Unusual Places to Stay in Europe with Kids

Glass-roofed igloos, chocolate-themed rooms, cosying down in a vintage car… One way to make bedtime easier when you're on holiday is to make it really cool. Kids are insatiable when comes to new experiences and gaining one-upmanship over their mates, and Europe is a fertile hunting ground for unusual places to stay. If you're looking for weird, wonderful, and often quite insane places to stay, these options will really give them something to brag about when term starts again.

FINLAND

Northern Lights Villages

Santa experiences, snowmobiling, dog sledding… Finland with kids is the ultimate Arctic adventure, and it's also one of the best places to see the Northern lights. The best place to see the elusive aurora borealis is northern Finland, which lies above the Arctic Circle. Northern Lights Villages have three locations across the Arctic region: Saariselkä, Levi and Pyhä, each offering glass igloo-style Aurora cabins and suites, which sleep up to four and five, where you can watch the lights from the cosy comfort of your bed. Northern Lights Village Levi is 32km from Kittilä airport, Saariselkä is closer to Ivalo airport, and Pyhä is within easy reach of Rovaniemi airport.

SWEDEN

Treehotel, Harads

Swedish design is one of the best in the world, and there's no better way to experience it than at the incredible Treehotel in a tiny village in the Lule River Valley in northeast Sweden. It has eight epic architec-designed treehouses, including the UFO and the Bird's Nest, which really fire up children's imaginations. Open all year round, it's popular in winter for dog sledding, snowmobiling and searching for the Northern Lights. In summer, the Treehotel's Family Fun package includes activities such as fishing, foraging and campfire meals.

Arctic Bath, Lule River

Floating under the Midnight Sun during the summer and frozen into the ice in winter, this unique hotel is truly at one with the elements. Perched on the Lule River, it has six cabins on the water, plus two on land. As the hotel has very much a wellness bent – it's centred around an incredible 'birds'-nest style spa' – the cabins are best suited for older children and teenagers who are not looking for all-singing, all-dancing amenities and can instead get onboard with more wholesome activities such as learning to fish or wildlife spotting with the Moose Whisperer.

ICEHOTEL, Kiruna

For a truly unforgettable Sweden family holiday book into this unique hotel 200km above the Arctic Circle, built each year entirely of ice and snow. Open all year-round, it offers plenty of Arctic adventures including dog sledding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing, as well as hiking and river rafting in summer. It's an incredible experience for kids, who love the magical ice rooms and seeing the Northern Lights or dancing out under a Midnight Sun. 

Kolarbyn Eco-lodge, Skinnskatteberg

Advertising itself as ‘Sweden’s most primitive hotel’ (it has no electricity or running water), Kolarbyn two hours from Stockholm offers small, grass-clad forest huts set deep in the forest where you can spend your days taking moose safaris, wilderness horse rides, or dedicated family expeditions.

FRANCE

RockyPop, Flaine

As much as we love a traditional log cabin draped in snow, when skiing in France with kids, why not mix it up by staying somewhere funky on the slopes? RockyPop brings more than a splash of colour to Flaine ski resort in the vast Grand Massif ski area, with a mix of bright sparky rooms, colourful apartments and penthouses, which cater for parties of up to 10 – perfect for a large family or a 3G (multi-generational) holiday. It also has a NUXE spa, a sushi bar and a fondue restaurant. And the fun doesn't stop when you get off the slopes – there's a karaoke room, arcade games, live concerts and a little play area. 

Chez Bertrand, Paris

Chi-chi boutique hotels in Paris are often wasted on kids, so bring them to stay in one of these three wild and very cheesy apartments in and around La Porte de Clignancourt, the flea-market district, and Montmartre. In Le Loft (which sleeps up to five), kids hunker down in a bright red Citroen 2CV converted into a bed; Le Studio (sleeping three) in dazzling silver pays homage to characters from Superman to the Pink Panther; and L’Appart (sleeping five) has rooms so blindingly pink you’ll need to sleep in sunglasses, plus a Haribo boy full of sweets.

PORTUGAL

Fabrica do Chocolate, Viana do Castelo

A chocolate-themed hotel, you say? Sign us up! Portugal family holidays don't come any sweeter than this. Housed in the country's oldest chocolate factory, Fabrica do Chocolate has 18 themed rooms each inspired by stories such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Hansel and Gretel, and chocolate brands including Casa Grande and Regina. It also has a chocolate-themed restaurant, and an interactive museum exploring the origins and history of cocoa. Guests can also enjoy chocolate tastings, chocotherapy treatments and make-your-own-chocolate classes.

SPAIN

Parador de Granada, Granada

A former monastery in the grounds of the Alhambra, Parador de Granada is a great place for Horrible Histories fans to stay on a Spain family holiday. Once the Nasrid Palace of Los Infantes, this glorious 14th-century monastery houses the monarchs' tombs, an Arab hall topped with a qubba (dome) and several Arabic bathhouses. In Granada, kids can rumble around the maze-like streets of the Albaicín and get lost in the Sacromonte caves, the traditional cave houses once inhabited by Roma communities.

ITALY

Falkensteiner Family Resort Lido, South Tyrol 

Trampolines on the roof, a year-round ski slope, and the longest indoor water slide in Europe means the Falkensteiner Family Resort Lido injects plenty of fun into Italy family holidays. Aside from its award-winning Sky Adventure Park on the roof, natural lake, sandy beach and infinity pool, the rooms in this stylish-but-fun family hotel are just as appealing – particularly the suites, which come with a Falkynest hanging mezzanine bed for the kids, and a balcony overlooking the lake. 

AUSTRIA

Rogner-Bad Blumau Hotel and Spa, Styria

Colourful columns, dancing windows and a Celtic tree… This whimsical rainbow-coloured thermal spa designed by the visionary artist Hundertwasser has the vibe of Saudi-meets-Disney... on acid. It's perfect for a wellness-based Austria family holiday. Aside its rooms, suites and colourful cabin-style family apartments, which sleep up to four, it has 14 indoor and outdoor pools, including a kids' pool and the mineral-rich Vulkania®, a thermal spring sourced from 3,000m deep.

By Tracey Davies

See also our feature on Unusual Places to Stay Outside Europe.