Villavecchia Castle
For better or for worse, Halloween left the United States and enticed the children of half the planet, with carte blanche to celebrate, dress up, eat candy and stay up later . But this year trick-or-treating, like everything else, will look a bit lackluster, and the little ones may well have to wait until 2021 (fingers crossed) to go door-to-door pilgrimage "sweetly mugging" their neighbors. .
Fathers and mothers of the world, we do not envy you: in your head resounds more and more strongly a terrifying, "How to celebrate Halloween 2020?" . We have an idea: do it in a truly terrifying place , where it is easy to let your imagination run wild and where there is room for ghosts, legends and characters from beyond the grave. We have an idea: do it in a castle.
If we have at least managed to raise your eyebrows and nod your head, here are some hotel ideas and crenelated accommodations that will give you a lot of game.
Hotel Castell de Villavecchia
VILLAVECCHIA CASTLE (SANT HILARI SACALM, GIRONA)
History already has good wicks, the Hotel Castell de Villavecchia (Declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest) was built in 1894 and designed by the architect Enric Sagnier, also known as Marquis de Sagnier.
He did it in the prevailing style of the time, modernism, but also influenced by the French chàteaux.
In addition to the building itself, which will give you a lot of play, you have several gardens and even a forest, the Forest of the Castell de Villavecchia , with views of the mountains and Montseny, perfect for taking walks and setting the scene for a terrifying Halloween. Just hope there's a bit of fog.
Cardona Parador
CARDONA PARADOR (BARCELONA)
Ask for the 712 . If you are going to spend Halloween at the Parador de Cardona, just 100 kilometers from Barcelona , you have to do it in this room. It is not normally for sale. Unless the client specifically requests it because he does not care share a room with a ghost, because it is a member of the gosthbusters team from Cuarto Milenio or, simply, because "he likes it".
The origin of the legend is in the history of Adales , a young Christian who in the midst of the Reconquest had the idea of falling in love with a Muslim. Her father was furious and locked her in the minyona tower , where she would die of grief. Apparently, it is her soul that continues to wander through 712 and, according to some guests who have stayed there, when night falls noises are heard, presences are felt and even "visitors are received".
Apart from the room, the hotel has a tremendous halo of Enchanted castle . To begin with, because of its location, on top of a spectacular and mysterious promontory, with views of the valley of the cardener river and of salt valley . To continue, through its interiors, its endless corridors, its vaulted rooms, its pointed arches and its canopy beds.
The fortified enclosure it was built in the 9th century by Wilfred the Hairy and includes the Minyona tower in question and a church, both from the 11th century. The action can continue in the medieval town of cardona , full of narrow alleys and nooks and crannies.
Aerial view of the Castle of Arteaga
ARTEAGA CASTLE HOTEL (BIZCAYA)
There are Halloweens and Halloweens. But put to spend it in a castle, it better be in this one, that of Arteaga, with a neo-Gothic tower inspired by the French Gothic that they built Napoleon III and his wife Eugenia de Montijo on the old defense tower of Arteaga.
Many of the original elements are still preserved in its rooms (only seven and six suites) and its lounges: coffered ceilings, stone fireplaces, masonry walls...
is in full Urdaibai Biosphere Natural Reserve and it has the Relais and Chàteaux seal, if that wasn't enough.
Castle of Good Love
CASTLE OF GOOD LOVE (SALAMANCA)
Another enchanted castle. And again, another love story and another ghost legend to spice up this Halloween. In this case, that of one of its former owners, the Bishop of Santiago, who frequented it with his secret lover, until he was excommunicated. Both are still around here , hence its name, La Posada Real Castillo del Buen Amor.
The castle, from the 15th century, preserves many of the original elements , including the defensive moat or the old dungeons, a good place to have dinner on the night of the dead. And a good excuse to be a tribute , have a massage or a wine tasting surrounded by more than a thousand years of history.
Aerial view of El Barraco Ávila
THE BARRACK (AVILA)
Has it all. A walled island with a castle and one hour by car from Madrid . It is El Barraco, a rural accommodation in the heart of the El Burguillo reservoir (Ávila), which cannot be reached in any other way than by rowing boat (or motor boat, much less romantic for our current purpose, to emulate the passage of the stygian lagoon).
Surrounding the building, which can accommodate between 8 and 10 guests, there are vineyards, fruit trees and pine trees and it has direct access to the beaches and the pier of the El Burguillo reservoir.
Nearby, on the eastern edge of the Sierra de Gredos , there is the Natural Reserve of Iruelas Valley , declared a Special Protection Area for Birds, where colonies of black vultures nest, and the Chestnut Tree , known as "the magical forest of stories", with numerous ancient trees, some even with large holes in their trunks to enter. You can do a very simple and fun hiking route by going with children.
Otto Castle Huesca
OTO CASTLE (HUESCA)
At the entrance to the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, where the range of activities you can do in autumn is gigantic, there is another reason to visit Oto: a monumental 15th-century castle with a defensive tower, from which you can Watch the Pyrenean landscape with its little houses with slate roofs.
This can be the place where you renew the air in your lungs, yes, but also where you spend a night reading horror stories with the best props. The building, which is rented through the Vrbo platform, has two double rooms... Although, come to think of it, maybe that night you all want to sleep together...