Hotels in Wells, Somerset

Wells offers a small but well-formed range of places to stay, from a fifteenth-century coaching inn facing the cathedral to a Gothic Revival country house set in its own parkland. Because the city itself is so compact, almost everywhere within the centre is walkable to the cathedral, the Bishop's Palace and the Market Place, which makes location less of a compromise here than in larger cities. The choice tends to come down to character and setting instead: a historic inn with cathedral views, a family-friendly hotel near Wookey Hole, or a quieter country house a short drive from the centre.

At the upper end, Wells has a couple of properties that make a genuine occasion of a stay, with landscaped grounds, award-winning breakfasts and, in one case, its own swimming pool. The mid-range is anchored by long-established coaching inns and hotels in and around the city centre, several of them former stopping points on the old road network and now run as contemporary hotels with restaurants that draw diners from beyond Wells itself. For a more personal welcome, the city's bed and breakfasts and the award-winning guest houses in the surrounding villages offer home-cooked breakfasts and a level of local knowledge that larger hotels rarely match.

Families exploring Wookey Hole Caves tend to base themselves close to the caves themselves, while couples and those visiting for the cathedral or the food festival gravitate to the centre. Whichever type of stay you choose, nowhere in Wells is more than a short walk or a five-minute drive from the Market Place, so a booking here rarely means a long commute back to the sights.