6 exceptional B&Bs in Europe

Usually smaller than a hotel and found within a family home, the humble bed and breakfast is so much more than a place to stay. With lovingly prepared breakfasts, recommendations from welcoming hosts and home comforts while you’re on holiday, the B&B is a window into local life.

From boujis châteaux in France’s Loire Valley to 1-bedroom farmhouses in Tuscany, here are six exceptional B&Bs around Europe that’ll guarantee a more personal and authentic travel experience.

Château de Beauvais, France

For a night spent living like a flamboyant French duke, book a suite at the restored, 19th-century Château de Beauvais. It stands on a well-groomed estate in the heart of the Loire Valley region (just outside the city of Tours), an area celebrated for its sloping vineyards, Michelin-starred restaurants and fanciful French châteaux. Enter through wrought iron gates and up a gravel driveway – you can also stroll around the grounds on this path, past a lake and through mature oak trees that part to reveal the cream-coloured castle with its grey turrets. Step inside the château to find royal blue and navy brocade carpeted walls, Toile de Jouy wallpaper, vintage gold mirrors and white marble bathrooms with freestanding bathtubs. Breakfast is served in the dining room among candelabras, stained glass windows and mahogany period furniture, with croissants, orange juice decorative orchids and roses arranged on the porcelain and silver.

Tuttomio Home & Breakfast, Italy

Just outside of Siena in the walled, hilltop city of Castiglion Fiorentino, this 1-room B&B is a paragon of provincial style. A high, vaulted ceiling supported by wooden beams and exposed stone walls lends the suite an old Italian farmhouse feel while also making the space airy and bright. Bunches of fragrant dried lavender, gnarled natural wood furniture, a fireplace and a stone tiled floor take this theme further. But it’s kept current with a contemporary bathroom and a hot tub in the middle of the room. Wake up to a breakfast of locally sourced, organic food including artisanal bread and homemade cake, before visiting the city’s ancient Etruscan ruins or taking a day trip to Siena or Florence.

Eigón, Spain

In the shadow of the Picos de Europa (a deeply fissured, limestone mountain range in northern Spain), Eigón is a B&B in an apricot-painted farmhouse with a terracotta tiled roof. But the traditional ski chalet-style exterior belies its minimalist interior, with tropical ferns, abstract metal lampshades and modern rocking chairs. Breakfast is a smorgasbord of breads, crêpes, freshly squeezed juice and other local produce; great to energise you for a hike through the surrounding Valdeon Valley.

Casa Amora, Portugal

Its facade layered in typically Portuguese azulejo tiles in Lisbon’s artsy Amoreiras district, Casa Amora is a B&B with the airs and graces of a boutique hotel. There are 11 guest rooms and studio apartments, each one’s design paying homage to an iconic Portuguese artist, from the Queen of Fado, Amalia Rodrigues, to poet Fernando Pessoa. The B&B playfully juxtaposes old and new, with pop art alongside period furniture, an Eames Lounge Chair alongside salvaged mid-century pieces and splashes of kitsch thrown in throughout. But the highlight is the cobbled patio garden with pistachio green walls and plants galore; a dreamy spot for soaking up some Lisbon sun.

Cruickshanks Boutique B&B, UK

Looking out over the Firth of Clyde on the Scottish Isle of Arran, the award-winning Cruickshanks Boutique B&B is one of the finest rural retreats you’ll find in the UK. The experience of staying here is littered with lovely local touches, from black pudding for breakfast and oat shortbread for tea, to Arran Aromatics (produced on the island) provided in the bathrooms. It’s a 19th-century house that’s been updated in keeping with the original style; in winter, curl up aside the wood-burning stove with a book from the library and a glass of Scottish whisky, while summer brings the opportunity for hikes in the glorious natural surrounds – ask the owners for tips on where to spot golden eagles, deer and otters.

Embassy Row BnB, Croatia

This effortlessly charming villa was built in 1922 and renovated more recently to serve as a B&B in Zagreb, the fortified Croatian capital. It’s a bohemian menagerie of designer furniture, overflowing indoor plants, vintage dolls houses, candelabras and sparse, light-filled bedrooms, and it’s incredibly homely. Book the suite overlooking the whimsical garden, where you’ll find birds singing, statues peeping out from hydrangea bushes and ivy clambering up the conservatory walls. The scent of freshly cut flowers often fills the living room, as does the aroma of baking bread in the morning; be sure to save space for every meal because the food here is fantastic, from lovingly prepared soups for dinner to berries, tangerine juice and organic eggs for breakfast.