Dales, is widely praised for its comfortable, individually styled bedrooms, pub classics and more creative dishes.

With smartl interiors and imaginative, locally sourced, restaurant-quality food, this dog-friendly country inn on the Lowther Estate is a happy mix of pub informality and country-house comforts.