YHA Ilam Hall

A beautiful Victorian Gothic-style castle situated on 84 acres of National Trust parkland next to the river Manifold, with stunning views of Ilam? No, we're not talking about a top-flight country house hotel, but actually one of the YHA's most historic properties, a fabulous 17th-century manor house that enjoys a unique location just outside the picturesque village of Ilam in Derbyshire. It's a hostel, so has a mixture of private family rooms and beds in dormitories – 118 beds in all, in 25 different rooms – and all the facilities you have come to expect from the YHA: a games room, bar, lounge and self-catering kitchen. Inevitably it's the building that steals the show, but you're in the heart of the Peak District and the area is a gem, with loads to do for families in particular. There's the watersports centre at Carsington, you're just a few miles from the stepping stones at Dovedale and the limestone bulk of Thorpe Cloud, from where you can walk the spectacular three-mile gorge trail to Milldale. Plus, if all this doesn't appeal, you might be glad to know that it's just a twenty-minute drive from Alton Towers!