Tom Hall, from Lonely Planet, answers your travel dilemmas.
Q. I would love to stay in a lighthouse
in the UK. Is this possible and do
you have any recommendations?
Michelle Leon, via email
A. There are no shortage of lighthouses that welcome paying guests, but there are
a few nuances to be aware of.
Firstly, in most cases you’ll be staying in the buildings around the lighthouse rather than the tower itself. I did this at Rua Reidh (ruareidh.co.uk) near Gairloch in Scotland a few years ago and it was superb, and remains something of a bargain at £42 per night.
Not staying in the tower also means you can see the light swishing round, which will be going on above your head if you’re staying in it.
If you want to stay in the tower itself, try
West Usk (westusklighthouse.co.uk), which as well as having rooms in their unusually squat lighthouse, also have a Dalek signed by Doctor Who and a Rolls Royce for hire.
Both the National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk) and National Trust for Scotland (nts.org.uk) have lighthouses you can stay in.
Trinity House (trinityhouse.co.uk) – the body charged with the upkeep of lighthouses in England and Wales
– is another good place to try, and they even have a five-star holiday available on board the Patricia, the ship that sails around the coast maintaining our lighthouses and light vessels.
If that doesn’t get lighthouse buffs salivating, then I imagine nothing will.
