Hotels and apartments are convenient, but sometimes the accommodation itself can become one of the best parts of a trip. From sleeping beneath the Northern Lights in Finland to waking up among the trees in Croatia, Europe has plenty of unusual places to stay when you want something a little different.
We picked four stays that turn an ordinary night away into an experience of its own.
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Sleep underground in a Hobbit-like house in Slovenia
You don’t have to travel all the way to New Zealand to get a taste of Hobbit-style living. Near Ljutomer in northeastern Slovenia, Apartma Zemljanka offers an unusual home built partly into the ground and surrounded by countryside.
The apartment is still available to book and has an exceptional guest rating of 9.8/10 on Booking.com, based on more than 100 reviews.
Its earthy appearance and quiet setting make it particularly interesting for travellers who enjoy small, characterful properties rather than conventional hotels. It is also an easy option for a weekend road trip through Slovenia.
Best for: couples, slow travel and unusual weekend escapes.
Watch the Northern Lights from a glass igloo in Finland
Few hotel-room views can compete with the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights from your bed.
Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finnish Lapland is famous for its glass-roofed accommodation, designed to give guests uninterrupted views of the Arctic sky. The resort currently offers several types of glass igloos, including small glass igloos as well as larger Kelo-Glass Igloos combining a traditional log cabin with a glass-roofed bedroom.
The Northern Lights season here generally runs from around the third week of August until the end of April.
This is definitely the luxury option on our list. Current rates vary considerably by season and accommodation type: the resort advertises autumn stays from around €278 per night, while winter accommodation can start at approximately €478 per night. Larger Kelo-Glass Igloos currently start at around €465 per night.
There is never a guarantee that the aurora will appear, of course, but even without it, waking up beneath the Arctic sky is an experience in itself.
Best for: Northern Lights trips, winter escapes and special occasions.
Spend the night in a Croatian lighthouse
For something even more remote, consider sleeping in a lighthouse on the Croatian Adriatic.
Croatia has a long lighthouse tradition, with many historic structures positioned on headlands and isolated islands. Plovput, the state-owned company responsible for maintaining maritime navigation infrastructure in Croatia, also manages the country’s lighthouse network.
Places such as Savudrija, Veli Rat and Tajer offer a very different perspective on the Adriatic from a standard seaside hotel. Savudrija is particularly interesting: its lighthouse dates back to 1818 and is the oldest preserved lighthouse on the Adriatic that is still in operation.
Lighthouse accommodation requires more planning than booking a hotel in Split or Dubrovnik. Some locations are isolated, transport can be part of the experience, and availability is limited, particularly during summer.
But waking up with the sea outside your window and almost nobody else around is difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Best for: couples, photographers, slow travellers and anyone who genuinely wants to get away from crowds.
Sometimes the best attraction is where you sleep
Unusual accommodation isn’t necessarily about luxury. What makes these stays special is the experience around them: watching the Arctic sky through a glass roof, waking up in the forest, sleeping inside an earth-covered home or spending a few days beside a lighthouse.
If you’re planning your next European getaway, it might be worth choosing the accommodation first and building the rest of the trip around it.
Sometimes where you sleep becomes the story you remember most.
