A Good Knight's Rest

You've slept in hotels, motels, lodges, B&Bs and a yurt or two. Isn't it high time you checked into an actual medieval castle? Jousting optional.

- By Steve Russell

Legend holds that an 11th-century viscount locked his daughter in the tower to stop a forbidden love. Being olden times, she expired of heartbreak.

PARADOR DE CARDONA

Catalonia, Spain

Spain was a major crossroads in the Crusades, leaving a variety of well-preserved castles. But if you prefer yours as solid and foreboding as a sorcerer's stronghold, aim for Cardona. Al ve the medieval town at the Pyrenees foothills looms ninth-century Parador de Cardona, an imposingly beautiful mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture boasting so many vaulted passageways and squared parapets that you can easily picture men-at-arms boiling vats of oil to repel an onslaught. Accommodations are more hospitable, appointed with canopy beds and tile floors.

Royal treatment: Guests likely dine better than the castle's original rulers, choosing from chefy Catalonian specialties such as barbecued lamb shoulder and eggplant terrine with pig's feet. More vino!

King Henry VIII passed through Amberley's twin tower gatehouse in 1526 when he visited the resident bishop to seek advice on shedding his first wife.

AMBERLEY CASTLE

Sussex, England

The property's 19 bedrooms are spread between the manor house, the tower house and a former dairy.